Today I did something I should have done years ago- I took a boat down the Zürichsee all the way to Rapperswil-Jona!
There is a ferry that travels this route, approximately 2/3 the full length of the Zürichsee, making a few stops along the way. In the fantastic way the Swiss transportation system works, this is just another way to get from here to there; it may take longer, and the view is oh-so-much more spectacular, but the ticket is the same as if by train!
As we pulled away from the dock, I got to (finally!) see Zürich from the water! :)
The weather was spectacular, and I spent the entire two-hour ride south beaming, and just soaking it all in.
We crossed back and forth between the two shores a few times,
once again I found myself marveling at how green the hills always are in Switzerland!
and the Alps just kept getting closer
and closer
and closer still
until we arrived at the docks of Rapperswil!
Like so many other Swiss cities- Zürich and Lugano come to mind- Rapperswil also has the knobbly pruned chestnut trees on its banks. The trees retain their uniformity, but they just look so deformed, especially before the leaves come out in the spring!
Lots of lovely, swanky restaurants with outdoor seating line the quai.
I wandered through the tidy, typically Swiss streets, just to see what was there,
and within a few blocks came across this plaza with a sculptural "HOLZSTEG" defining the open edge.
At the far end of the Hauptplatz was a monumental stair, winding around what looked like a drippy, bas-relief grotto
and found myself at the entrance to a long, walled-in path. (This is inside, looking back on the entrance.) It looked like it could have been a cloister or a castle of some sort.
As the path climbed, the relative height of the wall shrunk,
until I saw what I most amazingly wanted to see, just didn't know this is the form it would take!
At the top of the path, a wide, panoramic view opened up, out over the tiled rooftops and the flowering trees, to the snow-covered Alps, gleaming in the clear blue sky!
This is beautiful. This is ecstatically, grin-inducingly, amazingly beautiful. I've missed seeing these mountains for so long, and this day, so far, was just getting better and better!
I took it in for a few minutes, ran back into town to grab a Döner kebab (I've missed them, too!), and brought it back up here to soak it all in.
There's a whole park up here, overlooking the Zürichsee.
The next ferry was just pulling in.
This castle, Schloss Rapperswil, was clearly built in a very strategic location: it is high up on the hill overlooking Rapperswil, and surrounded by water on three sides. It was built sometime around 1220. Among other things, it guarded the medieval Jakobsweg pilgrimage route, which led to the Einsiedeln Abbey. Since 1870 it has been a Polish National Museum, created by Polish immigrants.
The Schlossberg is also home to a lovely, small vineyard, first mentioned in 981 (yes, over a thousand years ago)!
There are some beautiful murals in this town, including this one, memorializing Rapperswil's inclusion in the Swiss confederacy in 1458.
...and another moment of "typically Swiss": even manhole covers are multilingual! :)
I made my way through town,
...and back over to the lake. The ferry had gone as far as it could, but really there was quite a bit of lake left to the south. A wooden pedestrian bridge crosses to the western shore, and I wanted to go check it out.
A couple guys were doing some spring cleaning of the bridge, cleaning dirt out from between the slats and other general maintenance.
...once again, I marveled at how meticulous the Swiss are- can you imagine this level of detail here? Well, maybe in Boston's Public Gardens, but not many other places.
The wood slat wall on the north side gives some wind protection from cold north winds, I'm sure. It also felt nice and warm with the sun beating down on it on this early spring day, and the railroad tie benches located intermittently along the wall provided nice places to sit and contemplate the absolute beauty of the Alps. Still, I was a bit disappointed that it blocked the view in the one direction.
...although I had no complaints whatsoever about the openness of the guardrail to the south!
Plus, the benches were also perfect for standing on to look back in the other direction!
This is amazing.
SO amazing!
Pure happiness.
All too quickly, it was time for me to hop on the last ferry back to Zürich, and wave goodbye to my lovely adventure in Rapperswil-Jona.
The Alps, as always, did their tricky shift in perception. Just as you think you're getting too far away, the hillside closer to you recedes to allow even taller snow-covered peaks to emerge into view!
...and then they, too, recede.
When I got back to Zürich, it was still light out, but I knew it wouldn't last much longer.
I wound my way through the excitement of the festival atmosphere in town en route to one last adventure for the day.
The shadows were getting longer, so I had to hurry...
...past all the iconic views along the Limmat...
..and the fanciness of downtown...
...out to the end of the 14 Tram, in Triemli! I waved hello to my old apartment in the Personalhaus of Triemlispital. (My window, second from the left on the 5th floor, had the shades drawn. Clearly a resident with a different sentiment on daylight than mine!)
This building is currently being used, temporarily, as elderly housing.
The hospital is in the middle of a massive expansion.
Even the buildings across the way have something going on, but it mostly looked the same.
I walked up to train crossing at the far end of the hospital grounds. I will always remember seeing kids with sleds standing here, waiting for the next train to the top of the Uetliberg! :)
Ahh- the Uetliberg! I miss it here! The Baerlauch is out, with its chive scent wafting around.
Bits of Roman remnants exposed where trees were recently uprooted...
...and views back down into town started to emerge.
I still had a half an hour to go, so was booking it to the top!
By the time I got to the top, and climbed the observation tower, it was well into twilight. Nonetheless, I could see back down the lake to the Alps and my day's adventure...
...across the ridge to sleepy little Birmensdorf, nestled in the valley where I explored on foot one chilly March day...
...and the last rays of a cloudy sunset to the west.
Guete Nacht, Züri!
