Day 2 : Chur

We woke early on 6 July 2011 and had a lovely breakfast in the hotel.  After one last walk in Zurich Altstad we checked out of the hotel and walked to Zürich Hauptbahnhof.  We were to early for our train. In South Africa we don’t have a lot of public transport and the bit we have is not very reliable.  During the whole holiday we were always to early for our trains and would usually be the first people to get on.
Zurich, Switzerland
Zurich Hauptbahnhof
The train ride from Zurich to Chur is about 1.5 hours.  The train wasn’t full and it was a very relaxing journey.  After leaving Zurich we rode next to the lake.  It was a nice day and people were walking and swimming.  There was a lot of green land and beautiful mountains.  We used the time to read about Chur and just enjoy the view.
Chur, Switzerland
Chur - Postplatz
After arriving in Chur we first stored our luggage in a locker on the station and got a map at the information center.  We walked via Bahnhofstrasse to the Altstad (old town).  We stopped at Postplatz and continued via Poststrasse.  We passed the Rathaus (Town hall) and Kirche St Martin (Church of St Martin)
Chur, Switzerland
Chur - Rathaus

Chur, Switzerland
Chur - Church of St. Martin
Chur is the oldest town in Switzerland. While reading about Switzerland I found information about Chur’s Catherdal and I realy wanted to visit the it.  After passing Kirche St Martin we took a wrong turn and almost missed the cathedral. After our detour (with views of the vineyards in the town) we finally found the cathedral.

St. Maria Himmelfahrt / Cathedral of the Assumption
Chur - Cathedral

St. Maria Himmelfahrt (Cathedral of the Assumption)
St. Maria Himmelfahrt (Cathedral of the Assumption) was built between 1178 and 1282.  The inside was incredible.  There is stained glass windows and paintings on the walls and ceiling.  There are different altars.  We walked around the outside of the cathedral and found a pretty graveyard (Friedhof Hof) with flowers between the graves. 
St. Maria Himmelfahrt (Cathedral of the Assumption)
St. Maria Himmelfahrt (Cathedral of the Assumption)
St. Maria Himmelfahrt (Cathedral of the Assumption)
Chur - Friedhof Hof
We walked back through the old town and 14:00 we were on the train to Bever.
Location: Chur, Switzerland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eyewitness Travel Guides – A Book Review

Image
  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Trave...
Read more

Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê

Image
   Weather vane on the VGK Church in Carnarvon    This photo made me think of a song we used to sing as kids.    It is a traditional Afrikaans song about the rooster on top of the church. The words of the song and its translation: Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower Dis die haan, Dis die haan It’s the rooster, It’s the rooster Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower More about all the churches and other buildings we saw in Carnarvon in the next post.
Read more

Dutch Reformed Mother Church, George

Image
One of my favourite sights in George is the white Dutch Reformed Mother Church with the beautiful Outeniqua Mountain as background.   I have many memories of visiting this church: On a history class trip when I was about 10, for a art class when I was about 13, for my cousins wedding in 2004, for her baby’s christening a few years later and many other times.   But most of all I like seeing this church every time we drive through town.   The cornerstone for the church was laid on 14 April 1832.   Slaves were used for some of the building work like the digging of the six-foot deep by five-foot wide foundations.   Due to financial problems it took 12 years to complete the church and it was consecrated in 9 October 1842.  The church is a National Heritage Site. On 13 September 1905 disaster struck when the church tower collapsed.   The wood rotted from water damage and lead to the walls weakening.   After a lot of rain for two days t...
Read more