[Faith's blog] “Annus Mirabilis”

Dear Blueshift readers, you don’t know me; let me introduce myself. My name is Faith, and I’m a part of the small herd of undergraduate interns that descend on Goddard Space Flight Center each summer. While most interns will be spending their summers participating in exciting research projects with Goddard scientists, I have the pleasure of working with the Blueshift team here to bring you the inside scoop on what’s going on at Goddard and within the broader astronomy world. Before coming to Goddard, I spent 4 months traveling rather extensively through Europe, parts of the Balkans, and Japan. And being something of an astrophile, I found my way to a number of fascinating astronomy-related sites in the process, so keep your eyes open for some of my adventures!

This first one comes at you from Bern, the capitol of Switzerland, buried deep in the heart of Western Europe. Unlike its more metropolitan cousins, Zurich and Geneva, Bern has retained its medieval charm, characterized by ubiquitous greenish grey sandstone buildings and nearly 4 miles of arcades (covered sidewalks), all surrounded by extensive city walls and embellished with bear figurines everywhere (Bern’s traditional symbol). The fact that Bern still looks nearly exactly as it did 500 years ago makes it one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval cities and has earned it the title of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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