How (not) to go to the cinema in Bern!

The cinema in Bern

Let me share with you one of my funniest travel experiences in Switzerland: going to cinema in Bern!

Already the fact that it is a movie experience is quite funny considering I am not a cinema person, I don`t think I have been more than 4-5 times in the past 10+ years since I moved to the country.

The story starts in a sunny summer afternoon when my friend and I decided, since both of us were new to the country, to have an adventure weekend, to pick a spot randomly on the map to discover our new home and to sleep where the night find us.

The morning after, with full of expectations and excitement, we started our journey. After several stops of the spontaneous discovery of our trip, we have ended up in Bern, where we decided to spend the night.

While walking in the old town of Bern in the afternoon looking for an accommodation, we saw a poster advertising a new film both of us fancied (James Bond if you are interested- but no, not the one with Pierce Brosnan what I consider the best 😉).

We went into the cinema, checked the program and bought two tickets for a show later in the evening.

When the time came, we returned to the cinema, bought popcorn and fizzy drinks (because they are necessary for a good movie experience!) and started to que to get into the theatre.

Where is the right movie-theatre?

This is the point when thing got interesting! If you are not familiar with the cinema network in Bern, they have- or at least that time, around 10 years ago- they had plenty of small movie theaters in the old town close to each other and each and every one was selling tickets to several locations.

If you guess we have ended up in the wrong cinema, you are right! We were not aware of this system and did not recognize until we had to show our ticket for control at the entrance of the theatre that we supposed to be somewhere else.

Luckily, we had some spare time to find the right place. However, I am sure the locals and tourist on the street had a great time watching the two crazy women running up and down on the main steer of the old town of Bern, with a big popcorn in one hand and a big drink in the other, looking for the correct destination.

We have arrived just in time the movie started.

The story did not end there!

In the middle of the film, at the most exciting moment when Bond was about to do something extraordinary, the projection suddenly stopped, and the lights were switched on.

We did not understand what happened, we assumed that there was a technical issue, but the others enlightened us, that there was no problem, just had a regular break to refill the food and drink supply.

Well, you know the phrase, when in Rome…. So, we utilized a break to have an ice cream before we enjoyed the rest of the film, this time without interruption until the end.

The entire situation was just so ridiculous, that we could not stop laughing, we barely slept that night. We still laugh a lot when the story pops up in discussions.

At the end, despite our travel was full of adventure, spontaneity and discovery, this movie experience was truly the highlight of the weekend!

My learnings

My main take away of this experience is, that if you are not aware of the habits and the culture of the place you visit, you might find yourself in strange situations, but that is not necessarily a bad thing 😊

What is your funniest travel story? Let me know via A25icXdiQ2JkYndmZntzZnFqZm1gZi1gbG4@nospam!

Wishing a week full of fun and adventure!

Marta