- 8 SFr breakfast at Hotel Landhaus with a soundtrack of Joanna Newsom and Bjork
- Einstein and Swiss History Museum
- Simon the Snowman
- Kloeserli Weincafe, and a great Sankt Laurent
I woke up, pulled back the curtains, and was looking out onto some sort of bloody winter wonderland. There was white everywhere, and it was still snowing. What a great time to be in Bern.
I went down into the mini restaurant/bar and a different bar attendant offered me breakfast for 8 swiss franks. Probably the cheapest offer I've seen here (it's living up to the expensive swiss expectation). The bar girl had short hair, which was shaved on the sides, and I came to the conclusion she was gay as she started making googoo eyes at a girl who came and sat with her at the bar. It was cute. As I sat eating muesli (presumably Bircher), blueberry yoghurt, croissants, bread and cheese, and drinking coffee and juice (a mega breakfast), Joanna Newsom, The Knife, Patrick Wolf and Bjork played through the speakers. The bar girl clearly had great music tastes. And not just Bjork, but Hyperballad by Bjork. If you don't know the song, download it, then listen to it on iTunes in the dark, with the iTunes graphics playing on your screen. Amazing.
I hadn't packed for snow. I sort of forgot that winter was coming and as mentioned before, only packed cut-off T-Shirts. I did my best though, putting as many layers as possible under my coat and converse (not exactly snowshoes) and looked a little michelin man as I headed out into the street.
It was SUBLIME. These bursts of laughter kept welling up as I crunched through the snow. You can't not laugh in that weather. Even as I crossed the Kirchenfeldbruecke, where the wind kicked up a notch and the snow was horizontal, it felt amazing. I went to the Historiches und Einstein Museum. Not a cheap entry, and I was somewhat reluctant to see more Einstein stuff after learning about his attitude towards his wife, cousin and her daughter later in life*, but it seemed a big deal to the Bernese (Bernese? Does that sound right?) so I went in.
In no time at all, I'd come to grips with the theory of relativity. I mean, I won't bore you with the details here, but believe me when I tell you, I GET IT. Totally and utterly. (PUB QUIZ FACT Light always travels at 300,000 km/sec). After learning about the theory, which Einstein originally developed and released in Bern in 1905, you're led up a staircase to the next level. This staircase might have been my favourite part of the whole museum. It was like walking into something out of the Minority Report or Dr X's special mind room in the X-Men. Everything was mirrored and so as you looked up, it seemed that the room went on forever. With the flashing images of Einstein and the blue and white lights, it was totally surreal. I sat on the staircase for a while, spacing out slightly.
The curators had mixed the Einstein part of the museum with Switzerland's Jewish History (Einstein was Jewish, though didn't believe in God). The Jews really have had it rough. They only got equal rights to other citizens in Switzerland in 1880s. Ridiculous. So after delving a little more into Einstein's life (he didn't speak properly at the age of 3 and struggled with the educational methods at school) and his family (his dad and Uncle owned an Electrical Company in Munich, and were the first people to electrocute Oktoberfest), I headed into the Swiss history section, which gave an interesting fact for every year between about 1850 and 2001. Here are some highlights:
• 1908 - Persil was the first detergent on market. (I'd always undervalued these sorts of developments, but labour-saving technologies in detergent, washing machines and other household devices etc. had a major impact on freeing up women's time at home, and allowed them to pursue things outside of housekeeping. I can't not be grateful of that)
• 1934 - Nescafe soluble coffee invented by a Nescafe employee (Max Morgenthaler) in his own time, after the company dropped the project.
• 1959 - The greatest international success of a Swiss Football team to date...Bern's Sport Club Young Boys won the first leg of the semi-final for the Europe Cup at Wankdorf (LOL) stadium.
• 1962 - First James Bond Film Dr. No released, with Honey Rider (babe who walks out of the sea in white bikini) played by a Swiss lady, Ursula Andress.
So big Swiss history, right there. I learned a bit about Switzerland's role during WW2 as well. Literally the only country not overrun by Nazis, mainly because the Nazis couldn't see any value in invading Switzerland. They instead utilised their banking system (Nazi gold!), whilst the Swiss carried on as usual, sometimes taking in Jewish refugees and letting them flee to the U.S.
Another thing I discovered is that Art Brut is actually the art of the mentally ill. Had no idea. A guy called Asdolf Woelfi was apparently big in Art Brut, his mental disorder being schizophrenia, and his crimes involving child abuse. Good that he's remembered as a Swiss hero.
I went to the Bistro Steinhaus for lunch and sat trying to read, though mainly ended up staring out at the falling snow, thinking about the future (the outcome; nothing decided, but no particular worries about it. Just going to see what happens, you know). I headed back out into the snow to take some photos. I smelt roasting chestnuts but couldn't work out how I was supposed to eat them when snow kept hitting my face and I was wearing thick gloves.
I walked around for a while (Bern's only small) and found myself in the Matte area, along Wasserwerkgasse. There was a tempting amount of snow, so I made a mini snowman on the ledge. I mean sure, it may seem odd for a 25 year old to be making a snowman next to a kids playground, but I was just caught up in the fun of it all. Simon looked pretty good. I picked him up to transport him to the playground to take some comedy photos of him on the slide and the swings, to send home. I'd secured him on a swing, when I noticed one of his eyes had fallen off in transport. Double-checking he was secure, I quickly ran to retrieve Simon's old-conker shell eye, and when I turned round, he was splattered on the floor. Gone. I felt like a mix between a kid who's dropped their ice cream and a parent who's dropped their child. Guiltily, I quickly backed away from the scene of the crime before anyone could see me. R. I. P. Simon.
Pre Swing
The wine was good, and I stayed until it got dark. My siblings will be less than impressed that I've started using the pretend scribble on hand to get the bill like my dad does. They always used to take the mickey. It works though. And I figure it's better than yelling 'DIE RECHNUNG BITTE' across the room.
Went for a quick bite to eat then hit the hay in my private room. Lovely.
End of day 27.
* Later in their marriage, Einstein wrote a list of rules for his wife Mileva (who he'd met at University - she had also been a physicist), including; you must not speak to me unless spoken to, you must leave my meal outside my study every night and are NOT allowed in unless invited, you will not expect any signs of physical affection.
When they divorced (or she died?), Einstein went to live with his female cousin and her daughter for a while. He expressed an uncomfortable amount of interest in the younger woman, but said to them both in letter that he was happy to marry either of them, though it was up to them to decide. The younger girl liked him as a person, but found his sexual interest a bit offputting, as he was an old man.
No comments:
Post a Comment