The town of Morat lies on Lac Morat (one of the 'three lakes' in our region) or Murtensee. I'm calling it Morat, because I'm from Suisse Romand ;) It is supposed to be one of the best examples of a medieval town in Europe. Naturally, it's on our list of 'things to get done', so we did it twice this month! The first time at New Year and the second this week with my parents.
On the 2nd January we decided to go and take a look, as everything here was still closed and no-one was around. It's in the canton of Fribourg, so maybe the holidays were different.... By train it's only 20 minutes, and we aimed at lunch in one of the world renowned patisseries there. Everything was closed, except for one busy busy patisserie. Walter got a selection which we ate in the main street on a perch. It was quite nice, sitting in a covered medieval street, munching on delicious pastry and bread creations. The shops (from what we could see) were all lovely, twee places, and I'm glad they were shut.
Walter and the boys finish lunch.
The police station, site of the old gaol, with the Fribourg flag.
"Look up Kate, there's another piece of charming medieval architecture"
Next stop were the famous walls, which were fortified using stones from a French speaking church to keep out "Charles the Bold' of Burgundy. I'm not sure why he was bold... The views were fantastic, and the heights a little sick making. We walked along them to the church at the end, of which a portion is medieval.
G'Parents and boy round the back of the church.
A grave on the outside of the church.
A couple of panos on the walls.
By that time we were suitably knackered and no tantrums had been had, so we didn't flog a dead horse and went home.
The Swiss have the reputation of 'good garbage management'. Any sacs on the street have to be officially sanctioned. We thought this was a bit of an exaggeration since we hadn't seen any....till now.
On the way to (or from) the old town, there was a nice park. Perfect for rewarding little boys who had put up with traipsing around town.
My Dad resting in the sun. THe walls are in the background.
Before Christmas, one could find Mistletoe in local florists, by the bunch. I have never seen real mistletoe, as it only grows in places with no pollution. This is what it looks like in the wild- birdsnest clumps, parasitising the host tree! We saw it everywhere on the train to Morat.
1 comment:
An actual *gasp* seesaw? And I see there's a little guy on a scooter behind them ON the grass. I guess they really are ubiquitous! Wini is the only kid riding her scooter to school (although these days it's too cold).
We enjoyed seeing Walt! We scarfed down a mountain of sushi at Ocean Garden. We should have taken a picture!
Miss you guys - happy early birthday for Alee (did I spell that right?)!!
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