LISA

We spent a fantastic 3 days in Schaffhausen with Heidi and Otto who made it their mission to fatten us up in record time (how good is Swiss food! - like Swiss tennis players - we were cheering for you Roger!). Among the great experiences were morning horse-rides with Heidi (Paul had to run along beside taking photos). Their cute, crazy little dog Farher (joy) was true to her name and kept us entertained for hours.

We also went on a 2hr cruise up the beautifully clear RhineRiver which we managed to get free on our Eurail passes. The cruise finished in the little town of Stein-am-Rhine meaning stone on the Rhine which had some great frescoed buildings and a castle way up on a hill. We were glad we had the car at that point, and after climbing some large number of stairs, we got fantastic views of the crystal clear river, old town and surrounding forest from the tower. To make it last a bit longer we had a soft drink in the castle café :p

On the way home we managed to go into Germany (it's the shortcut) and then back into Switzerland without being stopped by customs.

Another adventure was had at the Rhine falls, the largest falls (by m3/sec) in Europe. Here we walked around the top of them and then down their side before catching a boat over the river at the bottom, and then another right out to the giant rock in the middle of the falls. We then climbed this rock being covered in spray, and also witnessed a load of fish (about 30-40cm) trying valiantly but vainly to jump up the falls.

Heidi and Otto's house is near a little village outside of Schaffhausen and is completely surrounded by farms and vineyards. So we had some nice walks around there too and found a couple of fields of stunning sunflowers.

On another night Heidi took us up to a little restaurant on a hill with a tower for a coffee and to see the view. It didn't quite work out as planned because the clouds were so low they covered the top of the hill, but that was quite atmospheric in itself. And the day we were leaving Otto took us to another viewing tower from which we could see the Swiss Alps, and over into Germany.

An absolutely fantastic time! We've decided it is possibly the most beautiful country on Earth (tied with Australia of course) and if we ever become millionaires we will open secret Swiss bank accounts and buy our citizenship along with a great house or 3 :D