Last weekend was the warmest weekend this year so far. The spring has definitely come to Switzerland, and we can see more and more people walking around enjoying the sunshine. With such weather it would be a pity to stay at home, so we went for a long walk yesterday. In total, we walked about 10 km and came back home exhausted, but happy.
We didn't want to go far away from home, so we decided to walk along the river Rhine in Schaffhausen. Usually, we would take our car to get there as it's about 3 km from our home, but yesterday we walked from home instead. It was the first time this year that we walked in our spring jackets. We also saw some people in short sleeves, but to me it was a bit cold for that 🙂 Spring jacket was a perfect choice. I don't know about other countries, but here as soon as the sun is out people behave like it was summer.
The Rhine promenade is built close to a dam that creates electricity for Schaffhausen. There are many people swimming in the river in summer, but it's on their own risk as there are many sightseeing boats passing here everyday (from the lake Konstanz through Stein am Rhein to Schaffhausen). Honestly, I haven't swam here yes as the idea of swimming in a river is not so appealing to me. The water here is deep, but it's so crystal clear that you can see the fish swimming a few meters in front of you.
On the other side of the river is a town called Feuerthalen which belongs to canton Zürich. The taxes in canton Zürich are generally lower than in canton Schaffhausen, so Feuerthalen is a place where many people working in Schaffhausen live. It's almost impossible to find a good apartment there, and if you find one you have to be quick as it's gone in no time.
It's not only sightseeing boats that you can see here. There are many small boats which people take to the lake as well. Usually, this dock is full of boats in the evening. I guess people were enjoying the weather on the lake during the day.
We noticed that there was a kayaking competition in this area yesterday, but we came too late. All people were already out of the river and filling their cars with the kayaking equipment.
The promenade was renovated a few years ago. There are ancient trees, many flower bushes, herbs, roses and other flowers in summer, and many, many benches.
Spring is coming...
I was observing these people for a moment as their were feeding a swan. It looked like the swan loved their pizza, but I don't know if it's really good for it to eat it. I guess it is not. I would probably never feed a swan as they can bite if they get impatient and aggressive. But this swan was nice and moved away with its full belly.
Here are the ancient trees that provide much needed shadows in hot summer...
These flowers were so tiny, but you couldn't miss them because of their bright colour...
You can walk for kilometres along the river...
Looking back at Schaffhausen with its fortress Munot on top of a hill...
Another tiny blossom...
Here you can see how big are the trees there (as a comparison to the boat)
This tree crown will be full of lush leaves...
It's the best season for various flowers...
Can you spot the bird flying on the other side?
We walked a bit more and then turned around as it was about 5 km in total to go back home. It was also getting darker and a bit colder, so the right time to walk back home.
I hope that from now on the days will be warmer and warmer, and soon I will start sharing my gardening journal with you as well 🙂
Until the next time...