Bern - ilivetotravel's travel log

The Livable Capitals: Santiago, Bern and Berlin

As I listed the capital cities I have visited, I kept thinking which would could be the “most livable.” Livable, for me, means not an intense place, not one with millions of tourists ruining summer months, with character, and some great redeeming feature (the ocean, the mountains, a great river running through it, an amazing spot in history, etc.). There were several candidates (and some definite ‘nevers’…) but the top three I landed on were: Santiago, Bern, and Berlin.

Santiago (Chile)

This may be cheating a little but I have lived in Santiago already. Twice. Sort of. I lived there for 3 months over 20 years ago staying at an apartment in the area called Providencia near Tobalaba. Then I spent a whole year traveling back and forth, spending 60-65% of the year down there (though this second time I stayed at a hotel, the awesome Marriott on Ave. Kennedy).

And I would happily do it again because Santiago is such a livable place. Traffic aside, it has everything I would want in a place to live. Quiet enough for a city, arts and culture, great food, neat things to do on day trips (beaches, skiing, wineries, hiking, etc.), friendly locals, interesting architecture and neighborhoods, and the magnificent Andes as a backdrop – my favorite feature of this city.

Andes, cordillera, Santiago, Chile, view, Marriott hotel, photo

A wonderful view to wake up to every day!

I would likely live in Vitacura or Las Condes: not too far from the city center towards the mountains but near the river, a nice mall, and close to many of my favorite eateries. I used to go running along Americo Vespucio towards the river then meander through neighborhoods.

Santiago, Andes, snow, winter, skiiing, Cihle

Granted, that was not the prettiest of winter days but imagine the great skiing further up in the Andes!

Hopefully, my job would be towards that part of town to avoid the pretty nasty traffic though – I commuted from that area to “el Centro” and that was, on a very good day, a 45-min commute each way.

Bern (Switzerland)

I am not as familiar with the next two cities as I am with Santiago as I have only spent all of a day in each – severely limiting knowing, for example, in what of town I would want to live in. In my one day visit to Bern its compactness and its location struck me. Bern is hugged by the Aar River (I wonder if so named to make sure it sorted first in lists of rivers….) and surrounded by hills that look down upon it. Its old quarter is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and this capital city of around 200,000 inhabitants has been included in the top ten best quality of life cities as recently as 2010 (do I choose them well or what??).

The Aar River along the old historic center of Bern

I think Bern would be a great place to spend a year or two, anchored in central Switzerland. It may not be an easy place to fly in and out of which would be a drawback for getting back to the States but nothing that a good connection in Zurich, Munich, or –heaven forbid- Charles de Gaulle in Paris wouldn’t fix.

I enjoyed walking its old streets, enjoying the architecture and its details, and sitting at an outdoor café sipping some good beer!

Perhaps the compactness of the town would get to me after some months but I think I could get used to it quite easily – plus there would be so many places to spend time visiting in a radius of less than half a day’s drive. A little more ambitiously, it would not be much of stretch to launch weekend trips elsewhere to places like Bavaria, Austria, northern Italy, and –for sure- the rest of Switzerland itself!

Berlin

Berlin is clearly a major city and those can be a little too much in terms of livability but, in my short visit there, I got a sense for the variety of neighborhoods and cosmopolitan vibe of the place. That, coupled with the deep and painful history this city has had, would draw me in as a place I could live in.

The iconic Brandenburg Gate – one of the many reminders of the city’s deep history

There seems to be a lot of turning over old areas into new districts to draw people in (I presume, a younger generation) and it would be interesting to see how Berlin continues to morph over the next 20 years.

Berliners seeking some sun by the river – OK, it isn’t the Caribbean but let ’em enjoy!

Newer and older residential buildings

Living in Berlin would give me ample time to explore its arts scene while also geeking out on its Cold War, WW II, WW I, and imperial history. Of course, German beer and food would not be far behind but that I could find anywhere in Germany too. I just hope I don’t become “ein Berliner” after eating all that food! (Thanks, JFK, for the idea.)

A Quick Switzerland Sampler Trip

Back in the times when I lived in Paris, a fellow expat and I decided it would be a great idea to leave Paris a Friday afternoon and head down to Switzerland by car for the weekend. It was actually crazy and last minute but most definitely worthwhile, even if rushed. We realized we would only be scratching the surface of what western Switzerland has to offer but we kept talking about it as a “research trip” to see how Switzerland was. A sampler trip if you will.

We departed Paris in the late afternoon and drove a few hours to our planned overnight stop at Besançon. We stayed at a small hotel close to the casino. We mistakenly thought it may be interesting to enter the casino but it was way too smoky so we just walked around town and grabbed dinner at a run-of-the-mill cafè. What struck us was that Besançon itself could have been a destination as the city looked like it had areas to explore. A visit for some other time…

Besançon was close to the Swiss border so Saturday morning it did not take us long to make it to Switzerland proper. At the border we had to buy a sticker to allow us to drive a foreign car on Swiss roads – something we were not aware of until we got to the border. We drove in the Jura region which had beautiful scenery (not an uncommon thing in Switzerland!) until we made it to Lausanne. We were not planning on exploring it on this trip so we it was strictly a drive-by. It looked like a town worth checking out but our goal was to get to Bern where we had planned to stay overnight and visit Interlaken that afternoon.

We wanted to see Interlaken that afternoon but since we had no hotel reservations for Saturday night, we drove into Bern first, went to the tourist info office, and got a hotel room. I have to say the tourist info office was fantastic and efficient in helping us secure accommodations. Why am I not surprised or am I stereotyping? 🙂 The small hotel was in the town center and we had fun driving to get to that part of town. Bern is set in an enclave surrounded by the Aar River on 3 sides. One of the best views of the town is actually from the opposite site of the river where you can take in the town’s setting and charming architecture.

After checking in, we quickly departed Bern to hit Interlaken before it was too late in the day. The drive south to Interlaken was very short and, again, beautiful. I remember listening to Billy Joel during the drive but don’t ask me what that has to do with anything; the memory just came up as I typed… Interlaken is, as the name suggests, between lakes and the setting could not be more spectacular. Of course, the tourist shops take away from the scenery a little bit so we walked away from that part of the town (after having a beer!) to find a place to eat that would not be at the heart of the tourist zone (yet, we were tourists – the irony, huh?). We found a nice place and had a great meal. Highlight of the meal was these two young women who were tourists who after the meal ordered what they thought was a dessert and it turned out to be this massive bowl of some sort of soup. They kept giggling and since they were speaking English we asked them what was up. They were embarrassed but we all laughed together at this example of the fun experiences one can have when one explores.

That night in Bern we went out to check out some of the night scene. We ended up sitting outdoors in some bar that seemed happening. We enjoyed sitting out there soaking in the scene before calling it a night.

Sunday came too fast (what did we expect?) and time to head back to Paris. We decided to make our way back via Lucerne where we stopped to have lunch lakeside before the long road ahead. We left Switzerland near Basel and made it “home” safely.

Though the trip was way too short, we enjoyed sampling some of what Switzerland has to offer. And the research trip clearly yielded a desire to go back and spend more time.

Does anyone have recommendations on unique things in Lausanne, Bern, Interlaken or Lucerne to see or do? How about any small towns in that part of the country that are picturesque/worth seeing?