Stockalper Castle in Brig and How to Open the Shutters Abroad

Stockalper Castle is a landmark of the city of Brig.

Kasper Stockalper (1609–1691) was called "The King of Simplon." He was a merchant, banker, large scale entrepreneur, military official and politician who built Stockalper Castle in 1651 to 1671 as an extension of his ancestors' mansion. The castle is the largest private building constructed in the 17th century in Switzerland. The Castle has three towers, named after the Three Kings (Kaspar, Melchior and Balthasar). 

Kaspar Stockalper dominated the salt trade and the transit of goods in the canton of Valais (a canton is like a state in the US), was a statesman, a jack of all trades, operated mines, ran a money lending business, hired out mercenaries and ran a postal service. 

His palace was bought by the Municipality of Brig in 1948 and was, thanks to the Swiss Stockalper Palace trust, completely refurbished starting in 1956. Today the Stockalper Palace houses the municipal administration of Brig-Glis, the district court, the Institute for research on the Alpine region and other cultural institutions.

Kasper Stockalper

Kaspar on his horse.                                

The guide told us this bridge has been described as similar to the Bridge of Sighs. Maybe because it looks a bit like it? The guide did not explain. 

The guide also said there are some significant mistakes in this painting found in the elegant room above:

The castle is set high on a hill; it isn't.

There is a flamingo in the painting.

The Matterhorn is not behind the castle.

PS - Here's how to operate the shutters/shades in Switzerland:

Beside the window is a pole that I assumed you twist to open the shades.

At last night's hotel, I realized that the pole pivots and creates a small lever or...

a larger lever to easily open or close the shutters/shades.

It only took me two hotels to realize this!











 

Back to Brig and Cordon Bleu

 After Zermatt, we returned by train to Brig.

 

We saw quite a few homes with these slate roofs.  

The rivers are beautiful because of the gorgeous colors from the glacier silt.

A typical street in Brig, and a paper boat we passed on the way to dinner.

This restaurant was recommended as the place where Cordon Bleu was first made. We are in the French speaking section of Switzerland, so maybe this is true. 

A group of us decided to try the restaurant. However, in order to get the English version of the extensive menu, you had to scan a QR code, and once accomplished, the menu was quite small and hard to read on the phone. 

Also, I forgot that I really don't care for Cordon Bleu - original or not - so I got something called "Fitness Chicken" on the English version of the menu.

It was exceptional, and Dottie who had gotten the Cordon Bleu, served us a taste if we wanted. It was good but still Cordon Bleu...

 

 

Zermatt

We took the train to Zermatt this morning. It was a beautiful ride.  

Here is our route today. We will travel through a U-shaped valley and a V-shaped valley, the latter deeper with steeper sides. Our elevation will rise 5,000 feet.

 

The rivers here are also turquoise-colored from the glacier silt which reflects the sun.  That's our red train below winding around one of the many bends. 

 

 Rock slides happen occasionally despite how they monitor the mountain sides. A recent one stopped just before a school at the bottom of the slope.

 There are no cars allowed in Zermatt, only electric buses which transport visitors to hotels and other sites. They are so quiet, and the streets so narrow, I had to be careful one was not creeping up behind me as I walked.

Our lunch was Cholera. No, that is not a misspelling. It was a potato, apple (these were hard to find), and cheese tart like a quiche. It was very good. And the salad was a welcome addition.

Next came the funicular up to the Matterhorn. This one was "underground" as it went up through a tunnel. 

It was freezing in the funicular, so I assumed it would be very cold at the Matterhorn site. 

It wasn't. It was in the 70's!

Some info about the Matterhhorn area:

There are LOTS of hiking trails at the top of the funicular. Throngs of hikers populated the town. Another option was to take a cable car further up the Matterhorn. Only a few from our group chose this as there really wasn't enough time to go up and come back down.

 

On to Brig

 We got back on the Golden Pass Panorama train to Brig.

 

 

Scenes along the way:

 

 Lake Geneva is the largest fresh water lake in Europe. It is a very slow moving lake. It takes 10.5 years for a drop to move from one end to the other.

Lots and lots of vineyards terraced on the hills.

Arriving in Brig:

 

Lunch at Site-Alp

For lunch, we were treated to some local wine and Livella which is an effervescent drink made from whey. Both were excellent, but the Livella was especially good.

There was a buffet, too, featuring salad and raclette with potatoes, plus baby goats for amusement.

 

More beautiful views from the Site-Alp.

These water cisterns are everywhere to supply drinking water.

Scooters for rent          

 

 One of two transport vans which took us back down the                                                                              mountain to our next train.