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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 8:46:48 GMT
Today I'll introduce you to Hoher Kasten which is the southernmost mountain in the Alpstein ridge that overlooks the Rhine Valley on one side and Appenzellerland on the other. This is not my picture but I want you to see it to give you an idea of the terrain. You can see the cable car going up to the top and the path we walked down on the side. I have been up this mountain many times and started long hikes from here staying the night in mountain huts that dot the entire mountain range. I'll do another thread, sometime, on my walks and the places I stopped at. Usually I sleep in Mattratza Lager....perhaps this translates as Mattress Rooms(? Happy?) which are under the chalet roof and where mattresses are laid down in two rows on the floor so that everyone can pile in and sleep together under duvets. Many people can be squeezed in this way. Washing is sometimes done in the animal troughs outside the chalet and goodness knows where the loos might be! It doesn't seem to matter when one's in the middle of the mountains. During June/July the wildflowers covering the meadows are prolific and beautiful. I try to go up and walk in the mountains in spring. Occasionally the mountain huts are quite luxurious and it's possible to have a double room to oneself. At the opposite end of the scale are the Lager where the sleeping quarters are directly above the animal quarters in ancient shepherds' huts.... Anyway, last week we started our day out by driving to the tiny hamlet of Brulisau where we parked our car and took a cable car to the top of Hoher Kasten. Brulisau The Hoher Kasten revolving restaurant The view down to the lake of See Alp See... I have walked along the mountain ridge that you can see and spent the night in a hut on the shores of the lake.
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Post by happytraveller on Aug 25, 2009 9:00:00 GMT
Hmmm... the translator says "dormitory" for Matratzenlager or Massenlager. Not sure if that describes it right though.
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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 10:33:38 GMT
From the top of Hoher Kasten the views of the Rhine Valley look like this. The Rhine originates from Reichenau in Switzerland. It is one of the most important and longest (1,320kms, 820m) rivers in Europe. You can read about it on this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine. Here you see it flowing from the mountains with Lichtenstein and Austria on one side and Switzerland on the other. It soon empties into Lake Constance bordered by Switerland, Austria and Germany, and continues through Europe until it empties into the North sea at Holland. I find that the view is not clear during the summer months but it is very sharp when it's winter and the whole, glorious panarama of the Austrian Alps can be seen. This is a view looking up a valley which is in Austria. Then I spotted a helicopter. It was delivering goods to the restaurant on Hoher Kasten, or perhaps it was dropping off building materials. It made its journeys to a valley near the town of Appenzell, carrying its load tied to a strong cable. It hovvered whilst being loaded and unloaded. It was quite a sight to see it plunging into the valleys (I wished I was on board!).
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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 13:33:07 GMT
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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 13:46:52 GMT
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Post by imec on Aug 25, 2009 14:17:46 GMT
spindrift, you've really outdone yourself - what a terrific group of posts! I always manage to forget how this part of the world seems not quite real to me - it's just too perfect. It always seems like a big landscape model that someone built for a model railway. Gotta go back now!
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Post by imec on Aug 25, 2009 14:31:19 GMT
I love your pic of the couple on a bench. Can we start a thread to guess what they're saying?
"You know dear, I don't think the number 37 bus stops here"
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Post by bazfaz on Aug 25, 2009 14:56:34 GMT
Switzerland is so perfect it must be a film set.
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Post by happytraveller on Aug 25, 2009 15:08:17 GMT
Switzerland is so perfect it must be a film set. That just made me LOL !
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 25, 2009 15:08:57 GMT
I always tell my Swiss gf that she lives in Paradise. ..... ...old bridge at Lucerne is very famous. ...I can't think why I didn't take pictures ... Paradise indeed! I can see why you were looking forward so keenly to visiting your friend. Do you go every year? As for the 2nd part of the quote -- gosh, guess you'll just have to go back! The Swiss seem to use their country so gently and respectfully. Nothing seems gouged into the earth. The towns and dwellings appear to recline benevolently on the bosom of the land, rather than creating that look we know all too well of nature brutalized into submission. Even the tidy fields have the look of using only what's needed. You must have run out of superlatives, with so many distinct but equally beautiful things to see -- the craggy looming mountains looking down into populated valleys, the green pastures with placid cows, the utterly exquisite woodland, the heart-stopping conveyances -- *sigh!* Not to derail this magnificent visit to Switzerland, but ........... doesn't this man have three arms? Her left arm is around behind his back. I believe you can see a bit of her left hand there on his left upper arm. Her right arm crosses her body to rest her right hand on his chest. His right arm is behind her back and clasping her upper body. His left arm is resting on his left side, bent at the elbow so he can hold her forearm on his chest. Correct? So what the heck is that other right elbow, forearm, and hand doing on his chest?!
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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 17:01:43 GMT
Bixa - perhaps the artist made that mistake intentionally? maybe there was a prize for the person who spotted it! (I didn't)....well done. Yes, you are quite right. If that's not his third arm then what is it? And yes, most of Switzerland does look like a film set. The close cropped 'mowed-look' grass is everywhere and I keep asking 'why is it like that?' but am only told that nothing is wasted, even the edges around the fences are clipped by hand..and perhaps the sheep, goats and cows eat it? We'll ask Happy!
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Post by Jazz on Aug 25, 2009 17:14:33 GMT
Beautiful! Switzerland was my childhood fantasy and I read Heidi over and over. Many years later, when I found my way to this place, it was just as I had imagined! Once, I slid down a low mountain covered with wildflowers. Your photos evoke wonderful memories...the one of the clear water is great, I never saw any garbage in Switzerland. In Lucerne I stayed in a small hotel on the river and looked at that lovely covered bridge from my bed. Thank you.
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Post by imec on Aug 25, 2009 17:28:53 GMT
doesn't this man have three arms? Her left arm is around behind his back. I believe you can see a bit of her left hand there on his left upper arm. Her right arm crosses her body to rest her right hand on his chest. His right arm is behind her back and clasping her upper body. His left arm is resting on his left side, bent at the elbow so he can hold her forearm on his chest. Correct? So what the heck is that other right elbow, forearm, and hand doing on his chest?! No, no, no... it's HER left arm. The thing behind HIS left upper arm is the back of the head of the twin of the idiot in the red shirt.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2009 17:36:52 GMT
I still regret that I did not settle in Switzerland!
However, I enjoy teasing my Swiss friends from time to time. A couple of years ago, I commented on how messy the construction sites were in Basel compared to the construction sites in France, which were much better organized. The immediate retort was "that's because the workers really work in Switzerland." It is a very proud country.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 25, 2009 17:45:00 GMT
Hmm. I see your point, Imec. It's just that the rest of the piece is pretty well proportioned and that third arm matches him, not her. Also, try putting your arm in that position and you'll see that the pointy part of the elbow could not be at that angle. My theory is that the piece is so big and complicated it needed several people working on it and that detail got overlooked.
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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 17:47:24 GMT
Now we're sadly coming to the last instalment of my thread although it might not be all finished in one go! On my last day out we decided to take a ferry from Rorschach across Lake Constance to the historic island of Lindau which is in Bavaria (Germany). In German, Lake Constance translates as Bodensee. Lake Constance is a lake on the River Rhine. It is situated in Switzerland, Austria and Germany near the Alps. It is central Europe's third largest lake being 63kms long and nearly 14kms wide at its widest point. It was formed by the Rhine Glacier during the Ice Age! Lindau is built on a 0.26sq.mile island connected to the (German) mainland by a bridge and a railway. This is Rorschach harbour presented in two pictures as I do not have a panoramic facility on my camera. Our ferry to Lindau was German as you'll soon see by its flag but on our return to Rorschach we were on a Swiss ferry. Some of my fellow travellers ~ I took some pictures of the town buildings as we left the quayside. Then we were far out onto the lake and only saw the odd boat here and there. Our first port of call in Germany was Wasserburg Then we continued on our way to Lindau
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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 18:25:25 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 25, 2009 18:52:28 GMT
What a glorious outing! This is so pretty, Spindrift and you've really captured it. Even with the modern stores and cafes and the tourists in shorts, that harbor shot evoked how imposing the city must have been to someone approaching it 400 years ago.
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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 20:52:11 GMT
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Post by bazfaz on Aug 25, 2009 21:03:18 GMT
It's all been superb. Brava. Thank you.
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Post by imec on Aug 25, 2009 21:05:57 GMT
Bravo Spindrift!! A thoroughly enjoyable post and done so in what must be record time (unlike my own tardy efforts...). Thanks so much for all this!!!
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Post by spindrift on Aug 25, 2009 21:09:31 GMT
Ahh! Thanks.....it was a great effort to keep going. If I hadn't done it immediately I might never have finished it! Phew!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2009 21:17:25 GMT
Absolutely fantastic, Spindrift. After all that work, I think you need to go on holiday again as soon as possible!
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 26, 2009 0:29:33 GMT
*STANDING OVATION*
Just stupendous, Spindrift ~~ your posts are always informative, but also always, always beautiful and fun besides.
You catch such wonderful bits too, as in the two different arched doorways above, or the delicate nicotiana against the coral colored wall. And then to think of showing scenes of a cheese factory and closing with a shot of a giant wedge of cheese -- brilliant!
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Post by lola on Aug 26, 2009 3:55:43 GMT
Wonderful, Spindrift. Thanks so much.
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Post by happytraveller on Aug 26, 2009 14:09:19 GMT
I am so glad you like my country so much spindrift and I am looking forward showing you some more of it
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 26, 2009 19:40:50 GMT
Spindrift, I was absolutely bowled over by the sand sculptures. And this walk down the Hoher Kasten! I'd love to walk there.
Your pics of Constance lake reminded me of the visit we enjoyed there with my family, but I was so small! I definitely remembered the style of houses/roofs as they are slightly different from the french-speaking side.
thank you thank you thank you!
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Post by tillystar on Aug 27, 2009 9:02:06 GMT
Bloody brilliant!
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Post by traveler63 on Aug 27, 2009 13:10:56 GMT
FANTASTIC SPINDRIFT!!!!!
Boy, do I have something to live up to when I start to post from Paris!!!! You are a truly wonderful photographer, wow!! Thank you!
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Post by spindrift on Aug 27, 2009 14:36:16 GMT
Happy! I'll hold you to your kind invitation T63 - I've decided to sign up on a photography course to study and understand the basics of taking pictures. I want to upgrade to a really good camera but obviously couldn't do that yet. Perhaps the University near me has a course I could join. Thanks all My next trip abroad will be to Ireland.
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