I'm passing Eglisau every time I go to work as it's on the way to Zurich, but I never had a chance to stop there and explore the town. Well, until about two weeks ago...
I must admit that I don't enjoy crossing the town as I'm always stuck in the traffic jam (even when I leave at 6.30am), but at least it gives me time to look around. Eglisau looked charming from the road, so why not going there and seeing what is hidden behind those buildings next to the road?
Let's have a look!
It only took us about 20 minutes to get there as we left after the rush hour. Lucky us! We parked the car in the parking garage and were ready to explore. It was a hot day and luckily we took some water and snacks as many restaurants and cafes are closed on Mondays in Switzerland. It was not different in Eglisau and the town was rather empty.
Eglisau is a small town with less than 5000 inhabitants. It's difficult to find a place to live there as it has favourable tax rates, so many people are trying to get an apartment there. Tax rates are an important part of decision to move around in Switzerland as the difference between towns or villages can be significant. Of course it's not only the rates that make people want to move here. There is beautiful architecture, the river Rhine, surrounding hills and lots of greenery. It is also close to Zurich or Winterthur where you can find anything that you need.
Sailing is very popular on the river Rhine. Can you see those boats covered with blue cloths in the back? There were so many boats docked on that side of the river. There is even a sailing club on the left where we will go now to enjoy some views of Eglisau.
In order to get there we cross a 100 years old bridge which is the cause of the traffic jam every day 馃檪 Frankly, the curves to get on and off the bridge are too sharp for trucks, and this is slowing down the traffic. They are so sharp that even some people struggle to drive through them in a car...
However, there are no issues if you walk through the bridge other than those beautiful views (Yes, it might be an issue if you stumble and fall down 馃檪)
There are some delicious light wines produced in Eglisau. I wonder if they are made out of grapes growing on that side of the river.
From here there are many walking and biking routes, but we knew where we were going, so didn't need to check.
Here, I have realized that the buildings on the other side of the river are 'growing' straight of the water...
Let's go down to the river...
The railway bridge in the back is built 50 meters above the river! You will cross this bridge if you take a train to Zurich...
As I mentioned, there were many boats. I always wondered how people hop on the boat docked like this. I would probably fall straight in the river...
And here is that bridge nemesis 馃檪
The first bridge that was built in this place dated back to the 13th century. It was a wooden bridge which was regularly damaged by ice and high water, but always somehow repaired until it was destroyed by the French and Russian armies in the 19th century.
Once we have enough of the views we will walk back to the promenade on the other side to see what we will find there...
And we arrived at the sailing club. There is a viewing platform from where you can also go for a swim. It was a great weather for swimming, but I don't like swimming in Rhine as the river is very fast and strong.
There is so much water! And look at that hill with vineyard in the back...
The sculpture is called 'The swimmer' and it was created in 1930. It used to be placed in Zurich and then in Biel until it was purchased by Eglisau in 1967.
Next to the bridge was a castle. It was standing there since the 13th century until it was destroyed because of the progressing infrastructure in the 19th century. Today, the inhabitants of Eglisau hold regular protests to ban people to drive through the town as there are almost 30000 cars crossing the bridge everyday. I wonder how it would be if they decided to keep the castle instead 馃檪
Let's go back up and to the other side, but first look at this cute gnome!
There was a tiny waterfall flowing into the river. You might not be able to see it, but it is there, believe me...
We were lucky that there was not so much sun when we were walking back up the hill. It was not long, but challenging enough to sweat a bit...
But it was worth the views in my opinion...
And here we are! It was so difficult to take photos as there were cars parked everywhere...
But I managed to take some anyway 馃檪
In case you don't understand German: the sign says: 'I don't pee here'.
Some houses came straight out of fairy tales...
There are no dwarfs living here though 馃檪
Time to refill our bottles even when it will take ages with this stream...
From here we will finally be able to go down to the promenade...
And here we are!
There is a swimming pool in the river called badi. Well, it's rather a swimming area with a beach. I was able to find a bench under a big tree and sit on my own for a bit when my husband went to see if there was an open restaurant somewhere. There wasn't, so we ate our snacks here.
Can you spot two people in the river? There were many people swimming by while we were there. The river is clean and many prefers it to a swimming pool. I rather swim in a pool.
The boat was docked next to us. Suddenly, there were many people boarding it and we thought that they would go somewhere on a trip, however they only drove a small circle in front of us and returned back. It was so strange. Maybe they were testing something or showing off 馃檪
Let's walk back to the car...
But we cannot leave without looking at that bridge one more time 馃檪
We were not so lucky on the way back home as we caught the afternoon rush hour, so it took us over 30 minutes to get there. Well, luckily we were not hungry 馃檪
See you next time!