🇨🇭 Bern, Switzerland | The First Piece of My Travel Puzzle 🧩

(Exit Bern Station, turn left—the city is best explored on foot. Buses optional. P.S. Thanks, Xiaohongshu, for the McDonald’s restroom code! 🚻) 🏛️ A Stroll Through Time Bern’s streets are a living museum. Each uniquely crafted door whispers: "You belong here." At 3 PM, on my way back to the station, I stumbled upon a street-side bookcase under the arcades. The yellowed pages revealed hand-drawn maps of 19th-century Bern—hotels, mountains, inked in fading colors. Inside the shop, a bespectacled old bookseller (white shirt, scholarly hunch) told me: "These books were printed in the 1800s—back when spines were stitched by hand." Most were in French; a few in English. My high-school French failed me, so I asked to photograph them. He smiled shyly: "Go ahead." Lesson learned: AI won’t replace the magic of real language. 💎 The Shop of Echoes Next door, a crystal necklace display lured me in. Pushing the heavy wooden door triggered a chime that vibrated like a singing bowl—still humming when I noticed: No crystals inside, but Persian rugs draped floor-to-ceiling. The shopkeeper (a silver artisan) showed me 200-year-old cutlery: 🔪 Bone-handled knife (from local wildlife) 🔪 Carved wooden spoon (pre-industrial Swiss craft) We bonded over broken English: "Chinese visitors used to haggle here," he laughed, reminiscing pre-pandemic crowds. As my train neared, we shook hands—"Come back!"—and the door chime sang farewell. 🚂 Departure Under the Sun Sprinting to the station, I bottled Bern’s essence: Old books. Echoing chimes. The warmth of strangers. #Switzerland #BernDiaries #CityWalk #HiddenGems