Day 7 : Thun

Monday 11 July 2011 we woke up and relaxed in the house.  At about 9:30 we walked with R & V from their apartment to Thun Altstad.  We had to climb a lot of stairs to get to the Stadtkirche (City church).  The church has a pretty tower and garden.  There are graves with beautiful crosses between the plants around the church.  Mom was so happy to be able to talk English that she had a long conversation with an American woman outside the church.

Schloss Thun
Stadtkirche
We walked to the Thun castle, Schloss Thun.  The Dukes of Zähringen built the castle shortly before 1200. Inside the castle is a museum and our Swiss pass worked again.  It was free for us to enter but R & V had to pay CHF 8 each.  We walked through the great hall.  Then went downstairs to see displays of dolls, clocks and clothing.  The towers were used as prison cells and the locks are still on the doors.  We also went up some stairs to the military displays.  I climbed some more stairs to the top of the towers.  There was a beautiful view of Thun, the river and Lake Thun (Thunersee).
Schloss Thun
View from Schloss Thun Tower
We then went down stairs into Thun's Old Town and walked to the Rathausplatz.  In the square we saw the Rathaus (Town Hall), built in 1685, it houses the City Council Hall and archives.  From the square there is a beautiful view of the castle.  We walked towards the station through the Old Town with Hauptgasse.  The sidewalks are higher than the street level and you have to go down stairs to reach the shop entrances.  I love the pretty houses sitting close together in the old streets.  We crossed the Aare River on the Untere Schleuse (Upper Lock) and continued to the train station.
Rathaus
Untere Schleuse (Upper Lock) over Aare River
Earlier in the day Ariane called and asked if we wanted to go up the Niesen mountain.  We decided to go but before meeting her at the station we went to buy some picnic food at Coop. We then traveled to the Niesenbahn.
Location: Thun, Switzerland

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