Our next stop on the our run through Switzerland was the well kept city of Fribourg. Many things I have read about this pretty city describes it as “medieval”….although I had a fairly good idea what the word means but I looked it up anyway.
“Medieval” is a word that means archaic, antique, very old, 
antediluvian (wow -that’s a word), outmoded. OK, it means that the city is very old. But, this very old city is just a beautiful stop that you have to see when visiting Switzerland.
Well, I guess if the city originated in 1157 it is old, archaic, antique – “medieval”. But it does not take away from the sense of history and the beauty of Fribourg.
This was my second visit to the city. Two years ago I watched 
the Fribourg Cardinals (believe it or not their colors are BLUE and white!!??) American Football Team practice.
My friend Chris Krattiger (former General Manager of the National Teams of Switzerland) and his wonderful family brought me to Fribourg to spend a fantastic day touring, eating and then watching a very well run football practice of the Fribourg Cardinals.
I spent a few hours with the coach and president of the Cardinals – Franck Meatchi. He explained the nature of his team and the city of Fribourg and their embracing of American football.
We also spent some time with a local reporter who put together an excellent article about the entire operation and my visit. (Unfortunately it was in French – and I don’t know what it said!)
I was tremendously impressed with how Franck ran the practice. It was extremely well organized and the players knew what to do – actually coaching each other at different times. I loved it!
After this fantastic experience two years ago I knew that the 
boss (wife) would be happy to visit Fribourg. Later I knew she enjoyed this stop on our criss – crossing of Switzerland.
Again we boarded the ever punctual Schweizerisch Bundesbahnen (SBB) train system. Another on-time boarding – a fast 32 minute ride from Bern (which we made a home base for three days) to Fribourg. Yes we arrived exactly on time!
As we rode up to the city I could see several areas that I recognized from my visit years before. They can call this city old, medieval or whatever….it is just spectacular.
We wandered around for awhile and had an early lunch (well I had an awesome ice-cream sundae and my wife ate a really nice minestrone soup. ) Our waiter was really a great young man.
Obviously it was apparent we were from the states and this young guy spent a great deal of time with us. He was going to visit New York City for an extended period later in the fall. We 
exchanged points of view and learned a little more about Switzerland and Fribourg in particular – I’d like to think we gave him a few positive impressions of the US.
This western Swiss city borders the German and French sections of the country. Fribourg was built along a major waterway – the Sarine River – a long time ago….1157. Obviously the original population was a lot less than the 38,000 or so who live here now.
Cathedral of St. Nicholas
One of the most beautiful and well kept churches in Switzerland – the Cathedral of St. Nicholas is located in Fribourg. The church was started In 1283 (!!!) and completed in 
1430 (Think about Columbus sailing to the Americas in relationship to when this Cathedral was finished!).
The Cathedral of St. Nicholas is built in the middle of the “Old City” and is truly astounding to behold. The stain glass windows are really unbelievable.
Warning!
Wondering through the “Old City” requires some leg strength. It is a pretty steep climb. But as I learned a few years ago with the Krattiger family – well worth the exercise.
With one more stop on our schedule – Interlaken – we went back to the train station to return to Bern and grab some dinner.