Trees in Lines

I often noticed rows of trees in straight lines while riding throughout Switzerland on trains. Here are some shots.

This one is not taken from a train, but these trees are near the top of Zürichberg. It may be that they are starting to turn colors again.

These beauties can be seen when you ride to Stein am Rhein and stop in the town of Thalheim. I wanted to go back in the spring and summer, but didn’t make it. Next time!

Here are some trees on our hike to Tüfelsschlucht. I already posted this photo in a previous post, but I don’t mind looking at it again.

More photos of trees in lines at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Rhine Falls

The most powerful waterfall in Europe is the Rhine Falls (Rheinfall in German). It is certainly not the highest. Although we visited it in 2014,

it did not make our list this time. However, on our way home from the Christmas Market in Nürnberg last December, I knew we would see it from the train. I felt pretty good about this shot that I got out of the window.

Seefeld

Any visit to Zürich should include a walk through the Seefeld District. It stretches along the east side of Lake Zürich starting just south of the Opera House.

In other posts I have blogged about various landmarks in this district: the Tinguely sculpture Heureka, the Botanical Garden, Villa Patumbah, the Chinese Garden, and the Le Corbusier house.

Here are some other delights:

Sculpture by Henry Moore: Sheep Piece

Stepping Stones across some water

The ubiquitous swans.

Now is a great time of year to wander along the shore.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Walensee Through the Window

Whenever we take a train south out of Zürich, we often pass the Walensee. I know to sit on the left side of the train. I like to see how the weather changes the views of this lovely lake. Our first time at Walensee in 2014, we hiked along the north side of the lake and I blogged about it here.

You can also see photos of the lake from above on our Chäserrugg Hike.

Here’s an October shot taken through the train window.

In May. Here you can see the town of Quinten.

On our way to the Saxer Lücke hike this was our last view of Walensee this year.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Green Spaces and Water

Our first week in Berlin, the temps were lovely. Lately it has been much warmer. We have been looking for cool, green places to explore while out and about. Here are a few we have discovered.

Fairy Tale Fountain in Friedrichshain’s Volkspark.

Watching SUP (Stand Up Paddleboarding at the Schlachtensee. The path around the lake is very shady.

The Britzer Garden costs 3 euros to enter, but that did not stop many people from enjoying their Sunday here.

In flat Berlin, Victoria Park in Kreuzberg has a hill with a waterfall (powered by a pump). The memorial at the top is dedicated to a victory over Nepoleon.

I’m sure we will continue to find green spaces during this summer month.

Porto: Green and Blue Spaces – Parks and Ocean

We enjoyed the natural beauty of the city as well as the architecture and food. There seem to be many green spaces. Here’s a park that doesn’t have a name on Google Maps. We saw many locals enjoying a relaxing time on the many benches.

There were libraries in some of the parks. This one was built around a tree.

A magnificent park with a view: Jardins do Palácio de Cristal. We saw many peacocks and chickens in this park. Throughout the city fly thousands of pigeons and seagulls.

This park was near the ocean in the neighborhood of Foz.

The North Atlantic!

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Vierwaldstättersee Again

After our overnight in Ludwigsburg, we brought the kids to Zürich. We had to show them this, our adopted hometown. For our daughter’s birthday, we took them to Rigi. It had been such a successful outing a few weeks before with my sister and brother-in-law. This time we chose to do it the other way, so the steamboat trip was at the end.

This meant that we had enough time for me to take a photo of the boat. I had not had enough time before.

We knew where we wanted to sit on the boat, so we raced on with the throngs of tour groups and grabbed prime spots. Here are some of the views we had. It was less hazy than last time.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Oeschinensee

We took the advice of Swiss Family Fun and went last Friday to visit this lake that has been on my radar all year. Not only were there not so many people (we had no wait in line for the gondola), but the weather (I may have mentioned) was great.

After an easy ride up the mountain (sources said it could be hiked up in an hour, but we certainly couldn’t have done it in that amount of time), we hiked 2 km downhill to this gorgeous view.

We sat at a bench here and ate our sandwiches, drinking in the beauty. We love the color of the lake and river water in Switzerland, as everything is glacier-fed.

On the left there is a waterfall that is easy to reach. Well, it’s not far, but you have to walk over rocks.

Various waterfalls feed into the lake.

I read that later in the summer the water level is higher.

People were renting boats, enjoying the lake from the middle.

After enjoying the scenery, we hiked uphill to the gondola. We could have taken a shuttle for CHF 8 each, but the walk was good, and the road on this side of the hike was paved.

This hike was in my top 10 of hikes this year.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Rigi Kulm

Once at the top of Rigi, the clouds swirled in and out. Views of the lake were quite hazy, but the mountain tops peeked through clouds. A little photo editing helped bring out what we could have seen without the haze.

Like our last trip to Rigi, we hiked down to the next train stop before heading home.

We could see the top of Rigi from this vantage point.

Always something to photograph on a hike.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Amorphophallus titanum: Corpse Flower in Bloom

Many Thursday mornings I walk with a group from the American Women’s Club. We enjoy each other’s company as we wander along the lake, the river, or into beautiful gardens. Last Thursday we were treated to a rare occurrence, the blooming of the Amorphophallus titanum. Also known as the Stinky Corpse Flower.

Our walk took us to the Botanical Garden where we waited in this line. I think it took us at least 30 minutes to reach the flower, but it was probably longer. I did not keep track. Too busy socializing.

The Amorphophallus titanum is the largest blooming flower in the world. It has a putrid odor, like rotting flesh. Various sources have it blooming every 2-3 years, or up to every 8 years. I heard that this one last bloomed 4 years ago.

Here’s a close-up.

The line was even longer when we left.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.