On Saturday, the day before my game, we were planning on making the trip to Geneva but that didn't exactly happen so instead we tried to find something else to see. My Dad was looking through the guide book again and saw that Neucahtel has a gorge and water mills. He loves going to dams so this was right up his alley.
It took a little time for us to get there because the gorge was right in the middle of some commercial buildings so we almost missed it. We finally made it down to the gorge and it was pretty cool! The mill was built in the 1537 and was used to make flour mill. They used the flowing water to power the grinders for the mill. There were actual water mills working and a beautiful water fall.
Here are some troughs that are used to transport the water to the mill.
At first all we could see were the troughs carrying the water. My mom soon discovered some stairs that lead us to a tunnel. In the tunnel were some water mills. Apparently above the mills where we were first standing was where the original house stood but now only the floor boards were left. All of the water was underneath the plant and then by rotating shafts they were able to power the mills up above. I don't understand it completely so here is a picture of what it used to look like when the mill was in action.
That same wheel in the above picture is in the picture right below.
There were stairs leading in the opposite direction so we decided to take those and see where it led to. We ended up walking a bit and found the end of the river. The river then goes into a tunnel so that it can pass through the city underground.
This picture is when we walked further down the trail. The window is the same window where the water mill was located just pictures before.
My Dad and I by the tunnel where the river flows into.
We came to a dead end so we followed the trail back to the original mill. We didn't explore the other side so we started walking in that direction. We came upon a beautiful waterfall. My Dad said that this time of year the water was pretty low but he was still surprised with how much water was still flowing. He also said that when there has been a lot of rain, the rock next to the water fall would also be covered and it would be one big water fall.
We followed some more troughs and it led us to a tiny tunnel! The tunnel was so low that I had to duck the entire time we walked through because I was just too tall! In this picture I'm standing straight up and not on my tiptoes. I also think its cool how the date of the tunnel is also etched right above it.
On our way back to the car we found a information desk and this cute old man started telling us all the details about the mills. We were able to understand him because he was a retired professor and spoke pretty good english. He was so passionate about the mills that we ended up talking to him for over 30 minutes! He gave us a lot of interesting information and I couldn't help but smile when he was talking. It was a fun afternoon but we headed home so I could rest up for Sunday's match!
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