We had a very eventful last Friday in Switzerland, we had the morning off to do some shopping, some went to Zürich and others stayed around in Winterthur to get some chocolate and souvenirs for friends and family back home. In the afternoon we took the bus to the canton Schaffhausen for a guided tour of this very old and historical city. We started at the Munot, which is a 16th Century fortified castle on the river Rhine and from there we took in the unique architecture of the city and visited the monastery.
This is the view of the Rhine river from on top of the Munot.
This is the room where the knights would ride through on their way to the top of the castle.
Jeremiah was enjoying the scenery and architecture by blowing some bubbles.
Schaffhausen is known for their plentiful number of bay windows, this is the architecture style that was most popular when the city was founded. We were also lucky enough to see one of the private homes from the inside, a local man was kind enough to allow us to see just how intricate and detailed each house was. After Schaffhausen we got back on the bus and transferred to the Rhine Falls.
These are a few rocks that have observation decks on them, and are only accessible by boat.
Here's a better shot of the falls themselves, it's kinda hard to grasp just how large they are from the picture, but we were very close and it was neat to see such great waterfalls up close.
Here's Matt, Will, Chelsea and I enjoying our time at the falls. After we spend some time at the Rhine Falls, we headed to a small village on the river Rhine where we had our farewell dinner. We went to a small restaurant called Salthaus Zum Schiff that had a view of the river where the river serves as the border between Switzerland and Germany. The meals were delicious and everyone had a great time, some of our Swiss buddies were even able to make it as well as Dejan and his wife.
We had the upstairs of the restaurant to ourselves and that was a very nice way to visit with everyone and enjoy our last day in this beautiful country.
It is kinda hard to believe that our short time here is up already, we've seen so many interesting and new things and learned about the many different cultures that Switzerland consists of. As we look back and say goodbye to Switzerland, we will all have fond memories of the weekend trips we took, staying in the riverside guest house with a whole floor to ourselves, waking up early and taking die Nummer Sieben Bus to the City Center and then walking to the Technikum to get to class to work our tails off on our Lego rovers, figuring out the layout of the city with our Swiss buddies, discovering the Döner kebab stands and of course the Swiss chocolates and cheeses.
The chemistry between everyone on this trip has been amazing, it seems as though we've known each other for a lot longer than the three short weeks that we actually have known them and we've bonded over sticking together to take in the rich culture and history of Switzerland. Many of us learned some useful German phrases by going to the shops in Winterthur and speaking with the locals, and the ones who have taken German before got to practice their skills and gain confidence that they can communicate in a foreign language, which is always a good feeling. It has been quite the adventure over here in southwestern Europe these past three weeks, and I'm sure we will all remember it for years to come.
A special thanks to everyone who made this trip possible including Armin, Adam, Dejon, Profs Kelso and Erdman, our Swiss buddies, busdrivers and countless others who helped us get around and see this beautiful part of the world, we appreciated every moment of our time here in Switzerland.
