Swiss Tourist 2: Schaffhausen, Zurich, Luzern

Hi :)

It's Thursday suddenly, and I realized I had not yet updated you about my trip last weekend. I'm slowly getting pre-exam jitters, and I spent 8 hours in the library yesterday studying the physiology of the kidney. Having spent my afternoon today learning about cervical cancer, I figured I could allow myself a half hour and post some pictures to take my mind off things! :)

We left Lausanne early last Thursday, and spent about 3 hours on a train, changing in Zurich, to make it to Schaffhausen. This small city is right on the border to Germany, and lies right along the Rhine river. Typical Swiss houses and cosy streets made it a very pleasant visit as we walked around thursday morning. It was quiet as it was a day off, and the weather was actually decent. In the afternoon, we walked along the river about 3 km to the Rheinfall. This is the main attraction of the area- a massive waterfall where the Rhine river falls 23 m at a width of 125m. The sun peeked out as we were having lunch along the river, and increasing amounts of people were out.

The area around the falls had been nicely built out to accomodate the tourists, small walking paths and steps letting you get really close.  Boats were also available in the pool below the falls, but we figured these were a little overpriced, and the view was already great from the banks of the river.

Our plan for the afternoon was to go to the "Adventure Park", a playground in the trees if you will, fun for just about anyone- with ziplines and challenging "bridges" to cross, high up in the canopies. We spent a good 3 hours, therefore, at the park, climbing around, all along with a great view of the waterfall. Fun for two tourists who were a little sick of cathedrals ;)



View Schaffhausen trip in a larger map

When the climbing was done we were decently exhausted, and walked back toward town to find our hotel- the "Gasthaus Frohsinn" (http://www.gasthof-frohsinn.ch/index.php?home-deutsch), which was really pleasant with great rooms and an amazing restaurant. Being tired we gratefully accepted the proposal of a table in their restaurant for dinner, and definitely no regrets on that decision, the food was amazing.

In the morning it was pouring down, and we got a train back toward Zurich. I wanted to do some shopping and the weather was pretty bad so who could blame me for wanting to be inside? I got to frequent most of my favorite stores in Zurich, we had some lunch, and then took the train, continuing on to Luzern at around 5. I'd been advised to go and spend time in Lucern instead of in Zurich, as Zurich is what you would expect of most industrialized big cities, while Luzern has some real charm. 

It was still pouring when we got to Luzern, so we quickly went to find our hotel, which proved nice as well (so we got lucky with hotels this time :) ). Luzern lies at the end of the "Vierwaldstettersee", and the beginning of the river Reuss. The town is famous for its jesuitt church, its city wall, as well as the water-regulating system that has been used for centuries to regulate the lake water level. Most of our sightseeing took place in the morning however, after a night of wandering round searching for thai food that we both had cravings for. 

The morning on Saturday was nice, lightly cloudy, and lots of people were out at the markets that were all along the river. After a muffin and a cup of coffee we were fit for fight and went on a walk around town to see the sights...

So there you go- we left Luzern at around 2 pm, so we were back in Lausanne around 5 (it's quite far!) It was such a nice trip, and I think out of the three cities Luzern was my favorite. 

My week has been busy, and the last adventure is coming up this weekend when we are going to the mountains to horsebackride with my flatmate and her boyfriend. Can't wait! 

xxTherese