(Pict-) Chur Perfect

TIME FLIES AWAY

June 24 (afternoon/evening): After a delicious (and expensive!) lunch at a restaurant near where we were to land for our next two nights, we checked in to one of the more bohemian apartments we'd stayed in. Big bonus: it was in the heart of the old part of Chur (actually pronounced "koor"), and absolutely charming.

After dropping our bags, we started a lo-o-oong walk to a bar we'd read about that seemed to be a must-see. It's called the Giger Bar, and it was designed and brought to life by the artist H. R. Giger, who was part of the special effects team that won an Oscar for the visual design of Ridley Scott's Alien. This man had a vivid and really weird imagination. Let the pictures say all that is needed:

This was one of the most uncomfortable bar seats I'd ever experienced. And the drink was almost as bad; we'd ordered Campari and soda, and the bartender decided we wanted orange soda. 😬

The decor throughout was thoroughly disturbing.

Having finished our drinks, we struck out in the heat again, to return to town (this bar was in the commercial section--not the attractive center). On our way back, we discovered a gondola that could take us up the mountain. This is clearly a major transportation route for mountain bikers, of which there are many. For a small fee, we bought tickets to take the ride, and found a transfer station two-thirds of the way up. Transferred to a second car for the full trip up and confused the guy at the top because we didn't want to get off and take a hike back down the mountain.

This was all, for us, very reminiscent of Telluride and the gondola ride between the town and Mountain Village. The mountain here was higher in relation to the town, I think, although the town of Chur is at a lower altitude than Telluride (only about as high as Denver). The views were spectacular:

...and the mountain bike trails down the mountain were spectacularly scary (we were so in awe of them that we didn't take pics).

The ride was wonderful, and a great supplement to our train ride of the morning.

We had made a reservation at a fondue restaurant for that evening. Back in another lifetime, I worked in a fondue restaurant in Boston, and was excited to visit a Swiss fondue place. It was excellent. So was the rose wine.

After dinner, Cindy asked our server about the town's coat of arms:

More specifically, she asked about the goat's big balls (they're clearly evident, above), which totally cracked up this woman. I actually can't even recall how that conversation evolved from that point, but it was one of the funniest moments of our entire trip. This mountain goat image is indeed the coat of arms for Chur, and Cindy was wondering when/how/WHY the artists decided that the goat should be so well endowed. It seems that the original images (up to 1750) didn't have this addition. Here's another image we found:

Obviously this one was done more recently than perhaps the one on the banner. Just as obvious, perhaps, is that there is no official template for Chur's coat of arms; it seems to be left to each artist to decide how to render that goat's image (and the size and dimensions of its "package"). These are surmised to demonstrate the persistence and strength of Chur.

Anyhoo, this question generated much levity with the server and the table of young women next to us, to the point that we were all each treated to a small glass of the special Chur Roeteli, a cherry liqueur made and sold exclusively in that town. It was delicious and spirits were high all around.

We strolled around town for a while longer, enjoying the balmy evening temperature, and headed back to our apartment. Some of the images I gathered that day:

I love that for centuries European buildings have been painted (or frescoed) with murals as a matter of course. In our country, it generally takes an act of government to either generate or allow the application of murals and other artwork to buildings and plazas. The art was just never built into the workings of government by the people from the beginning, so it feels as if it's almost always been an afterthought in the U.S.

On the street where we stayed (above)

Some of the building art was contemporary

Chur was just plain beautiful. More on that town next.