Rhine Falls and two Old Towns

We took the train from Zurich to Schaffhausen this morning (Thursday) and were excited to get a wonderful view of the Rhine Falls as we passed through Neuhausen. In fact, we were so thrilled by what we could see from the train that we changed our plan and decided to go there first and come back to Schaffhausen later. There was a minor hitch to this plan when we caught a bus which was labelled 'Reinfall' outside the station and we assumed that was where we would end up. Unfortunately that was not the case so we wasted some time retracing the bus route halfway back!

The sight of the falls after we walked from the bus stop to the river was breathtaking! This is Europe's largest and most powerful waterfall, with water crashing down 21 metres across a width of 150 metres. We spent some time viewing the falls from different vantage points and watching the various tourist boats scooting through the foam to deliver people to the rock between two whirlpools so they could climb to the top before being picked up again.

We chose a less adventurous option of a round trip from the southern shore which took a 'figure of eight' route, passing the rock twice before returning us to shore.

We then walked along the riverbank and up to the bridge which crossed the falls. On the other side we climbed a forest path up to Schloss Laufen where we enjoyed lunch - pork chops 'from a baby piglet' with rosemary potatoes, followed by a magnificent Melba sundae for Ian and a fillet of trout with grilled almonds and then crème brulé for me.

Go Pies! Ian with a black and white friend...

Ft

After lunch we caught the train to Stein-am-Rhein, the first of the Old Town areas we visited today. This is a very picturesque place where many of the houses are timber-framed and have beautifu oriel windows and frescoes. You can imagine how many photos we took!

We visited the Museum Lindwurm which is housed in a building part of which dates from 1279. The rooms of the house have been restored to illustrate the life of a bourgeois family and its servants in the mid 19th century, and we spent an interesting hour there before returning to Schaffhausen by train.

The Old Town area in Schaffhausen is quite extensive and we spent an hour or so walking around the picturesque streets - lots more half-timbered houses with painted facades; some more oriel windows (but Stein am Rein wins that contest); and several fountains with statues of figures like William Tell. The highlight was the house known as the Knight's House (Haus zum Ritter) which was decorated with frescoes between 1568 and 1570 and was carefully restored in 1943.

The Knight's House

William Tell

We finished our walk with a visit to the Cathedral of All Saints. This church was constructed around 1200 in the Romanesque style. It is a monumental building (massive tall columns, very high pitched roof) but it has a sparse simplicity with little decoration other than the colour of the stone and three small vibrantly coloured stained glass windows above the altar.

While we were there a woman was setting up a large candelabra near the altar and another was dancing to some taped music. They were aparently preparing for a group of like-minded women who meet there and dance together. We enjoyed watching them and listening to the music for a while in that special space before taking the train back to Zurich.