• CH & IT Roadtrip
    Berntor (Bern Gate) is the main entrance into the walled Old Town — Murten.
    The Catholic Church is just south of the Törliplatz Gate — Murten.A photo op on our way to the Törliplatz Gate — Murten.From the ramparts of the old city walls — Murten.From the ramparts of the old city walls — Murten.The Catholic Church from the ramparts of the old city walls — Murten.On the ramparts of the old city walls and looking up into the roof of one of the towers— Murten.From the ramparts of the old city walls — Murten.Towers and turrets ... From the ramparts of the old city walls — Murten.A twisted chimney! ... From the ramparts of the old city walls — Murten.The German Church in Old Town — Murten.Love all the flowers decorating the houses — Murten.Charming Old Town Murten.A painting from a temporary exhibit at the Rathaus (Town Hall) — Murten.Inner Courtyard of the castle — Murten.The Murten Elephant!The Murten Museum ... closed when we were there.Rübenloch ... saved from being demolished due to lack of funds — Murten.Three of the fountains around Old Town — Murten.Bye bye Murten ... through the Berntor.

    Bern: Day 2 … Exploring Murten

    July 16 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    We had two options for our second day in Bern — return to the city to explore what we missed the first day; or explore one of the nearby towns. We opted for the latter … Murten being our choice out of the many interesting places in the vicinity.

    Bordering German- and French-speaking Switzerland, Murten — is a charming town … its Old Town within fortified walls. The Germans refer to it by the name I am using in this footprint. The French refer to it as Morat. Similarly, the lake that the town overlooks is known by both names. The town was founded by the Dukes of Zähringen in 1157. In 1416, a devastating fire destroyed the wooden homes. Rebuilding was done in stone … just as they did in Bern. The cityscape we enjoyed today dates back the the 17th and 18th centuries.

    The main entrance into the walled city is through Berntor (Bern Gate). We entered through the back, stopping to check out the Catholic parish church of Morat just outside the walls … built in 1481 in the late-Gothic style … beautiful stained glass windows.

    Once we entered Old Town through the Törliplatz Gate, we spotted the stairs that give access to the walkable rampart walls and headed up there … and then up several levels through a tower or two to enjoy more of the beautiful cityscape … dotted with towers and turrets. This experience alone confirmed our decision to visit Murten today as being the right one … everything else was a bonus.

    Back down on street level, we stopped in at the German Church … built within the walls in 1710 in the Baroque style … yes, more beautiful stained glass windows. Nearby, homes decorated with colorful flowers charmed us. Narrow, cobblestone alleys eventually led us to the main street — Hauptgasse … lined with arcades housing shops and restaurants. Skipping the hub-bub here, we walked to the next street over for a quieter stroll that took us to the castle … built by the Savoys in 1255 … today’s castle is from 500 years later. A quick look-see around the grounds and we were on our way again.

    Next, we sought out the Murten Elephant — a remembrance of an incident 150 years ago that saw a bull elephant going on a rampage through the city. The nearby Murten Museum was unfortunately closed, so we retraced our steps, this time walking down Hauptgasse … after a quick photo op at Rübenloch, a late-Gothic style building.

    After checking out some pastry shops and restaurants — none of which appealed to us at that moment — we decided to return to our apartment. But first … cold beverages at a café next to Berntor. “Cash only” … we read. “No problem” … we thought. Except that, as it turns out, our Swiss Francs predate the currency change Switzerland underwent a few years back. Our Euros were in the safe at the apartment and no help to us. Good news? Mui exchanged our now-no-good Francs at the Fribourg Bank in town for the new Francs and we were able to go on our merry way without having to wash dishes at the café 🤪.

    By 5:00p, we were back at the apartment.

    Our bags are now repacked and we are ready to move on tomorrow to our next base of operations.    Read more