A Day in Switzerland

​We took a bus tour day trip to Switzerland with the USO.  Since we are living in the southern part of Germany we are about 1.5 hours from the Swiss border. We stopped at three different places today. The fall leaves are at their peak and the coloring was gorgeous and the weather was very nice, one of those Indian Summer kind of  days. 

Our first stop was Rhine Falls. It was a baby version of Niagara Falls and the largest waterfall in Europe. We took a boat to the rock in the middle of the falls then had to change to climb to the top. On the top of the rock we got some different views of the falls. When riding the boat to the rock island, you could feel the strong current. Our tour guide guide said the water was about 2/3 what it normally is, since more water comes in the summer due to the snow melting from the Alps. He said in the summer all the rocks are covered with water, it was still amazing to see. We were given some free time, so we took a little walk to one of the castles on the hill and walk across a train bridge and got a great top view of the falls.

Our next stop was a small town called Stein am Rhine. It is situated on the Rhine River, right where Lake Constance rejoins the river. It had the old world charm with house front painted and cobble stone streets. You could see the Monastery of St. Georgen which was very well preserved. Time didn’t allow a hike up to Hohenklingen Caste which was built in 1225 but we took a picture of it nestle high above the town. 

Our final stop was Schloss Arenenberg which is an estate with a small chateau which today houses the Napoleonmuseum. Arenenberg is situated on a hill which over looks Lake Constance. Rows and rows of grape plants covered the grounds. I did buy a bottle of wine to try.