A long time ago, people lived here and they had funny names

Friday, 8 August 2008

European Adventure Travel Day 7
Murten and Avenches, Switzerland

To get to Murten on Friday morning, J and I had to endure a really long day on Thursday (map of adventure). After parts one, two and three ,we took a night train from Buchs through Bern to Fribourg. We stayed in a hostel tucked into the back of a hospital, where we were greeted by the sound of vigorous vomiting when we went to brush our teeth. Clean, tidy nice place though. It was pouring rain when we got into town.

Friday morning we took a train to Murten, another small, walled, old city not far from Fribourg, on the shores of Lake Murten. The town is famous for its defeat of Charles the Bold. Good name. Hereafter, I request to be addressed as Meagan the Bold. I digress. Murten has a 13th century castle, which is privately owned and not available for touring, but cool nonetheless.

Château de Murten

The town wall is different than that of Lucerne's. It's a narrow walk encircling the town, and you can almost reach out and touch the steep rooftops of the houses. We were there early in the morning and all was quiet, except for some laborers discussing the day's project down in the street. One of them saw us, so I waved at him and he nodded. All four of his friends immediately turned and waved at us.

The wall of Murten

Next we boarded a train for Avenches, which you must pronounce in a French accent (aaaahh-vonsh), or the ticket people will stare at you confusedly while you stammer and gesture. This is French Switzerland, after all... We got there and had to walk up a hill from the station to the old part of town (which is very common), but our ability to translate signs into actual directions was a bit off, so we wandered in circles for awhile before seeing anything that looked remotely ancient. the first thing happened to be the ampitheatre, around which scaffolding was being erected for the summer open-air rock festival. I'm sure Dionysius is proud.

Avenches was once Aventicum, the capital of Roman Helvetia, founded around 72 BC. Once a city of 20,000, it's now home to about 2600. The ruins at Avenches include the ampitheatre (which was actually of a respectable size- eventually enlarged to 16,000 seats, or half the size of the Colosseum), thermal baths, theatre, sanctuary, temple, walls and gate.

The Roman ampitheatre of Aventicum: once held gladiator battles, now holds rock and opera concerts

This is the Roman sanctuary, or rather, the column that remains. It's named for the storks that nested on it. A golden bust of the emperor Marcus Aurelius was found here.

Sanctuaire du Cigognier - Aventicum

Past the sanctuary was the theatre, where we spent the most time. Having never been to Rome, these are my first Roman ruins, and it's absolutely crazy to think that the yellow wildflowers have taken up residence on the stone steps that were filled with people laughing and talking and living two thousand years ago. Maybe it's because I'm from a "baby" country, but even the "1202" scratched on one of the stones gave us pause.

Roman theatre

I like history. I like big words, pompous language, and standing in places of importance. I think it's neat that Swiss money is called "CHF," which stands for Confederation Helvetica francs. However, standing on Roman ruins is one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. It amazes me that so much of the grandeur of days gone by has survived for us to see.

Foreground: Roman theatre. Background: Roman sanctuary and the town of Avenches

I just like this picture.

While J and I were trying to find the ruins, we were wandering the cobbled streets of the town in the wrong direction and we saw a cat. This cat was sunning itself on the street when it caught sight of a moth. At first, the cat ignored the moth while it fluttered and hovered, then the cat began idly batting at it. The cat got more and more into the game, catching the moth in its teeth and letting it go, then sitting on the moth and looking confused. Finally, the cat twirled and leaped after the moth down the street. We named him Gladiator Cat, in honor of the location and because of what he put that moth through. It was hysterical, though.

The people of Avenches are absolutely lovely and so helpful. I highly recommend a visit to this place.