Day 64, August 1st

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONFOEDERATIO HELVETICA!

Today on Switzerland's National Day (let's see, after my calculations that would be Switzerland's 726th birthday) I felt the urge to head up to the mountains and breath in some fresh air that there is so plenty of in the Alps. I heard about a 230'x230' Swiss flag (a Swiss flag is square) that was hung on the 8200 foot Säntis. With 8200 feet the Säntis is the tallest mountain in the Northeastern Swiss region. Not Impressive you may say, but if you consider that the Bodensee area is only around the 1250 foot level, the Säntis still stands tall with lots of granite cliffs and a pointy peak and a restaurant with a tall tower.

 The flag had been hanged up a few days ago and has suffered a few rips since...

After a sudden huge thunder storm, it cleared back up on time for us to enjoy a relaxed evening filled with food, snacks, dessert and fireworks. We had a little visitor with us as well. My sister's step grandson was so excited about all the noise and light the firework produced.

an inbetweener

A little outing to Ruine Neuburg (Thurgau, Switzerland) estimated to have been built in the 13th century. I thought we would check it out while enjoying a lunch up there. Finally gone through a much needed restoration in 2001 and 2002, it is now a safe and awesome ruine to visit. A little hidden and no parking (unless you park illegally like us entitled tourists), you can bet not to find a whole lot of crowd up there. I love that about North East Switzerland. There are only a handful of places that are crowded tourist attractions. Other than that, you mostly run into locals only which in essence helps me feel closer to Swiss culture.

I love old stone buildings. Blows my mind trying to imagine how they managed to stack those rocks on top of each other so tall and fairly level.

Tristan being silly

 Old ruins make for excellent climbing practices.

That's a massive wall

We found a very nice setup for a future lunch here. First thought: This would make a perfect camping spot if we did it unnoticed since camping in Switzerland is illegal unless in designated areas and for a price.

Plants here just like to grow anywhere. I learned that this hill used to be treeless when this fortress was built. It was built mainly to keep track of the merchants crossing the lake just below.

Moss everywhere. You notice silly things like this when where you live it's a rarity. Next stop Stein am Rhein. I remembered it to be as cute as heck of a town. And it was. Not disappointing in any way. 

This town carries a very medieval charm. This said medieval looking clothing in stores are also available.

The narrow passage way into town

Talon insists that this town doesn't look medieval but Japanese. I think it is all the dragon decorative metal drains everywhere in town plus a ton of Asian tourists that gave him that idea.

Even this church has dragon heads resting in all the corners

And this bike resembles the Japan flag. Okay. Wrong color combination. Never mind. Just cute

We fond an awesome Brocki (second hand shop). 30 dollars for some swords and $25 for some awesome cow horns. I should have gotten them that day because it turns out like so many Swiss businesses, it is closed for the rest of the summer for vacation.

Day 56. Rheinfall

We arrived safe and sound back in Switzerland. Our awesome rental van ended up with a tiny nick on its sliding door. Parking spaces here in Europe are tight. Add up a wider van and you are doomed to have someone slam their door into our van (of course while we are absent). So worried now that we would have to pay an exaggerated amount of money for them to pop that tiny thing, we delivered the van back to Hertz (without pointing it out) and hoped for the best. Well, the lady did not notice on her inspection round. Whew!

Loggins departure was nearing. We felt it was a must to see the Rheinfall waterfall. The weather was nice enough and so on day 56 we drove the one hour it takes to witness the river Rhein rushing through anything in its way. How do I put that? Oh yes. It was grand!

Another fascinating playground. Having some fun in that long and steep slide

This part of Switzerland is literally taking out space from Germany and was raided by WWII American liberation bombers thinking it was part of Germany. The Shaffhausen inhabitants will not forget and are still upset about that... But now off to Germany (like 5 minutes away) to go to the long promised to the kids 1 Euro store and eat a cheap dinner. Singen is our destination city. Fairly close to my hometown, and a very common destination city to East Swiss inhabitants, yet this is my first visit here. It was a fun city with an awesome fortress overlooking the town. One day... I will visit every single fortress standing on the hillsides of Switzerland and some in neighboring countries.

 

Let's go for some Turkish food. Cheap and... wow. Huge!

Then Aldi. Okay, Aldi in Switzerland does not have an automated bread machine. Push the button of the desired item and pop, it is ready.  This is a little too weird for me to get used to.