Monday's Adventure

I'm in the parlor of My Lady's Manor, admiring the 19th century decor from a chair in the corner. You can just imagine this being a waiting room for proper ladies in their Victorian dresses and cups of tea. The closest we can get is drinking tea and coffee, which we do quite often.

Monday's adventure took us away from our comfortable parlor and whisked us to the town of Avenches, about 20 minutes away from our home in Estavayer. Avenches was a Roman town (called Aventicum back then) with an impressive wall circuit of 5.5 km, an amphitheatre, theatre, baths, and temple complex. Now would be a good time to mention that all Roman towns had these features- not just this one. As per the Roman ideal, the walls were built to the maximum extent possible, which meant that they probably never filled up. Indeed, Aventicum never grew near to the size of the walls, taking up only half of the land that they encompassed. But you could never tell that from walking around the site, because one look at the amphitheatre and you're sucked into the magic and mystery of Roman times.

Amphitheatre of Aventicum, still working. Being set up for an opera show here.

And yes, Aventicum has been one of my favourite Roman towns for a few years now. So getting to see it firsthand was a dream come true.

Me with the most famous gilded bronze bust of Marcus Aurelius

View from the top of the theatre. At the top left-ish of the photo you can see a column from the temple complex