Zurich; Thursday, 22 December, 2005

Normally at this point in a trip, I would say something fatuous like "Early start this morning to get to..." Thankfully this is Switzerland so I knew full well that going to Schaffhausen in the very north of the country (or about 50Km north of Zürich) would take less than an hour, the 10:14 train would run, and to time, and that I wouldn't have to rush, so…

Not a particularly early start to the day as I went to the Northern Swiss town of Schaffhausen. Nestling on the German border on the main line from Zürich (in fact many of the trains start even further south in Milano) to Stuttgart Schaffhausen has the dubious privilege of being the only Swiss town bombed during W.W.II. The Americans apologised profusely that they had mistaken the town for southern Germany. It did not stop them bombing it a few years later though. Of course, it could have had something to do with the large and very profitable arms industry, which was at work in the area! Today Schaffhausen is a quiet, pretty town nestling on the banks of the Rhine (See also Bonn, Köln) the main attraction in the city centre is the Munot. Built by forced labour in the 16th century it has an (almost) unique spiral ramp leading to the top (see also Copenhagen - despite the Swiss claiming that they are the only ones to have them in Europe!) and stunning views out over the town.

Downstream (45 minutes walk, or 10 minutes on the Trolley bus if you are feeling lazy, like me!) in the town of Neuhaussen is the main tourist pull of the area, the Rhine Falls. Described as the largest waterfalls in Europe they crash down a 23m (69ft) drop. I know that does not come even close to Victoria, Angel or Niagara falls - but it is still very impressive, and very, very noisy. The area has three walking routes clearly marked out that let you take in the best views. The longest walk, which I took, takes you across a railway bridge just yards up stream of the falls, into the grounds of Schloß Laufen and from there you can pay 1Fr to descend steps to a viewing platform so close to the falls that you can almost touch them (though doing so would probably rip your hand off!)

The walk continues along the bank of the Rhine for about another Kilometre, by which time the Rhine is back to being a peaceful and tranquil river, you can hardly imagine that just up stream is such awesome power. The walk continues over a bridge and back on the other side of the river to Neuhaussen and the falls again.

Just opposite the falls, I stopped for a very pleasant late lunch in a restaurant overlooking the falls before catching the trolley bus back to Schaffhausen and the train on to Winterthur.

Winterthur (or as it is known to most Brits - Churchill) has given its name to one of the worlds largest insurance groups. The town itself is quite modern with not much in the way of pretty streets or fabulous architecture. The city does house many museums and galleries. As time was short, I only visited one - the photography museum that shows regularly changing exhibitions of famous Swiss and non-Swiss photographers.

I caught the train from Winterthur back to Zürich, just in time to catch the Lichterfest. This Christmas tradition happens just once a year at 6pm on the 22nd of December. Hundreds of candles are light and set down into the river to float down stream through the city centre. The scene is beautiful, and finally put me in to a Christmas mood.

After watching the candles floating down into the distance and spending some time wandering around another of the Christmas markets (with obligatory glass of Glühwine) I wandered back to the hotel to pack my bags and get some rest.