This year I have been able to take
advantage of a great offer several times: day cards for the entire train system
in Switzerland. Most villages in the
Canton of Geneva (and probably in other cantons as well) offer a day card valid
in second class for all of Switzerland at a most affordable price to their
residents. One can buy up to 5 such cards for any one day, but it is strictly
on a come-first basis so holidays and weekends are quickly taken. For those of us with the luxury of being able
to travel mid-week it is windfall. So
far this year I have been to Einsiedeln and Basel with one friend, then back to
Basel with another and this trip with yet another to St.Gallen.
Most trips are a great combination of good
company, interesting visits, glorious scenery and at least one museum, church
or otherwise enlightening discovery and this excursion was no different.
We had originally thought of going to
Budapest, but the price and the lack of time had us deciding to stay in
Switzerland and go see a city that neither of us knew well: we had both been
before but so long ago that a repeat was welcome.
An early morning start enabled us to
arrive, dump our luggage such as it was in the Weissenstein City Hotel http://www.cityweissenstein.ch/de/home.asp
(very well located close to everything in the main part of Old Town yet on a
quiet back street and near the train station) and head straight down the street
for lunch.
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| Weissenstein City Hotel, St. Gallen |
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| Got to even keep the rubber duckie! |
Great Swiss-German fare, quickly served at a reasonable price the
daily menu featured pumpkin soup followed by a meat fricassee in sauce and the
local “noodle” Spätzli – these were
flavoured with “green” or “spring” garlic.
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| deco at the restaurant where we ate lunch |
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| sugar - just for my sister |
We then headed into the Old Town and the
Abbey. First surprise – and I really
should have known given the name – it was an Irish monk by the name of Gallus
who erected a hermitage on the site in 612 (he was wandering Europe and found
this quite patch of forest and decided that was the place for him).
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| just one of the many windows throughout town |
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| another window |
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| and yet another: the carvings were so precise |
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| And another |
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| One of the older buildings: many had the wood inlays |
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| Detail on one of the columns |
Approx. 100
years later the Aleman Otmar extended the original hermit’s cell into an abbey.
By the 9th century this monastic community was known throughout the
Western World and enjoyed great influence not only in religious and scholarly
matters but also economically (the St. Gallen school of business and law is
still well known and appreciated in Europe). Another period of renown was
enjoyed during the 17th and 18th centuries. However the Abbey was dissolved in 1805 and
the already existing library returned to the care of the Catholic
Administration of the newly founded canton. Built in the mid-1700s the hall of
the library is of Late Baroque style and is considered today to be one of the
finest library buildings in the world.
Being in this hall surrounded by books, 400 of which are from before
1’000 AD, and another additional 500 from in between 1’000 and 1’500 AD will
remain one of the more memorable events of my life. We won’t however go into the merits of some
of these, written as they were by the dominant persons to maintain power over
the lessor population: some of the punishments were dire. And the ways of
attributing punishments beyond comprehension, for example the monk could pray
to God that if you were guilty this would be shown when you couldn’t swallow
whatever they decided to give you to eat. Most people of course were guilty as
they were so panic stricken as to not be able to swallow.
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| postcard of the Library |
We duly took in the history of the entire
complex – labelled an Unesco Heritage site in 1983 - downstairs before coming back down to earth
and heading for the cathedral. Where we
promptly stood in awe and wonder at the decorations. To the Late Baroque have
been added various more modern touches including a baptismal fount conceived in
such a manner that the still water reflects the ceiling above.
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| Part of the complex of the St.Gallen Abbey |
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| From the side |
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| Inside the cathedral |
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| baptismal font |
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| reflection in the baptismal font |
Upon returning to the outside and sunlight
we were in need of more mundane sustenance, i.e. afternoon coffee and a treat.
Vivendi was greatly enjoyed not only for its’ chocolate offerings, but also for
the spring-like colors and decorations.
Out in the square the local flower shop had
done themselves proud with decorations. Then wandering around we happened upon
a cog-train and said “why not”. Up the hill where we had the great good luck,
upon asking when it returned, one of the locals told us that we needed to go up
another set of stairs from which we would be able to see the whole of the town
below us, but also in the distance enjoy seeing Germany and the Lake of
Constance.
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| with Easter just around the corner the flower shops were doing it right |
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| Muhleggbahn - funicular up the mountain |
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| View from the path up from the funicular |
Once back down the hill we had had a
surfeit and returned to the hotel to get off our feet, absorb what we had seen
and in general take a break.
Beer and a sandwich in a local pub were
enough for dinner.
The second day it was a spot of shopping
then a visit to the Textile Museum as this area of Switzerland is famous for
its cloth and lace. I particularly
appreciated the fact that our entry “tickets” were pieces of cloth.
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| Weaving loom that still operates |
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| "Library" of cloth. Samplers through the ages |
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| Example of a sampler |
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| Even the entry ticket was made in cloth! |
Just as fascinating in another way, we felt
that we had truly enjoyed the best of trips.
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| The only remaining city gate |
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| part of the old wall - a corner tower |
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| The map of the Abbey complex |
But we weren’t quite ready to quit so on
the way home, we stopped in Zurich and S introduced me to one of her favourite
restaurants (she had lived in Zurich for several years before landing in
Geneva). Another great Swiss speciality: Rösti with cheese and bacon (sop to my
conscience – a green salad).
We managed to waddle back to the train
station – dinner tonight was redundant!
