Rheinfalls, Stein Am Rhein and Castle Hohenklingen

As it appeared that today again would not be a good day to hike or visit the Alps, we instead visited Rheinau, Rheinfalls (largest waterfalls in Europe), Stein am Rhein (the well preserved Medieval city that is one of my favorite places to visit) as well as the Castle Hohenklingen located on the hill above that is not only interesting to visit, but provides a bird's eye view of Stein am Rhein.

I had not been to Rheinau previously, so this little town was another one to add to my list of places visited. Rheinau's claim to fame is the Benedictine Abbey, considered to be most magnificent exampels of High Baroque architecture in Switzerland. Unfortunately, the exterior was being restored and covered by scaffolding. The interior church photo here is of the women's chapel located on the premises and not High Baroque architecture, but has a very simplistic beauty.

Always fun to take visitors to the falls, it reminds me of my years growing up in New York state, when we took so many of our visitors to Niagara. Rheinfalls is not as large as Niagara, but it is just as awe-inspring. I think it must be due to the fact that you can get "up close and personal" with the falls along with the many directions from which you can view the falls. Although always busy with tourists, it maintains a quaintness that you don't find at Niagara. Maybe that's due to the absence of all the billboard advertising, for miles before reaching Niagara of The Maid of the Mist and other "tourist opportunities."

After wandering around the falls we headed to Stein am Rhein, a town I have enjoyed in many different seasons now. The flowers in boat-shaped flower pots were in full and magnificent bloom. It is so much fun to just meander through the streets of this small town. Today's coffees (and schoggi warm or "hot"chocolate) was consumed at a river side restaurant. Actually we have never found "hot" chocolate served anywhere, even on the ski slopes. It's always listed as warm, that this is what it is. Warm. Delicious Swiss chocolate, but warm.

We then headed up the hill to the castle. The original buildings were constructed in the 11th century by the Zähringer, a dynasty of noblemen. After they had died out, in 1218, the German emperor gave the castle to the Freiherren of Klingen (which is the origin of its name)

In the mid 1400's it became important as Switzerland's northernmost watchtower overlooking Germany. In the mid 1800's it had to be renovated because part of the structure began to slide downhill! There is a restaurant in the castle which has a wonderful covered terrace that overlooks Stein am Rhein. Although all the information on the castle is only in German, there are color maps that show which portions were built at various times.

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