It’s not like we planned to travel in the rain…..most of the fall season was gorgeous sunny weather, but rain happens, and when it does, people don’t go hiking in the Alps. 
After Ticino, we’d seen everything on our list of “things to see” in Switzerland. Fortunately there were some nice guide books at the house; I particularly like the Insight Guides, because they have gorgeous photos, and some nice historical background. 
So we set off one rainy day for the Northeast, to visit the Rheinfall, or Rhine Falls, a Class 8 waterfall, and Europe’s widest (450 ft wide, and 75 ft high). The falls are on the Rhine river not far from where it exits the Bodensee (Lake Constance) on its way westwards toward Basel, and Germany. 
We got off the train at Neuhausen am Rhein, then followed the walking trail for about 15 minutes to a bridge just above the falls. On the other side of the river is a path along the falls.
In the middle of the falls are 2 large rocks, one of which has a stairway and viewing platform at the top.
A small tourist boat ferries people to the rock, leaves them there for a half hour and then picks them up again. It looked like the rocks had been reinforced with concrete.
Got back on the train in Laufen, and headed to Shaffhausen.
This lovely old town has a typical pedestrian only town square, but on this rainy Sunday, it was pretty deserted. 
I bought a packet of freshly roasted chestnuts and we made our way back to the station and proceeded to Stein am Rhein, a tiny picturesque village a little farther up the river.
This village is so cute that Kim said he felt like he was in Disneyland. 
It would have been nice to walk up the hill to the Castle of Hohenklingen, but it was raining pretty hard, so we stopped at a bakery and had some nice hot coffee and pastries, and rested our tired feet.
The half timbered houses are charming, but even more impressive are the houses with painted facades dating back to the Renaissance. 
Presumably they have to be repainted fairly regularly….?
Apparently if you buy one of these, you have to make a commitment to keep it up.
The sad thing about rainy day trips is that the photos are so dull….sigh.
I took most of these while standing in doorways so as not to get water on my lens.
As always, you can see more photos in our Webshots albums. Look in “Switzerland Two.”
By the way, I think I may have fixed the problem with posting comments, so check it out for me!
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