Chur (11/7/1982)

Sunday, November 7, 1982

Train day pass

Marsha C and I caught the 8:23 train to Zürich, arriving before 10:00, boarding the 10:04 train to Chur. The haze cleared up after Ziegelbrücke, as we passed the crystal green lake of Walensee with its ragged cliffs on the other side, and the rocky mountains loomed closer, some with a sprinkling of snow. Noticed it was very windy, but that didn’t ruffle the many Swiss chocolate cows who looked like their coats were growing longer for the winter. We arrived in Chur at 11:30 and immediately went to the Rhätische Museum that we thought was closing at 12:00. We noticed painted footprints on the sidewalk, but hurried on. We passed the typical Rathaus/City Hall (1465) and a zodiac fountain before reaching Haus Buol/mansion (1675) which houses the museum. It was covered with scaffolding and plastic sheeting, and a large sign indicated the museum was closed! We went up the stairs behind it, going under the Marsöltor/gate (1909) into an old square or court.

Marsöltor/Gate

At one corner was the fancy Baroque façade of the Bischöflicher Hof/Bishops Palace (1732-1733), and in the other corner was the plain face of the Kathedrale Maria Himmelfahrt/Cathedral of the Assumption (1151-1272).

Bischöfliches Schloss/Bishops Palace

Kathedrale Maria Himmelfahrt/Cathedral of the Assumption

Kathedrale Maria Himmelfahrt/
Cathedral of the Assumption portal

Its grey stone, called scalära, is a common building material throughout Graubünden. We could hear hymns being sung inside the church, but I was unable to open the door. We admired the painted vaulting over the door and peeked into the 10-grave cemetery. We backed up to see the domed tower of the belfry and a modern fountain in the center of the courtyard that was full of cars. A couple men wandered around and we speculated they were waiting for wives who were in the church. We walked around behind the cathedral and looked up at the Luziuskirche/Church of St Lucius. We hiked up Arosastrasse to just short of the first hairpin turn where a gazebo was located. Immediately below us were yellowing vineyards with the town below with several belfries.

View of vineyards, cathedral, and Bischöflicher Hof/Bishop's Court

View of Chur

To the left were forested hills, and to the right was a craggy mountain ridge (the Calanda), behind which was a wide valley disappearing into the haze. You could barely perceive a couple snow-covered mountains.

We returned to the cathedral and the service had let out, so we were able to view the highly decorated interior. It had a barely noticeable irregular floor plan and had Gothic vaulting. There were tombs all along the wall, but we didn’t find the one of a certain Swiss patriot, Jürg Jenatsch (b. 1596, murdered 1639). The carved wooden altar appeared modern, and behind it was the raised chancel with intricately carved choir stalls. The highlight was the high altar with its carved and gilded wooden triptych (1492), the three-panel paining above the altar. It is supposedly the largest Gothic triptych in Switzerland and it was indeed admirable. Below the chancel was a crypt and another altar. Beneath this altar were displayed a couple cases of reliquaries decorated with lace and jewels.

We left the cathedral and court, walking down to Martinskirche/St Martin’s Church (1476-91). The only decoration was stained glass windows with those above the altar being traditional in style. The windows on the right were the first great works of Alberto Giacometti after his arrival in Switzerland in 1915. We followed Reichsgasse to city hall, which had a ground-floor courtyard, with all the appeal of an underground parking lot. Continuing through the old town, we came to Regierungsplatz, a square full of weedy looking plants, and in the center was a Cleopatra’s Needle type monument, the Vazerol Monument commemorating the union of three Rhätisch leagues in 1471 (to form the canton?). Behind it was the Graues Haus/Gray House, a government building. Not impressed, we continued to Postplatz. There we noticed a plaque telling about self-guided walking tours; that answered the question about the painted footprints! We didn’t find any evidence of a natural history museum, and the quest for the arboretum turned out to be a gym and tennis courts. After eating sandwiches provided by Marsha, we returned to Postplatz and decided to follow the green footprints. Went down past city hall to Kornplatz, and zigzagged through the old town to a neat old square called Metzgerplatz.

Metzgerplatz

The trail took us across the channeled Plessur River which was at a low level. We walked along the river, then recrossed it to enter Obertor/Upper Gate. Back in the old town, we stopped at a bakery for a slice of Mandelstollen/almond loaf that is available only from this bakery. It was like a pitch black fruit cake. Too rich for me!

We passed Fontanaplatz with its monument to Benedikt Fontana, leader of the men of Grisons in the Battle of the Calven gorge in 1499, and returned to Postplatz. It was 14:00, when the Bündner Kunstmuseum/Cantonal Fine Arts Museum (1874-1876 in Neo-Renaissance style) reopened for the afternoon. We had to deposit our backpacks and pay a 4 CHF/$2 entry fee.

Kunstmuseum/CantonalFine Arts Museum receipt

In the central foyer was a rough outline of a man’s head in black masking tape on the floor. A smaller black painting of the same outline was in the middle, with lumps of clay scattered around. An old television set with closed circuit was aimed down on this art, and a meaningless sound track of voices was playing. We entered the hall with an architect’s design of a bank. The building next door had local artists’ work, some very weird. Saw a beautiful colorful woven rug, statues full of holes, and studied lines. Also some stairs going down, but decided to check that out later. Returned to the foyer and went to the back rooms of more classical art by Barthélemy Menn, Angelica Kauffmann, and Giovanni Segantini. On the other side was more modern art. Upstairs were a variety of works by Augusto and Alberto Giacometti, and their father Giovanni. Plus other modern art of the 1920s. We walked all around the balcony looking down at the outline of the man’s head. Finally we went into the basement to see strange contemporary art. The basement wasn’t connected to the basement of the building next door, so we had to go back to the ground floor, over, and down to see the rest of the local exhibition. More weird things like a closed-off area with broken mirror pieces, tie-dyed scraps of cloth lying around, old sheets tied over the window with projected images of a dance. The walls had swirly paintings of dancers. One wall had a plaque listing people associated with the national parks - a remnant of the natural history museum? We left to head to the train station and out on the street I turned around a sign that was pointing to the street instead of the art gallery. (Hmm, but maybe that way it no longer faced a greater audience?) We followed the tracks towards Arosa, passing houses with balconies that were “walled in” with stained glass that almost looked like Tiffany designs. Seemed to be many Eastern Europeans in town. Walked through the old town and a section of town with some renovated buildings and some abandoned ones. Up past the Graues Haus and old city theater, something had just let out. We followed the crowds of people to the train station and boarded the 16:24 train to Zürich, arriving in time to catch the 18:04 train to Biel. Home by 20:00.

Tuesday, November 9, 1982

Went to Jan & Kirby’s by 19:00 and watched Kirby prepare a superb dinner. A salad of cold green beans and pomodoro e mozzarella a caprese. Rice pilaf and veal in a wine & mushroom sauce with candied carrots. Yum! For dessert Marsha and I brought the contrived makings of s’mores, settling for “waffle-like crackers,” Swiss chocolate, but real marshmallows: a success. Looked at photos, travel brochures, and figured out brain teasers.