Fribourg - Final

A stop after Bern is Fribourg, a medieval riverside city with people living on the left bank speak French, and people living on the right bank speak German.




The city is known for its cultural plurality, university, gourmet restaurants and bridges over the River Sarine that links the French-speaking and German-speaking part of Switzerland.

From the tower of Saint Nicholas's Cathedral or the Gate of Bourguillon you can have a breathtaking view of Fribourg where you could still see part of the Middle Ages that has survived modernity. This city of art is also a city of studies, owing to its university and of course, it has quite a number of museums. Besides the usual art and culture musems, they even have the Carinal Beer Museum and a Swiss-Sweing Machine Museum. But because this was an unplanned stop, we merely make a brief walk through the old town and explore the nearby places.

The city is pretty much the same as Zurich or Geneva, with familiar brand names in the shopping mall, Fribourg Centre.

The Old Town

"It's cold here sia..."

"Ok lah, just nice for me :)"

Hey, they have a Fr 2.50 shop here, similar to our $2 shop in SG :)

Couldn't resist not looking...


St Nicholas Cathedral

From afar we could see the St Nicholas Cathedral. The main portal is adorned with a low relief depicting the Last Judgement and its stained-glass windows were one of the most important collections on the European continent. They were created by the Polish painter Jozef Mehoffer between 1896 and 1936 and the series was completed in the 1970s by the French painter, Alfred Manessier. Sometimes certain things really need time to create and construct...ulike now, everything has to be done quick. We can execute many things much faster than the people in the olden days, yet we still have no time...

This cathedral also has a tower for climbing which cosnsists of 368 steps. I guess both of us have had enough of tower climbing for now. And having seen quite a no. of cathedrals for the past 2 days, we decided to just view it's beauty from afar :)




The tiny train passing by. It's a guided tour (in French and German with sheets in English and Italien at the excursion departure point). The tour is about an hour which will bring you to the scenic spots in Fribourg. Cost CHF 10 for adults and CHF 5.50 for children. 15 pax will be at CHF 8.50 each for adults and CHF 5 each for children.

Operating hours:
May and Sept: Tue to Sun: 2pm and 3pm
June: Tue to Sun : 2pm, 3pm and 4pm
July and Aug: Tue to Sun: 10.30am, , 2pm, 3pm and 4pm
October: Sat and Sun: 2pm and 3pm






So happily and cautiously we went down, down, down...

and down...

and down..

Until we reached the Central Bridge.

Built in 1720, this bridge replaced a covered wooden bridge from 1275. Gosh, this bridge is really old!

From here you could view the Bourguillon cliffs.

And yes, we have to go up and up and up...back to where we came from.
Uncle Tan didn't wana take the lift up which cost...I also didn't know know how much cos he wanted to climb the stairs thinking that it would be a good exercise...if only I could take a picture of how far we are from the top, you too would protest taking the stairs...so I willingly agreed to let him carry my barang barang this time when he offered.

I'm not sure if he regretted taking the stairs thou cos something happened after the trip.

Back to the train station back to Zurich...ah...home sweet home......

Oh about Uncle Tan's 'misfortunes'...
He was on MC for 2 days on Tues, because of.....buttock-ache! hahaha........ ;D

Sorry, not trying to be mean but when he complained about his butt-ache, I was laughing non-stop cos I only suffered calve muscle aches. I do have butt muscle aches before after bowling but that would be ok by the next day. He said he felt a sharp pain each time he coughs, laughs and when he walks...so when he told me he decided to see a doctor, I just couldn't help but to laugh...and ask how he would tell the doc his ailment.

But apparently, this is the common ailment among the Swiss as the moment when the doctor saw him walking slowly into his room, he knew immediately what the problem was. So he was prescribed medication for a few days and had 2 days MC. It was a common ailment here because most of the roads here are not flatted roads, hence, chances of getting your nerves 'go out of place' are high. Also, incorrect posture to carry heavy items could also result in this. Ok, so I stopped my teasing and laughing thou I would still giggle at times when I think about it.

So the advice for the day is: Wear good walking shoes and, don't 'over climb' haha ;D