Fribourg (11/21/1981)

Saturday, November 21, 1981

Train day pass

Today I took the narrow gauge Biel-Täuffelen-Ins railway train at 10:12.

Biel-Täuffelen-Ins (BTI) part of the train station

Biel-Täuffelen-Ins (BTI) train

You punch your ticket at a vending machine in the ticket honor system. Notices on the train said: “Schwarzfahren - UNFAIR!” “Schwarz” is “black” in German, so I guess black traveling (without paying the fare) is like the black market: illegal!

We went through the city streets of Nidau until we were out in the country, usually following alongside a road. Passed orchards and stopped at plastic bus shelter-type stations. We passed a few stations without stopping, and I realized you had to signal the driver if you needed to get off! The route basically is along the south shore of Bielersee/Lake Biel.

We stopped at a shelter labeled Ins-Dorf/Ins Village, and I wondered it that was the last stop. But the train started up again and wound down around a hill to the end of the line at the Ins train station, arriving at 10:52.

Biel-Täuffelen-Ins (BTI) train in Ins

As I walked past the kiosk, I saw the CP Station Kindergarten bus driver, who seemed very surprised to see me!

Boarded the 11:14 train for Fribourg, and even though it was only 11:00, it started moving! It stopped outside the station, then backed into the station. Next it started heading in the opposite direction and I wondered if I was going to Neuchâtel. Then it zipped back (forward!) to the far end of the station. A while later it backed into the station again. After all this shuttling, we finally left two minutes late!

Arrived in Fribourg at noon, in time to hear all the bells ringing the hour. I walked along Avenue de la Gare/Train Station Avenue to find the top station of a Funiculaire Neuveville-Saint-Pierre/funicular that supposedly runs on sewage water. Somehow they pump water into a tank in the upper car to make it heavy and it gets pulled down while the cable connecting to the other car pulls it up. Then they fill that car that is now on top and reverse the trip. The car on the bottom gets emptied of the waste water. It has been running this way since 1899.

I started walking down the covered wooden stairs next to the funicular track.

Covered stairway

When I heard a bell ring, I ran down to a vantage point to photograph the cable cars.

Funiculaire Neuveville-Saint-Pierre cable car

Covered stairway next to funicular

Looking up at the funicular

Cable cars pass each other in the middle

After galloping all the way down the steps, I followed Rue la Grand-Fontaine, a narrow road that brought me more or less back up the hill again. Its sidewalk kept disappearing. Found the Hôtel de Ville/City Hall (completed in 1522, meant to be a granary) with the covered dual stairway on its façade and a clock tower at one end.

Hôtel de Ville/City Hall

Another block to the Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas/St Nicholas Cathedral (completed in 1430, tower in 1490).

Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas/St Nicholas Cathedral portal

Behind the cathedral I crossed a bridge over a deep valley with sheer cliffs except for a short stretch that was flat farmland.

Looking straight down from the bridge

Looking towards the cathedral

At the other end of the bridge were towers and a wall perpendicular to the Saane/Sarine River. At water level upstream was a covered wooden bridge.

Covered wooden bridge over the Saane/Sarine River

Returned to the cathedral and found the door was open, despite a sign saying they were closed 12 :00-14 :00. Some colorful stained glass windows.
Did some Christmas window shopping until the 14:11 train to Bern. The station was swamped with fellows in military uniforms. It was getting quite warm and people were shedding jackets and sweaters. There wasn’t any snow on the ground around Bern. Arrived at 14:40, did some more shopping, then took the 15:41 back to Biel.