Rhine valley in winter

When people find out that we live in Switzerland they usually ask us if we live in the mountains and if we have a lot of snow in winter. They are always surprised that we have to drive at least 1.5 hours to get to the mountains and barely have any snow where we live. Every time it snows it feels so special, and I usually go out to enjoy the atmosphere as I know that it won't last long and won't happen again anytime soon.

We were lucky to have our first snow last week. It has melted already and it's raining again, but I truly enjoyed those couple of days when everything was white. It was snowing all day and night, and as every year the cities were surprised about the snowfall (even though there were warning at least one week in advance) and the infrastructure collapsed. I was lucky that I didn't have to use the public transportation as there were long delays.

I went for a walk early in the morning. Normally, I don't go out so early, but I was so excited when I looked out of the window that I couldn't wait to go out and even skipped my breakfast which doesn't happen often. I was also afraid that it would melt away as soon as there would be a bit of sunshine later in the day. Surprisingly, the snow lasted for 2 full days this time 😊

Let's go!

There are few places where I could walk to, but my favourite is to walk along the river. There are only a couple of dog walkers or joggers at that time of the day, so it is very peaceful. And it's also an easy place to reach for me and I can walk for as long as I want as the path is several kilometres long.

It was a cold morning, and I didn't plan to walk for long even though in the end I walked much more than I expected. It was so pretty that I didn't want to go back, but at some point I started to feel cold and didn't want to get sick as I have way too many things to do these days and any illness would not help us at all.

The villages in our area are charming, but it's a completely different experience when the roofs are covered with snow...

It's not difficult to guess from which side came the wind...

We have lost many trees this year because it was raining all summer. The ground became saturated with water and those old trees couldn't hold it up and fell down in the river. We had such a bare spot before, but this year we got a few more. I think that because the hill is steep, it's difficult to come up with a solution to strengthen it or other option would be that nobody cares.

It is not only sad to see it, but it is also dangerous if you're walking on the other side. I would normally walk on that side in summer, but I avoid it in winter because there is no winter service on that path.

This side has a comfortable path because most tourists walk here from the train station to the Rhine Falls...

I love it when I manage to go out when the snow is still on the branches. It is so pretty! It was windy and even though it was not snowing the snowflakes were flying around from the branches...

The water was crystal clear as always...

Those living in The Netherlands would probably not believe that this is the Rhine as the Rhine over there looks like a completely different river. People swim in the river here, but I can't imagine putting even one finger in the Rhine in The Netherlands as I would be afraid it would fall off because it's so dirty there 😊

It looks like a perfect place to swim, but I would not risk it as it's very close to the waterfall and the looks can be deceiving.

There is a public BBQ place here and we used to come to BBQ with our friends, but this year we didn't enjoy it much because it was constantly flooded. I don't remember when was the last time that we had so much water during the summer months.

This is my favourite spot in the area. From time to time a flag appears in the middle of the island, so someone dares to cross the river. I would never do it, but I can imagine that it is possible if there is not so much rain over a long period of time...

Look at that tiny 'island'! It is a good indicator of how much water there is in the riverbed. Sometimes it is covered completely, and other times the entire light coloured area is dry. It's interesting to see how the water level raises and falls when you come here often.

You can't see it well on the photo (unless you enlarge it), but there were so many birds on those rocks. It looked like they had a business meeting 😊

Somehow they can tell their own sort because you can see them grouped together - there are only the whites or only the blacks sitting on the same rock.

I don't think that we had so much snow since I moved here almost 14 years ago...

The river is becoming wilder...

The Rhine Falls is just behind this bridge...

Yes, we do have trees in the middle of the riverbed, and how strong they must be if they withstand the current.

In the winter months, the sun doesn't really go above the hill in this place...

And of course we can't finish our walk without some photos of the waterfalls...

The child in me was very happy!

Some plants were 'hanging in' there...

I had to think of my schoolmates from my childhood who would not hesitate a second and would shake this tree when I would stand right under those branches.