Day trips from Tafers with Marlis and Urs

Tafers, another of the many places in Switzerland where I really feel at home, with long- time friends Marlis and Urs.
Gorgeous fields of sunflowers adorn the rolling fields around Fribourg. 
We had a great programme for my stay. It was fabulous to be introduced to so many new places over the few days. First was very close to home, Düdingen Moos. It was a pleasant afternoon stroll on a warm day. Happily, I didn't see the snake Urs saw! 
The next place was new for me and absolutely fascinating, Magdalena Einsiedelei  Räsch. This hermit's home dug into the petrified sand dunes is an unbelievable 120 metres long, with many rooms, openings to a view over the river, and a large chapel.
The chapel was first used in 1691 and is in exceptionally good condition. 
The majority of the rooms  have sculptures or wall etchings and were probably built at the end of the 17 th century. 
The amazing thing is that the stone dates back 20 million years! 
It had been a wonderful day with the family, joined by Larissa, who I've known since she was a baby, and Levi, her little boy. It's great to know the various generations! 
We finished the day with a visit to Fribourg Open Air  cinema, tucked into the old town walls. The film Bisons was great, but it proved to be a very late night, fortunately with beautiful weather and temperature.
The next day Marlis and Urs had a fantastic full day of visits near the Bielersee planned. First up, La Neuville, a very picturesque,  colourful village, with beautiful fountains and wells. 
The water here was so pretty with all the petals in it, making fabulous patterns and reflections.
The village was more or less deserted, with shops closed over lunchtime. Only the restaurants showed signs of life.
At the base of this tower was the Hotel D'Or. Fortunately, the owner recommended we visit the collection of remarkable marionettes they had in the tower.
There were dozens of the most intricately made puppets, with exotic costumes. 
It was such a magical place - what luck we had.
Not far along the beautiful Bielersee was Landeron, another tiny walled town with lovely colourful homes and restaurants. Not much else happening here!
It was, nevertheless, a very attractive place, peaceful and pretty.
Our final visit was to another very attractive and slightly more touristy place, Erlach . Its castle, up on the hilltop, reminded me of Gruyere. The views down the empty cobbled street to the Bielersee were gorgeous. Empty because everyone else was at or in the lake!
The little pottery had some very interesting items, but not really my style. 
The end of a wonderful day 😊 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tairua and the Coromandel

Image
What a lovely start to the day! Sunrise over Tairua .  Although the journey through to Coromandel was not too many kilometres, the extremely winding roads and passes made it a long, though magnificent journey. The forested mountains here are just marvelous and everything seemed so lush. Our first stop was in Coromandel at the Driving Creek Railway, set up originally by a potter wishing to transport his clay to his pottery. As he needed to pay his debts and people became interested in his tiny little railway, he opened it to the public, and it is certainly worth a visit. Not only is it a feat of engineering and construction, but the views and the forest are sensational.    They have planted thousands of Kauri trees and we learnt some interesting facts about them. When young, they have little leaves sticking out of their trunks, acting as protection but also there to ensure that there is more chance of photosynthesis.  Clever tree! No wonder they get so old....
Read more

Final days Engadine

Image
 The cold days continued a little while, with fresh snow on the slopes just above the camp, and temperatures below zero. It was lovely and snug in the barrel, but going out during the night was not the favorite part of my stay! I was completely spellbound by the phenomenal views when I opened my door in the morning. I've never seen such magnificent clouds before. I'm so pleased I went back for my camera. By the time I returned from my shower, the clouds had changed completely. It was a perfect day spent with Tom, who had ended up in hospital after arriving from Thailand. He had an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite! We had a fabulous walk in the shade of the pine forest near Sils Maria. Such peace and tranquility, and no bikes! I continued from Sils alone to Silvaplana. The scenery is spectacular and the color of the water incredible. It doesn't matter how often you do these walks, they are always different and always breathtaking. As I neared Silvaplana, many kilometers ...
Read more

Day 9 Tromso to Stamsund - a huge day in Vesteralen and the Lofoten islands

Image
 What a day this was! After only 4 hours of very sound sleep, it was time to rise and shine for a very full, but magnificent day in one of the undoubtedly most spectacular areas of Norway, and possibly the World My first tour was entitled 'A taste of Vesteralen'. It started in the little fishing town of Harstad, which is growing very rapidly as Vesteralen grows to meet the needs of the rapidly growing tourist industry, which has now overtaken fishing as the prime industry.The Lofoten Islands are struggling to cope with tourist numbers, and so the very beautiful, and much less visited Vesteralen will be the next destination!  We had an excellent, multi-lingual guide on tour. He was very knowledgeable and funny, speaking German and English fluently, French too. Our first port of call was the Harstadt church, medieval farm and museum. All very interesting.  T farm was just outside Harstad, with gorgeous views over the hills Their cat reminded me of my lovely Big Mike, who so...
Read more