Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-08-22
A KANsAE ABROAD.

swITZERLAND'S WONDERS.


In our last letter we were in Paris.
From Paris we went to Switzerland,
the land of William Tell, of John Cal
vim and Ulrich Zwingle. Switzerland
is an intricate network of interesting
routes, by rail, steamer, highway,
bride path and foot path, all of which
could not be traversed, even hurriedly,
in a whole summer, much less in the
few DAYS that the vacation tourist can
devote to this portion Of Europe. The
best he can do is to select from the
many routes few that include what
he most desires to see. Accordingly,
as we were limited for time and means
we mapped out The following itinerary
viz: From Paris to Geneva, a distance
of 300 miles; Geneva to Lausanne,
thence to Fribourg, and from there on
to Berne, the capital of Switzerland.
From Berne we went to Thun where
we took the steamer and had very
pleasant ride on Lake Thun. During
this voyage we passed the beautiful
villages of Darlinger, Herzligen and
Spietz, and finally arrived at our des-
Observation-Disclosures or Interlaken-
which means between the lakes"
From InterlakeD we returned to
Berne via Lake Thun, thence to Paris
via Neuchatel and Dion. Permit me
now to return to Geneva, our first stop
ping place in Switzerland. This is the
metropolis of Switzerland and is a
lovely city located at the south end of
Lake Geneva, and is situated right on
its beautiful banks. The beautiful
river Rhone energies from it and d.
vides the city into two parts which are
connected by six bridges. Geneva is
certainly fine city and worthy of visi-
tatiOn.
CATHEDRALs AND CHURCHES.
There are number of churches and
public buildings, though these are not
specially interesting. The cathedral is
Romanesque structure of the 18th
century, with the modern improve
ment" of a Corinthian portico. The
interior has suffered less from altera-
lions.
The public library is an interesting
place to the tourist. 1t was founded
by Downward in 1851. Here the visi
tor may see the autographs of Calvin,
Beza, Luther and Melancthon. John
Calvin used to live in this city at No.
II Rue des Chanoines. Here, also,
was born Rousseau at No. 40 Grande
Rue. Five miles out from Geneva is
Ferney, noted as the residence of Vol
taire, the great apostle CT infdelity.
Geneva lake is one of the prettiest in
all Europe. There are steamers over
the lake by the north bank to Villen-
enve, and by the south bank to Bou-
veret, connecting with the railways at
both places.
By the former route the tourist goes
to Vevry, one of the most attractive
places in Switzerland, and the Castle
of Chillon, of Byronie renown. Chillon
is three and half miles from Vevry.
Geneva lake is As miles long and s
miles wide. The deep blue color of the
lake differs from that of the other
Swiss lakes, which are all more or less
of a greenish hue. The birds to be
seen on the lake are wild sN ans, gulls,
sea swallows and numerous birds of
passage, such as ducks and divers.
A fisherman told us that there were
q different kinds of fish in the lake.
1t is quite interesting to look out of
the window early in the morning and
see the lake alive with busy fishermen,
throwing their hooks or raising their
nets.
The next place of interest that we
visited was Berne, the capital of Swift
erland. Between Geneva and Berne
are Lausanne and Fribourg, both of
them worthy of visitation, because of
fine natural scenery and fine ancient
but time would not permit
us to stop.
SWITZERLAND CAPITAL.
Berne has been the seat of the Swiss
government since 1S4S. 1t has a popu-
lation of about 1900. The city,
among other things, is famous for its
bears, sculptured, automatic on the
clock tower. This curious clock an
nounces the approach of each hour by.
the Growing of cock, while two min
utes before the hour troop of bears
marches in procession rOuud a sitting