23 February 2007

A Visit to Rapperswil


Yesterday GLH called to tell me that his business trip to Munich was postponed until next month. As we were supposed to fly to Munich that evening, his Friday schedule was completely clear.

Hurrah for surprise holidays!

Our original plan to hike on Uetliberg and take some photographs was scrapped after the haze failed to lift. We knew the photographs would not be as striking and decided to go on a clearer day.

Instead, we drove to Rapperswil for the afternoon.

Rapperswil is on a penisula at the southern end of Lake Zürich. A popular summer destination, we were happy to find the streets sparsely populated. The only downside is that the museums were all closed so I have limited information about the history of the town.



Most of the people we did see gathered around the shores of the lake.

After a walk along the lake, we started the climb up the Lindenhof to Schloss Rapperswil.








The castle was built in the 13th century as the keep for the Counts of Rapperswil.








The parish church was added in the 15th century. It's small, but beautiful. Indeed, it is one of the most ornate churches I have seen in Switzerland to date.













After our walk through the castle grounds, we wandered about the Altstadt.


Although I have to admit the most thrilling part of the day is that I found cranberry juice at the Reformhaus (Health Food Store). I have sorely missed my cranberry juice and have had a difficult time finding the 100% pure juice in Switzerland. Our upstairs neighbor knew of my desire and surprised me by bringing it back from her trip to the UK. (Along with oatmeal AND vanilla essense. Thanks, K!) But I am happy to have found a source here in Switzerland. Now I just need to look in the Reformhauses a bit closer to us.

6 comments:

J.S. Zolliker said...

I really like your pics and descriptions of places. On my next trip to Switzerland, Ill try to visit some places you have been at. Thnks!

Global Librarian said...

Thanks, JSZ! If you ever come through Swizterland, let us know. GLH and I would be happy to give you a tour of Zürich.

CanadianSwiss said...

Great picts. BTW, you should be able to find cranberry juice in larger Coops.

Global Librarian said...

I saw the cranberry juices at Coop. Only 25% real juice. The rest is sugar water. Because I have blood sugar issues, that is a very bad idea.

J.S. Zolliker said...

Thanks!
I just got confirmed; my wife and I will be visiting Zurich around april 20-25. I'll be going on bussiness, but hopefully, will have time to tourist around.

Global Librarian said...

JSZ: Wonderful! Once you are ready to start planning, send me an e-mail: global underscore librarian at yahoo dot com

We can figure out when and where.