Des Aventures

Old Rich People made some pretty cool buildings.

Hello Internet,

I know, I know, my post is late this week. I’m sure you were up all night on Sunday, just waiting for my blog post and I’m sorry that it never came. The classes that I am enrolled in these first six weeks are very fast-paced in order to fit them into the short time span. Therefore, I had two papers due this weekend, plus a presentation on Monday. Hence, my post was pushed back, BUT I still managed to do some pretty awesome stuff this past week.

To begin, last week, I took a trip to Nyon, Switzerland. Nyon is a small lake-side town about 15 minutes north of Geneva. It was beautiful, the views across the lake were to die for, but that’s not why I was there. I went to Nyon for the Roman museum. Nyon was the sight of a Roman settlement from approximately 58 B.C. until some point in the 5th century. With this, Archaeologists have found a lot of  remains of the civilizations that used to live where the modern day city now resides. I traveled to Nyon for this museum as I used it and their findings as the topic for one of my papers and I was NOT disappointed. Le Musée Romain in Nyon is built underground in order to incorporate the foundation of the Roman basilica that was found there. So when you’re walking around this museum, you are surrounded by walls put up by Romans approximately 2000 years ago. It was absolutely incredible to see, there was so much history in that museum. In addition, they have other artifacts that they have found in the area of Nyon, which are also very cool to see.

Julius Caesar statue in Nyon.

Roman inscriptions

The museum layout

Carvings

Corinthian Capital

Tiled Mosaic

This past Saturday, BU took us to Gruyère, Switzerland. Gruyère is a small town in the middle of Switzerland that, as you probably know by its name, is known for its cheese. So our trip began with a stop at the Cailler chocolate factory where we got a tour of the facility that ended with a tasting room where we got to eat way too much chocolate. I felt awful afterward, especially because it was like 10 in the morning but it was so worth it. Next, we made our way to the old town of Gruyère. Here, we split off for lunch and I had the Swiss specialty for the first time: fondue. It was very good. The cheese was amazing and the little dish they brought it out in was really cool, it was a little pot with almost like a bunsen burner under it. It is quite expensive, so I don’t think I liked it enough to get it again but it was something that I had to try. The town of Gruyère is enclosed by walls and has tremendous history. The houses, restaurants, and hotels in the town all make it look medieval. After that, we had a tour of the castle that was at the top of the hill in Gruyère. The castle was in great shape and offered some amazing views around the area. Gruyère is situated right in the middle of the Alps and is surrounded on all sides by mountains. The views were incredible. But don’t take my word for it, I have pictures, of course:

Gruyère

Gruyère

Gruyère

Gruyère

Gruyère

Gruyère

Gruyère

Gruyère

The Fondue Meal

Gruyère

Gruyère

Gruyère

On Sunday, I took a day trip to Basel. Basel is in the north of Switzerland and is situated on the border of both France and Germany. Therefore, one of its main attractions is what they call the “three corners”, where you look over a river and on your right is Germany, on the left is France, and you’re standing on Switzerland. It was neat to see and of course, I did that. I also made it to a few museums and the cathedral, all of which were so cool. Basel, even though feeling the wrath of the reformation just like Geneva, was able to protect much of its old Catholic treasure and it was on display in the one history museum and it was breathtaking. Also, Basel is one of the few cities where the government actually uses tax payer money to buy art and historical artifacts, so the museums are incredible. Overall, a great day trip and it only took 2 hours and 45 minutes by train to get there and back. I love the train system here.

Basel City Hall

Münster Cathedral

Basel City Hall

Münster Cathedral

Münster Cathedral

Münster Cathedral

Münster Cathedral

Münster Cathedral

Really old dead guy, Münster Cathedral

Münster Cathedral

Münster Cathedral

Basel City Hall

That’s it for now, talk soon!

Best,

Matthew