Day 9 * The Rheinfall and Walking and the Happy Couple *

Well, that was an interesting day.
The Trip to the Rheinfall
A good continental breakfast with enough bread rolls and cheese that we could make lunch to take with us. A wander along the Niederdorfstr and headed for past the Bahnhof, to Sihlquai (zeal-kay) where our tour bus awaited. The sum total of passengers 8, (5 Indians, 1 German woman and us) but we went any way because we had to call in to Zurich Flughaven (the airport) in case there was anyone there - both ways. A very informative guide called Annette kept us up to scratch with a whole lot of what we have come to know as “factoids” - interesting but useless bits of information – mind you most of you know my brain has been overstocked with such for ages.
Going by bus gave a good view of the countryside and not having to converse with anyone allows you to take it in in a different way. After the airport where no-one got on (or off) I developed a cough which was a reaction to something - either some acacia blossom or the aftershave of the young Indian gentleman on board. I wheezed my way to the front and the driver said when we got to Schaffhausen he knew an Apotheke he could stop at for me. HIs name was Cesar, from Oporto in Portugal and had the flag and team colours hanging from the drivers side.
It is the European Cup starting next Saturday (7 Juni) here in Switzerland and Austria so the place is starting to go mad with football fever as I was to discover later.
Back on the bus, though, we got through some slow traffic to Schaffhausen where Cesar just pulled the bus up in the middle of the street so I could get some Claratyne. Had some of the coolest, freshest water in days in the pharmacy. Then down to the Rheinfall – 20 m high and 150 m wide. Here Annette gave us the good news - we could have a boat ride out to the rock and we would also have time to have a coffee after. But! BUt the bus would leave 11.35, no waiting! Then we went round the corner to buy the tickets to be met by bedlam. The queue for tickets was hardly that and when the boat came in everyone jumped to get on - no queues, just one big pile.
Meanwhile the Indians and I were queued up wondering what to do when it suddenly freed up. We got our tickets. I said, well she brought 8 here, and Denise was staying on land so she would make sure the bus didn’t go. Kasim, the older of the two groups looked at me and agreed - what would she do - her reputation would be at risk. We all hopped into the next boat and off over to the rock, another wonderful idea the Swiss have just about wrecked. There’s enough time for one group to go up while another comes down, the stairs are one person narrow in places , and at the top there’s enough space for about 8-10 people so long as you all keep moving around take one photo yourself and have someone else take one of you, and you reciprocate, then it is back down the rock. It works, but the whole experience was so stressful that I was glad Denise had made the decision to stay. Back on dry land, there was clearly n o time left for coffee, so at least an icecream and drink, but no one came to serve the queue that by then was halfway out the door. It happened and we got back to the bus which left promptly, 10 minutes late. We were 15 mins late at the airport, but no one got on (or off), and ended up 25 mins late back at Zurich. We enjoyed the whole experience asnd see it is a bit of a laugh and Cesar enjoyed me wishing his team well. I said farewell to Kasim from Bangalore and we exchanged cards with the promise to call if we pass through our respective home towns. His son is going to be studying in Melbourne next year and wants to visit NZ so could well see him at least.

Lunch and Labyrinthine tours.
Denise had discovered a labyrinth garden which we could fit in with a loopy walk to the Fraumunster, the one church I had to show Denise. We walked along Bahnhoffestr and found a little park right beside a sports goods shop. I had been looking for fencing shoes yesterday and had been given two shop names. There was the first, Ochsner Sports. We dined on breakfast supplemented by a beer, fanta, a vanilla custard pastry and fruit. Delightful, though not so when you saw dogs go by and just stop and do their business while the owners waited and didn’t pick up the mess. Ochs Sports didn’t have fencing shoes - this was their main show case shop for the football. Then further along the street to Jelmoli which didn’t look like a sports goods shop in the slightest. It wasn’t – it was a showcase for Names. Fortunately one of the names was Adidas so up to the fourth floor we went – opulence everywhere, but did the Adidas shop have what I needed – No! It was quite mind-blowing, though. Next street on our way and another Ochsners, which had a wider range of shoes on display, but no they didn’t either. Young assistants looked quite amazed at the request – shoes for fencing!?
We crossed another river and found the street we were looking for. The buildings looked very military to go with the name Militärstr, and later found out they were the police HQ. Next street up and we found the address according to the map but there was a sign up saying International Video Making Convention, and there were a lot of video-making looking types standing around – black T-shirts and jeans. Further along the street there was another entrance and we could see a garden so wandered in and found a garden done in labyrinth style - quite magic in the midst of derelict military barracks covered with graffiti.
It has been a constant presence since we arrived at Frankfurt, the graffiti and “street art” or bombing style, and not just from the trains or cars on the motorways but everywhere, even in the quiet suburban areas.
Back to the garden. It was in the centre of a tired ramshackle park, bringing a spot of colour and freshness. There was a woman tending it, but we couldn’t catch her eye to explore more, there being no signs apart from one at the entrance saying no drugs or alcohol while walking the path. I took several photos and got in the road of some rowdy black t-shirted youths kicking a ball around so we left.
Made our way through more mazy streets and started looking for coffee. Unfortunately we arrived at the Fraumunster Kirche first and I suggested we do that before the coffee – my mistake. We went and got coffee from our friendly Starbucks – iced for Denise and the usual doppio for me. Once we’d regained our equilibrium we went back over the bridge to the church and sat and started to enjoy the magnificent windows designed by Marc Chagall, when a tour group came in with a guide whose voice filled the sanctuary with her sharp tones and quite spoiled the moment. The one bit of information I gleaned was that he was over 80 when he designed the five windows of the sanctuary plus the circular one in the main body of the church. It is a companion church of the Grossmunster across the other side of the river and was originally part of a convent - hence the Frau bit. The rest of the church was impressive as well and I appreciated it more this time.
On leaving we continued our search for a place to buy stamps, but misinterpreted directions so went back to the hotel.

An evening with Kathrin and Philippe.
Rested for a while, then Denise sent me shopping for some flowers for Kathrin. Small bunches were exorbitant, so were the three peonies at CHF 8 a bloom (Just under $10), but they were spectacular. Wwe went downstairs to wait for them and got to the front just as they walked up. Hugs, kisses, looks, laughs, even a little bit crying, as we were reunited with our dear Kathrin, who is as beautiful as ever , and meeting Philippe who was handsome and charming and imho just right for our Kathrin. It turned out that we weren’t going to Bonstetten for a BBQ afterwall. First up we went up Limmatquai towards the station and got on the Polybahn, a small cable car, up to the university where we could see the vista of Zurich and have a drink.
Back down the steps and across to the Bahnhof so they could buy umbrellas for Saturday as rain is predicted. In the station there was a full blown market in swing with foods of all types. Ended up with some antipasto of capers, tomatos, olives and fetta in oil, and a cinnamony nut biscuit. When P & K found us she asked “Were we done waiting yet?” My reply was “We hadn’t seen all the stalls yet so we hadn’t even started waiting so how could we possibly be done!”
Then we went walking back into the district we had been in the afternoon, but this time to a wonderful restaurant that cooked Aargau style. The food was great and the talk was non-stop, but all too soon it was over and we began our walk back to the hotel. When we got back to the Bahnhofstr we parted company so they could go home and we took in the night lights of Zurich reflected in the River Limmat, got back to the hotel tired but very happy.