Fast am Ende

The Birsköpfli

My time in Switzerland is almost up, dear readers! However, that hasn't really inspired me to travel the length and breadth of the land to see as much as possible before I leave; rather it has made me remain largely in Basel to enjoy the city as much as possible before I leave. And temperatures in the mid 30s has helped this a lot.

I did go to Vaduz, though. There isn't much to do there, and it rained so much I didn't dare take my camera out of my bag, so no photos from then.

However, I do have photos from Neuchatal, where Matt and I went last Friday. It is down in Romandie and is apparently the most-French town in Switzerland. It had a lovely, relaxed atmosphere and the buildings are a beautiful, golden colour. We lazed by the lake, explored the Old Town and soaked in the atmosphere. It was a lovely day.

The Lake at Neuchatal

Inspired by being in French-speaking areas, and forced to be by my mentor teacher, I cycled from Mulhouse to Basel on Saturday. It's only 25km, I know, but I am not a big cyclist and am, well, quite inactive, apart from the odd hike here and there. But I did it, and the route was quite nice- along a canal and then the Rhine down into Basel. We passed farmhouses and canal buildings and some lock gates designed by Le Corbusier, which was fun.

Gonzen

The Rhine Valley, as seen from Gonzen

Gonzen is a mountain that looms 1,830m above the town of Sargans, in eastern Switzerland. As I was there for a party last evening, me and a friend decided to go for a hike around the town during the day, and ended up walking about half-way up the Gonzen, to a height of 1,100m, through the forest.

I'm not going to lie, it was hard work. The first section was ridiculously steep and very very hot; we had to take a bit of a break on a bench and watch numerous older people tackle the path with ease whilst we floundered. But once we got further up, the path levelled out a bit and took a steady route upwards, curling around the west side of the mountain, giving us views over the Rhine valley and down over Vaduz and into Liechtenstein.

Fortunately the weather was good the whole time, neither of us burnt and so far neither of us has found a tick. Good times. However, we have both been bitten by the Wanderung-tick, and are heading back to them there hills tomorrow to tackle another hike.