Tamara in Switzerland: Excursion Day

So Urs bought me another day ticket for the trains for yesterday. I have to say it took me forever to decide where to go because 1) I knew it would be freezing and 2) I'd already gone everywhere I'd wanted to. So I thought about Basel, but it basically looked like any other city I'd already seen. I could have gone to Interlaken in the middle of the mountains, but once you've seen a view from one, the rest in the area are all the same, plus if I thought it was cold on the ground it would have been 3 times that on the mountain. I could have gone to St. Mortiz which is a really nice winter resort town, but I didn't feel like sitting on the train for 8 hours that day. So when Andrea suggested the Rhein Falls, I thought it was a good choice. I mean I hadn't really seen a waterfall yet. Plus it's not too far away so it was perfect.

So I started my day trudging through the snow once again and made my way into St. Gallen. From there I took a train into Winterthur and then another train to Dachsen. In Dachsen I had to wait for the Postauto, and let me tell you it was freezing! It was so bitterly cold! But it finally arrived and I literally was the only person on the bus to the next stop where the Rhein Falls were. There weren't too many people around but that was no surprise, it's mostly a summer tourist attraction. Anyway, the Rhein Falls (or Rhine Falls) are the largest waterfalls in Europe. I don't know the exact numbers. I paid my 5 franks and the took the scenic elevator down to the trail where I had to walk around to the viewing platform. It was fairly impressive (and cold!). It's no Niagra (not that I've ever seen it), but it's still pretty cool. There is a lower platform that comes right next to the falls, but it was blocked off because it was too icy. I wandered around for a little bit and went into the little museum mostly to warm up and came away with a couple postcards as souvenirs.

Me taking a photo of myself because no one else was around.

Different view

warning, it's a little loud

So after that I caught the Postauto once again and took it into the medieval town of Schaffhausen. There is a large castle there that I thought looked cool so I was like, why not. I found my way to the tourist office (let me tell you those are the best places), and got myself a map and a couple postcards. Since I wasn't planning on staying longer than an hour I didn't explore too much and basically just made my way to the castle. That's what I wanted to see anyway. I did walk quickly through the cloister of a medieval cathedral, but with the aid of the map I worked my way to the castle. I had to walk up quite a flight of stairs, but made it to the top. Munot Castle is only a fortification device so as far as I can tell no one ever lived there. But it was pretty cool and all stone and even had a moat. According to my map here it was finished in 1589. Anyway, I was like the only person in there, it was kinda weird. But when I went in there is a large chamber that looks like an underground passageway. Then you can make your way up around a ramp to the top where there is a nice view of the city and the Rhein river. Again it was cold, but lucky for me it was warming up a bit and wasn't so bitter as before. Then I made my way down and out again and back down some different stairs and back to the train station.

Schaffhausen

Munot

First chamber

Ramp

At the top

Tower at the top

View of the city

View of the river

Out the other side (with moat)

Deer in the garden

So next on my agenda was to take the train along the Rhein to the medieval town of Stein am Rhein. I made it in about 30 minutes and upon exiting the station had to make my way down the street and then across the river into the old town. Again I found the tourist office, obtained a map and some postcards. I took a quick look around the buildings that were quite pretty with elaborate paintings all over them and then headed to the main feature, another castle. Hohenklingen was way on the top of the hill and was literally like a 30 minute hike up a bunch of stairs. But I'll admit the castle was worth it. This was one that I think people actually lived in. Again I was the only person there, and it was almost like, am I supposed to be in here right now? But I wandered around all the little passages and made my way up the tower and basically just explored the whole thing. I made my way back down all the snowy stairs safely and then went back to the train. I had to ride 1.5 hours along the river and Lake of Constance back into St. Gallen. By then it was snowing quite heavily, and it was only about 4:30 so I went to the main toy store to look for a Thomas the Tank Engine for his wooden train set for Christmas. The store was quite cute and had lots of things (most of which were overly expensive), but I found the train and went ahead and bought it and then ordered a couple books for him from the bookstore next store, so his Christmas present is set. Then I made my way back home and was back at about 6. I'm glad I didn't spend too long of a day because like I mentioned several times already, it was cold!