Dwight Peck's personal Web site

Marlowe's visit to Switzerland,
June 2003

Fribourg

Newly graduated from high school, soon to be off to Uni, Marlowe visits the Old Dad in Switzerland.

You may not find this tangibly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

Marlowe Tyson Peck

• aware that Fribourg is a charming small city of 33,000 inhabitants (2/3 Swiss citizens and 1/3 happy, well-integrated foreigners) in the "plateau" region of Switzerland;
• and also aware that Fribourg (which means "free city") lies right on the "rösti curtain", named after tasty Swiss-German potato dishes, which divides the German-speaking part of Switzerland to the northeast towards Bern from the French-speaking part to the south in the direction of Lausanne and Geneva;
• and also aware that Fribourg is therefore also called Freiburg sometimes (like Freiburg in southwestern Germany, which has been a Free Imperial City since the middle ages);
• and certainly not unaware that the highly regarded University, best known for its faculties of Theology and Law, conducts most of its meetings and seminars in English since the French- and German-speaking participants consider English to be neutral ground, with no undue advantage to either side --

lets Dad take a photo on the bridge leading down towards the cathedral.

A very up and down sort of historical city, with the University rather high up and descending then to the central area around the cathedral (above) -- with the little side-street café (left) that served a very acceptable Coca-Cola in June 2003.

Marlowe admires the cathedral's artwork, rows of demented saints on the left and lost souls being prodded off stage-right into the Black Pit . . .

and a big red bishop presiding over all the carnage.

Nonetheless, it seems to be a pretty worthy cathedral even now -- we can't speak for the inside because a very long wedding was in progress. (The marriage may well end up being shorter.)

From the cathedral level, Marlowe's thinking of descending still further towards the mighty Rhine-bound river La Sarine, where the original old town was clustered about the bridges at the bottom of quite a large gorge or ravine.

The view of the Sarine from Marlowe's bridge (above), with a very picturesque wooden covered bridge below.

Trotting along down to the picturesque wooden bridge.

The narrator resting aging knees at the picturesque covered wooden bridge on the Sarine.

More views at Sarine level.

Marlowe in front of the Auberge de L'Ange, appropriately.

More of the old town at river level (in what's probably two hours of sunlight a day). (In summer.) (None at all in winter.)

Steeply back up to the central city.

Marlowe and a lost kitty.

Back to the cathedral area for another excellent Coca-Cola.

And then striding back to the car park to go home again. And so Marlowe does, at the end of a brief 10-day sojourn in the old country -- back to the USA for preparations for college life in Canada.
Good luck, Marlowe.

Feedback and suggestions are welcome if positive, resented if negative, . All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 21 September 2003, revised 8 March 2008.