Our first weekend excursion was a trip to Murten, a small medieval town near Neuchatel. Murten itself might have been founded in 1238, but the area has been occupied for around 6000 years. Having been built by the same family that developed Bern, Murten resembles a mini-Bern in a lot of ways. It's also pretty much bilingual, as it is situated right on the border between the French and German speaking areas.
Murten lies very near to the valley where the Swiss Eidgenossenschaft was signed.
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| So these three Sousaphones walk into a bar... |
Our day in Murten began with a tour, which started outside the old outer wall. As I don't remember half of what was said on the tour (it was a pretty cold morning), you're mostly just going to get pictures.
Remember how I said Murten resembles Bern? Well, this is the Murten Zytglogge. Fun fact: the clock face which doesn't face the town only has an hour hand, making it extremely difficult for frozen college students to tell the time.
Flower boxes. I liked the flower boxes on everything.
See that cannon ball up in the wall? It was lodged there by the armies of Charles the Bold. Charles the Bold was the last Valois Duke of Burgundy, and he conquered huge chunks of Europe during his reign. However, he couldn't take the Canton of Bern.
After a fourteen-day siege of Murten, Charles the Bold's army was defeated. Apparently there's an old saying that goes (something along the lines of) "at Grandson he lost his belongings, at Murten he lost his hope, and at Nancy he lost his life." Before attacking the canton that was then Bern, Charles the Bold's army was undefeated.
Know how the U.S has civil war reenactments? Murten has siege reenactments every summer.
First view of the lake of Murten. Apparently the area on the other side produces some of the finest wines in the world.
The town fountain. Everyone has fountains over here.
The original clockwork for the Murten Zytglogge.
A huge tropical garden outside the town wall. Apparently, they get nice weather here in summer.
Guess what that plant is? Well, you're wrong because it's a kiwi plant! Apparently they grow a ton of kiwis in Murten. Who'd've thought?
The hill upon which Charles the Bold camped.
The view from up on the ramparts.
The view of Lake Murten from up on the tower. By this time, it was so cold none of us could feel our lips, fingers, or feet. Being in a huge stone structure at a high altitude didn't help.
Once back on the ground, we attended a short Apero, where we were fed (though not nearly enough!) and served some local wine (it was really good). After that we were realeased to run around on our own for an hour or so. On my way down to the lake, I saw this--my first glimpse of a Carnival band (they were setting up to practice, I think).
Seeing people in funny uniforms marching around with instruments reminded me of band competitions. I felt right at home :)
This was the view from the lake--the water was ridiculously clean and blue. Some kids were trying to fish, but they weren't having much luck at it.
Murten from the point.
There were these weird duck-ish birds swimming around everywhere. They had pointed beaks, like seagulls. I've never seen anything quite like it.
Found this guy in the park near the marina. He made me happy.
See those balls in that tree? Those are wild mistletoe plants. They grow pretty much everywhere over here.
And finally, this guy noticed me taking pictures and swam over to pose:
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