A ride to Solothurn tripped our odometer to 0, meaning we have ridden 1,000 km on the tandem since our arrival in Switzerland. “Solothurn is regarded as the finest Baroque town in Switzerland, where Italian grandeur is combined with French charm and German practicality“, according to a Swiss tourism site. Unfortunately for us, the magnificent St. Urs Cathedral filled with “wonderful Baroque stuccos“ is closed for renovation. If we hear they get the work done on time (it’s supposed to be finished this year), perhaps we‘ll ride over there again to see it.
But we enjoyed the lovely streets, interesting towers, remains of ancient town walls, and the tiny (and free) Stein Museum, displaying chunks of Roman-era carvings and an interesting (to us remodelers) interactive display showing how different tools are used in stone-carving.
Getting there was a little less fun than usual. Saturday started with rain which continued almost until our arrival. A respite allowed us to see the town without getting drenched (packing ultra-light led us to neglect bringing an umbrella or hats). Seeking food at the inconvenient hour of 5:30pm, we were able to find a restaurant which would serve us from the “short menu“, that is between lunch and dinner. The odd part was that the food was as plentiful as a full dinner, but our entrees cost about half their evening price! I couldn’t resist ordering the “Kase Brot Entlebucher“ just to find out whether this fancy sounding dish was really just grilled cheese. It was, sort of: if the cheese is melted on top of the fat chunk of bread and spreads all over the plate, and it’s topped by grilled mushrooms, fresh pear slices and a gravy-like sauce. Not bad for cheese bread!
Our hotel was also a pleasant surprise. We had booked at the boxy-looking Ramada, only because it was a bit cheaper than what else we could find available. While pretty atrocious from the outside, it was quite classy inside, a major step up from the B&B in Yverdon. We skipped their 25CHF/person breakfast, in favor of picking up yogourt and fruit at the local grocery the night before; otherwise, the price would have topped the rest of Solothurn’s choices.
