Monday July 5
A visit to the city of Schaffhausen
is like a journey through time
Schaffhausen came into being at the location where trading ships had to set anchor because the Rhine Falls made it impossible to travel further.
The houses of the Old Town are richly decorated with oriel windows and lavishly painted facades with innumerable bay windows that were built in the Renaissance period. But for modern people, shops and electric light in the narrow streets of the Old Town, one might imagine having been transported back to those times.
The town located on the Upper Rhine between the Black Forest and Lake Constance, and surrounded by vineyards, is a popular destination for holidays and day-trips.
The houses of the Old Town are richly decorated with oriel windows and lavishly painted facades with innumerable bay windows that were built in the Renaissance period. But for modern people, shops and electric light in the narrow streets of the Old Town, one might imagine having been transported back to those times.
The town located on the Upper Rhine between the Black Forest and Lake Constance, and surrounded by vineyards, is a popular destination for holidays and day-trips.
The town of Schaffhausen is in the northernmost corner of Switzerland, in the 'knee' of the Rhine in Eastern Switzerland on the border with Germany. It owes its origins to the Rheinfall waterfall: the settlement arose where shippers needed somewhere to unload and stack their goods when avoiding the rapids that were impassable for ships.
by kind courtesy of www.myswitzerland.com/en/schaffhausen.htm
The traffic-free Old town of Schaffhausen is considered one of the prettiest in Switzerland, on account of its many oriel windows and lavishly painted facades. Many of the fine guild-houses and merchants' houses date from Gothic and Baroque times.
The lively Old town is very good for shopping. The town began with the street market in what is now the Vordergasse. This is also where you will find the High Gothis St. Hohann church with its remarkable acoustics.
above excerpts from www.myswitzerland.com/en/schaffhausen.htm
Upon arriving in Schaffhausen, we immediately booked into Hotel Steinbock at the [1976] price of 44 Swiss Francs per night, including breakfast. [2013 price = 88 Euros] Despite my earlier misgivings about travelling with Donna, I had to admit that our sharing accommodation costs certainly did help to stretch both of our budgets.
Though not as luxurious and welcoming as Frau Wahr's superlative establishment, this hotel was pleasant and clean and efficiently provided for our needs. A mediocre ravioli supper was my only disappointment.
After supper, while Donna read her book, I reveled in a solitary sunset stroll through the picturesque mediaeval town. There were so many beautiful buildings and I easily spent a couple of hours taking many photos of its story-book architecture and unique decorations.
by kind courtesy of
http://upload.wikimedia.org/Wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Schaffhausen_IMG_2689.jpg
Other guests also surmised that a thunderstorm might be brewing. But Donna and I enjoyed a peaceful sleep with no atmospheric interruptions.
by kind courtesy of
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Zum_Ritter_Schaffhausen.jpg
This amazing building, whose facade features stunning Renaissance frescos, is called Haus zum Ritter, which means "House at Knight"The facade of the Haus zum Ritter features one of the most important Renaissance frescoes north of the Alps. The original frescoes by Tobias Stimmer were taken off the facade in 1935, preserved and displayed in the Museum zu Allerheiligen. The mural depicts and praises the civil virtues.
Tuesday July 6
Castel der Munot
by kind courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schaffhausen_-_Kloster_Allerheiligen_IMG_2705.JPG
Over the mediaeval Old Town of Schaffhausen looms the imposing Munot fortress.
The city's landmark, the Munot, towers high above the town. The ring-shaped fortress was built in the 16th century. The position of the guard is even older than the fortress itself. The list of guards dates back to the year 1377, and it is nearly complete.
above excerpt taken from www.myswitzerland.com/en/old-town-and-the-munot-fortress-schaffhausen.htmlEven after Donna and I had completed our visit to the Fortress, we were still unsure of our direction of travel for that day.
We could not even decide on our
destination for that night !
Without realizing it, Donna and I had both slipped into the bliss of holiday mode.
When you're in 'holiday mode', even if matters around you go horribly wrong, you have
Positive expectations
which leads to better brain functions
which leads to better interactions and decisions
which lead to a successful outcome
which leads to a healthier, happier you
I knew the power of a positive mindset because I had often experienced its results, in my own life.
On my "Grand Tour of Europe", fate had already intervened to remind me that, despite a limited daily allowance, we had been able to find enough food during the day, and a bed for the night. So I had no doubt that this situation would continue for the rest of our trip.
- From the moment we ran from that luckless hotel in Luxembourg, even though the train was delayed and we'd had to stand all the way to Switzerland, we had survived.
- And when we'd missed our connection, that turned out to be a blessing since we caught the empty, luxury TEE instead. And the Trans European Express had comfortable reclining seats that finally allowed us to sleep.
- We'd needed that sleep for our trip to and from Trier, with its Black Gate, Rococo Church and exploding coke bottle!
Is there nothing this girl won't do to remain cool on a hot day?!
- And then, strangers had helped us to find the road leading up the cliff to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress aka Koblenz Youth Hostel. And a little child led us down again. Then, aboard the Rhine Cruise had partied in sunshine with Americans in an impromptu Bi-Centennial celebration.
- Even after I collapsed with sunstroke in Stuttgart, Donna and I not only survived, but thrived when a good Samaritan procured a wonderful night's rest for us, in Frau Wahr's luxurious establishment.
Before we left Canada, Donna and I had already booked and paid for a cruise around the Greek Islands. So, beyond being in Athens by mid-July, we were free to relax and indulge our whims.
Having no idea when, or from where, our next train would leave, we knew only that our backpacks with would travel everywhere with us that day in Switzerland. And it promised to be a sweltering afternoon.
Our need to escape the city heat
was matched by our unwillingness to
sight-see while carrying a backpack.
Noon: Bodensee (Lake Constance) Ferry
by kind courtesy of http://stadtwerke.konstanz.de/en/mobility/ferry-friedrichshafen-romanshorn.html
The Lake Constance ferry which can also be used by pedestrians and cyclists, runs back and forth between Friedrichshafen and Romanshorn all year round and by the hour.[Operation of the ferry is shared by Bodensee Schiffsbetriebe GmbH and SBS Schifffahrt AG.]
I had boarded the ferry, anticipating a restful summer's afternoon mini-cruise of an historic and picturesque region of Europe. Donna had, however, quickly found a quiet corner and returned to reading her book.
So, as I had done on the Rhine River, I left my backpack with hers for safe-keeping, and sought out the company of more sociable people. My ensuing chats with travelling locals, and other tourists, taught me more about the towns at which our ferry would eventually dock.
For the next several hours, our ferry gallantly criss-crossed Lake Constance. And, in so doing, the ferry, and all its passengers, travelled out of Switzerland.
At each destination on the Bodensee, we had to show our Eurail passes and have our passports checked as well as have separate currencies to spend in each different country.
We briefly visited towns in both Germany and Austria before returning to Switzerland the city of Constance. Our first stop was Romanshorn, and from there we travelled to Friedrichshafen and Bregenz before disembarking at Constance (Konstanz) on the Swiss-German border.
by kind courtesy of http://www.nmaffei.com
photo by kind courtesy of
http://stadtwerke.konstanz.de/en/mobility/ferry-friedrichshafen-romanshorn.html
Romanshorn is a municipality in the district of Arbon in the canton of Thurgaubin Switzerland.
It was probably settled in the 7th Century, and is first mentioned in 779 as Rumanishorn in a land grant from Waldrata to the Abbey of St. Gall.
Friedrichshafen (Germany)
photo by kind courtesy of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Friedrichshafen_panorama.jpg
Bregenz (Austria)
photo by kind courtesy of http://www.nmaffei.com
After many hours of sunshine aboard the ferry, we finally disembarked at
Konstanz (German-Swiss border) aka Constance
by kind courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Konstanz_Blick_vom_M%C3%BCnsterturm.jpg
Ahhh...Swiss chocolate in the making...
Frau von Euw
Leichtenstein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Friedrichshafen_panorama.jpg
Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital of the Bodensee district in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg
taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FriedrichshafenBregenz (Austria)
photo by kind courtesy of http://www.nmaffei.com
Bregenz is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost federal state of Austria. The city is located on the eastern shores of Lake Konstanz, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the west and Germany to the northwest.
The city is situated on a plateau falling in a series of terraces to the lake at the foot of Pfänder mountain. It is a junction of the arterial roads from the Rhine valley to the German Alpine foothills, with cruise ship services on Lake Constance.
Konstanz (German-Swiss border) aka Constance
by kind courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Konstanz_Blick_vom_M%C3%BCnsterturm.jpg
Konstanz (English: Constance) is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.
From Konstanz, we again caught a train to the (then rural) town of
by kind courtesy of www.brodyaga.com
Oberwinterthur is a district in the Swiss city of Winterthur that comprises the quarters Talacher, Guggenbuhl, Zinzikon, Reutlingen, Stadel, Gruze, Hegmatten and Hegi.
Oberwinterthur was formerly a municipality of its own, but was incorporated in Winterthur in 1922.
taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberwinterthur
by kind courtesy of
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Wiener-Schnitzel02.jpg/240px-Wiener-Schnitzel02.jpg
Oberwinterthur was formerly a municipality of its own, but was incorporated in Winterthur in 1922.
taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberwinterthur
by kind courtesy of
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Wiener-Schnitzel02.jpg/240px-Wiener-Schnitzel02.jpg
At 7.15 pm, we arrived at Oberwinterthur and, as we were extremely hungry, immediately visited the pub for a delicious Weiner Schnitzel supper
After supper we enjoyed a short trek to Winterthur a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with a [2012]estimate of more than 100,000 people.
photo and above excerpt by kind courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterthur
Our destination was the
Schloss Hegi Hostel
by kind courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Winterthur_-_Schloss_Hegi,_Hegifeldstrasse_125_2011-09-10_13-20-42.jpg
by kind courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Schloss_Hegi%2C_Hegifeldstrasse_125_in_Winterthur_2011-09-10_12-56-10.jpg
The mediaeval Schloss Hegi Youth Hostel was a delight to behold, peacefully nestled between fields in (what was then) a Swiss country town. The two-tier beds in the women's section had all been pushed together to eliminate entry passageways between bunks. While this allowed for more bodies to sleep there overnight, this practice was far from hygienic.
So, despite this idyllic setting, I remained sleepless at the medieval Schloss Hegi Youth Hostel after discovering a bedbug on my mattress. I passed the time meditating, writing postcards to family and friends and bringing my travel journal up to date.
About 5 am, the warm, melodious sound of approaching cowbells drew me to the window. There I saw a small herd of cows placidly plodding towards the milking sheds.
Next Week
July 5-6
July 5-6
SWITZERLAND and LIECHTENSTEIN
Zurich
Meiringen
Reichenbach Falls
Lucerne
Frau von EuwLeichtenstein
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