First we woke up early, had breakfast with eggs and pepperoni. Then my uncle called and told us that he wanted to see us. We went to a local grocery store first to pick up some things. It's a nice, close place called Coop. I bought some chocolate and maggi for my mom, and some local beer :) Then we went downtown Fribourg to meet my uncle in a small coffee shop in the city center. It's a nice place but we didn't take any picture. We met and talked a little bit about work and life. I was surprise because he wore a "Michigan Engineering" shirt, which is eye catching (yellow/blue and it's in English) in a small city of Fribourg. He never went to / taught at Michigan. Then I realized that his son (my cousin) is a professor there. It was a good talk, I had a cappuccino, which was okay. It was nice seeing him again in Switzerland though.
Next we went up to the top hill/mountain and had a spectacular view of the city of the bridge, the houses on mountain sides... It's a great view. Next up was Ponte de Berne, a 13th century wooden bridge. Not much to see here besides the bridge so we snapped some photos and headed toward Gruyeres. We passed by the Cathedral of St Nicolas on the way to Gruyeres.
The instant we arrived, we encountered some thugs (by thugs I mean polices). It's sort of universal everywhere you go, you will be harassed by these thugs. They told us we couldn't park there. Instead of telling us to move the car to a different parking area (because we were right there just getting off the car), they wrote a ticket. The conversation was in French so I didn't understand anything they said, but it was later translated. Switzerland is overall very peaceful with a lot of greens, cows, sheeps, and is not as violent as America, they could use a little less police in my opinion.
The frustration quickly disappeared as we approached the old town of Gruyeres and the castle. It's so beautiful from every angle. The small old town lies beneath the mountains with an uphill walk leading to the castle.
On the way up, we saw sheeps and cows eating grass, each one of them had a bell on their neck making funny sounds and they looked so cute. The view from the castle window was amazing. It was a great place to take panoramic photos. I am not much of a castle fan but we enjoyed it. My girlfriend really loved it. She wanted to see every castle in Europe.
Finally, to wrap up a busy day, we went to the Cailler Chocolate Factory. We took a tour to learn the history of chocolate in a newly renovated factory. At the end, they gave us free samples of chocolate, which was like a buffet. I ate too much that I was full before dinner. It was a busy first day, but I could go to more places. Well, still couples more days in Switzerland.
Photos posted
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