China garden

The city of Zurich has many twin towns. One of them is Kunming in China. In 1993 the experts from the garden department of the city of Zurich have helped Kunming designing the city drinking water supply and drainage. The people of Kunming wanted of course to thank Zurich for this assistance but it proved not to be so easy. I am sure you all have an uncle or aunt who "has everything". Buying Christmas gifts for them is a nightmare. Now think of a gift to one of the richest cities in the world, that was never touched by war, where the quality of living is among best in the world and that literally has it all.

The people of Kunming thought hard and came with a marvellous idea of offering to Zurich a genuine Chinese garden. A place of peace, where the inhabitants will be able to isolate from the rush of the city. It is located on the shores of the Zurich lake and surrounded by a high fence.

If you would turn back, you would see the Zurich Lake and on the other side, Felsenegg where we have hiked last year.

The main entrance is not wheelchair or pushchair friendly unfortunately. But I guess it is part of the traditional Chinese design. The signs on the golden plate mean "Chinese garden".

Inside, you can find all types of reference to traditional Chinese culture, philosophy and craft. First, you can see an artificial mountain.

It faces an artificial lake in which you can find the royal red carps. The mountain and the water represent Yin and Yang, the contrary though complimentary forces of the nature.

To cross the lake we need to walk on the rocks. The water is not deep but still, mind your step.

In one of the corners of the garden you can find a pavilion, which seems ideal for meditation

I must admit however that when I have looked upwards, I have completely lost my focus, distracted by the colourful paintings on the ceiling.

In the middle of the garden you will notice a pavilion located on an artificial island. It is very picturesque.

Behind it, comes the water palace.

On both sides, it has a gallery facing the lake. Let's enter on the left side.

The ceiling and the columns are beautifully decorated. Both sides include benches for those who would like to enjoy the magic of the place.

Let's go inside.

You can admire there traditional Chinese pictures and furniture.

Some of the ornaments are amazing.

But the most amazing thing about the pavilion is the view. Let's turn back to the main entrance. I believe I would not get bored eating breakfast with such a view for many, many years.

I hope that you have enjoyed this glimpse of China in the middle of Europe. I must say that I was enchanted. Another amazing thing about the garden is that it is dedicated to the Three Friends of Winter - pine, bamboo and plum. They are evergreen which means that visitors can enjoy the beauty of the garden all year long.

Dreilinden

Last week we have visited the Abbey of St Gallen with its famous library. We will stay a bit longer in the city to enjoy its location (and the nice weather). Let's leave the abbey and the old town by one of these nice narrow streets.

We will cross the river Steinach ...

... and after about ten or fifteen minutes we will arrive to the lower station of the Mühleggbahn.

 If you would have doubts in which city you are, it is enough to look on the walls.

 We will take the funicular to go up the hill.

On your right you can notice a nice waterfall. It shows a bit how steep this hill is.

The funicular runs most of its length in a tunnel. But I see some light at the end of it.

Next to the upper station I noticed a bakery shop. But what was even more interesting was that it seemed to have a parking space for broomsticks! It seems that some witches have faster ways of going up the hill.

I have spared you the walk up the hill because I wanted you to keep your strength. The goal of our trip is the Dreilinden weg, one of numerous hiking trails in canton St. Gallen. It runs on top of the hill, at your feet you can see the city of St. Gallen.

You will quickly notice the abbey.

I propose we stop here for a moment and use this nice device. 

It is a sort of telescope that will allow me to demonstrate to you that St. Gallen is actually lying on the banks of Lake Constance.

It is time we return to the upper station of the Mühleggbahn. Once again, the light emerges from the tunnel.

Let's jump in and move on to new adventures.

Abbey of St. Gall

Today I will take you to St. Gallen, the capital of canton (and yes, you have guessed it) St. Gallen.

The city owns its name to an Irish monk, Saint Gall(us), who has founded there a monastery, back in 612. I believe this is really amazing that they are able here to track their abbots back to the beginning of the seventh century!

Around 720, another monk, Othmar, founded here an Abbey that remains the crown jewel of the city. The Abbey comprises a few elements, including the cathedral ...

... the "office" buildings ...

... and an amazing library. Altogether, the convent o St., Gallen is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Let's enter first the cathedral.

The ceiling is decorated in dark colours.

The altar is closed by a golden fence. 

The organ in the back is smaller than in most cathedrals I have visited so far.

Below the organ you will find the tomb of Saint Othmar.

The Bible read in the cathedral was printed in a style similar to the one used in the Middle Ages, with beautiful paintings.

I believe it is time now that we move on to the library. Let's take this long corridor.

In the antechamber you can see the cathedral in its full size.

 We need to go up to the first floor.

The Library of the St. Gallen Abbey is the house of many priceless books, some of which were created in the ninth century. Since it was far before Gutenberg discovered the craft of printing, the monks were re-writing books on specially prepared pieces of leather.

Such books are of course very delicate so it is forbidden to take pictures inside. But I can show you one of the postcards that I have bought there.  The ceiling is again decorated with beautiful paintings. The books stand on elegant shelves.

But to be honest, the thing that I liked the most was the fact that in the inner courtyard, between the cathedral and the library, there is a football pitch!

I believe even Saint Gallus would like it. He seems to have been a nice fellow.

Scouts in Sihlwald

Those of you who read our blog for more than 3 years might recall that in 2012 we have visited the Wildnis Park in Zurich, where wild animals live (almost) free. Wildnis Park is a part of the Sihlwald, a large forest covering hills on the East side of the Zurich Lake. Today, I will take you to another part of the woods. We will take the train until the Sihlwald station.

Sihlwald means literally "Sihl-wood" where "Sihl" is the name of a river that runs through the forest.

We will take the Forest Nature Trail.

The wood is not too dense but still - mind your steps as it is easy to slip on the leaves.

The trail is packed with opportunities to learn about the life in the forest. Do you know how to find out how old a tree is?

Well, you need to count the rings on the cross section of the tree. Each ring stands for one year of growth.

On many of the trees you can find cards with interesting information about the way it grows and some peculiarities of a given species. This one is silver fir. Its needles have white stripes.

The locals believe that this part of Sihlwald is enchanted.

Honestly, I am not sure why. It looks rather spooky in some parts. At least, they have created a nice path that is horseshoe-friendly.

Do you hear these noises? Look, there are boy scouts coming. They are getting ready for a bonfire.

They have made it!

The scouts were kind enough to offer me one of their sausages.

I would not like to hurt their feeling by saying openly that horses are generally vegetarians. I will sneak out silently to this nice glade and look for some tasty grass. You can keep the sausage.