Switzerland is laced together
by an efficient train system.
Its trains are fast, frequent,
and easy to use,
taking you effortlessly and scenically
from downtown
to downtown.
Our next stop -- the capital city, Bern.
The city of Bern is built on a peninsula
created by a hairpin turn of the Aare River.
Its pointy towers
and arcaded streets make it one of Europe's
finest surviving medieval towns.
Bern is stately but accessible,
classy but fun.
The city, founded in 1191,
has managed to avoid war damage
and hasn't burned down since 1405.
After that fire, wooden buildings were discouraged
and Bern gained its gray-green sandstone complexion.
Colorful 16th-century fountains are Bern's trademark.
They were commissioned to brighten up the stony cityscape,
to show off the town's wealth,
and to remind citizens of local heroes and events.
The city is named for its mascot, a bear,
and bears are a reoccurring theme all over town.
This famous clock tower was part of the main gate
of the original town wall.
One side of it has a playful mechanical show,
appropriate in this country so famous for its timepieces.
The clock, which dates back to 1530,
still performs each hour.
[ Bells dinging ]
While you can see the medieval clock mechanism
from inside -- fascinating in this land
of clock and watchmakers --
most people enjoy the show from outside.
[ Rooster crows ]
At the top of the hour,
the rooster crows,
the bears promenade,
as the happy jester comes to life.
Father time turns his hourglass.
And the rooster crows once more,
as he has for about 500 years.
In its day, this was a high-tech marvel.
In this elegant city,
you may brush elbows with some high-powered legislators,
but you wouldn't know it.
Everything feels casual for a national capital.
The Swiss are very comfortable
with their own style of democracy.
The Swiss government is a bicameral system,
actually inspired by the United States Constitution,
with one big difference --
executive power is shared
by a committee of seven
with a rotating ceremonial president
and a passion for consensus.
This is a mechanism to avoid a power grab
by a single individual --
a safeguard the Swiss believe
strengthens and protects their democracy.
Observant travelers will notice how the Swiss government deals
with its social problems with pragmatism and innovation.
Too many cars and chronically unemployed people?
Create a program providing free loaner bikes,
run by people who would otherwise
be collecting unemployment benefits.
Like the United States, Switzerland's dealing
with a persistent drug abuse problem.
The Swiss believe the purpose of a nation's drug policy
should be to reduce the harm drugs cause their society.
Like many Europeans, they treat substance abuse
more as a health problem than a criminal problem.
Rather than fill their jails, the Swiss employ methods
they find are both more compassionate
and more pragmatic.
For instance,
to help fight the spread of aids
and other diseases, street-side vending machines
dispense government-subsidized needles, cheap and safe.
There are needle-disposal boxes.
Many public toilets are lit by blue lights.
If users can't find their veins, they'll shoot up elsewhere --
it's hoped at heroin maintenance centers,
which provide addicts
with counseling, clean needles,
and a safe alternative to the streets.
And casual use of marijuana is tolerated.
Locals pass joints with no apparent worries
in the shadow of the cathedral,
ignored by others who simply enjoy life
in a society that believes
tolerating alternative lifestyles
makes more sense than building more prisons.