My First Full Day in Thun

My first full day in Thun,

time to explore!

Woke up, looked out my window

and amazingly it was snowing

Icelandia South

The snow said loudly that the new flat needed a name. In Sweden, the accommodations were dubbed "Icelandia."

Icelandia South seems an easy, if predictable and/or unimaginative pick. I live in the top or brown apartment.

At 10:00 a.m., I was joined by Philipp Baumann, one of the Tigers' power brokers. We walked into the historic section of Thun to secure me a Swiss cell phone and a two month bus pass. After accomplishing that feat, he was off to the gym for a workout. He is not playing this season for the first time since he started playing American football. He says he wants to stay in shape though, just in case.

Yes, for the 2012 Thun Tigers, Philipp Baumann is "THE TWELFTH MAN!"

Kindergarten

Swiss five year olds are not high on indoor inclement weather activities.

The Stadtkirche on the hill

I believe that construction on this church started in the 1300's, very impressive.

Street Vendors

There is a slight chance that I sampled some of the items.

A store with English language books

YES!!!

Anybody need a Swiss Army Knife?

"A River in Switzerland"

This is a staple clue of crossword puzzles in America.

The answer is Aare.

This is the Aare River and it runs right through Thun.

Another Wonderful Spire

Flags of Note

Left to Right: Bern's canton flag, Switzerland's national flag and Thun's city flag

A quiet square

Close up of the cool Bern canton flag

Nice clock.

Outstanding Building

Thun Castle looking down on the city.

Thun has several interesting statue's adorning buildings like . . .

This lion with an ax,

this cow,

and this peacock holding an anchor

Fountain on the way

to the Stadtkirche Church

Stadtkirche Clock Tower

Excellent wood carved pulpit

Easter is just around the corner

The Sun and the Moon

Entrance to the Thun Castle Museum

"Top of Thun"

I would get all the way into the top two towers on the left.

Heraldry, YES!

In the Castle's Museum

I just liked it.

The "Fulehung"

Yesterday I posted a picture of a statue of this historic town character, note the horns.

At the Tourist Information Center I got this information on the "Fulehung."

Apparently this person was the Jester of one Karl der Kühne a long, long time ago. People in Thun would chase him around town until one day he expired while on the run.

In modern times, during a now festive three day period each September, someone dresses up as the "Fulehung" and chases children around the streets of Thun trying to hit them with pig bladders. Not holding a grudge, the "Fulehung" also gives out candy to the children.

By the way, "Fulehung" translates into "Lazy Dog."

Lake Thun in the distance

This is the view from atop one of the Castle's towers.

Heraldry again . . .

Right up Brian FitzGerald's alley.

Nice Horns

St. Jacob in a risque moment?

Check that robe mister!

William Tell and his son Walter

Did William really shoot the apple off of Walter's head during Switzerland's fight for independence in 1307?

Sure, why not?

Interesting Sled

Tapestry

How can he stand with his feet like that?

Did I mention that it was chilly today?

Not too cold for these swans

Should I?

Only if coffee is involved. It's fika time!

It was.

Later this spring this

will be a fountain I am told

On the way back to Icelandia South, I had to walk past that Kindergarten again and I saw that the kids finished . . .

. . . their Snowman

Ancient Wooden Covered Bridge

across the Aare River

Cuba?

Oh, that's right, the Swiss can legally travel to the "Forbidden Island."

Official Thun Tigers

Bathroom Trash Basket

As it turns out, Thun is a very interesting city of about 42,000 inhabitants.

Now it is time for a short, one question quiz for you to check your reading comprehension:

Question 1.

George Contreras lives in:

__ A. Disneyland's Fantasyland

__ B. a picture postcard

__ C. Thun, Switzerland

__ D. all of the above

The correct answer will be found the next blogpost.