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Published: October 31st 2006
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Largest Waterfall in Europe
There are definitely higher falls, but this is the largest by volume in Continental Europe. Today we set out with BK and CK for Rhine Falls - the largest waterfall in Europe. Approximately an hour away from Zurich by train, Rhine Falls is at the edge of the Zurich canton (or county). J and I each purchased a 24 hour train ticket for all of Zurich canton. We stopped to change trains in the lovely town of Winterthur. These tidbits become important to the story as you shall soon see.
The falls are amazing, and this is the time of year when they are near their LOWest levels. Note the small island in the middle with the Swiss flag. For a few francs you can be whisked in a small boat out to the island. Of course we couldn't resist this opportunity. Aboard our boat was a Swiss family complete with their Dalmation, Ivern. Yes, Ivern trotted onto the boat without a passing glance from the captain!
After we had thoroughly enjoyed the falls, we headed back up to the train platform to catch the last train of the day at 16:23. Well, 16:23 came and went with no train. There was a small phone on the platform that said something like "for use
in case of late trains." CK picked it up and lo and behold - a human answered, an English-speaking human, who assured us another train would be along at 16:51, 16:23 is only Mon-Fri. By the time 16:51 came, another group of travelers had joined us on the platform. We heard the train approaching through the tunnel and all stepped forward. We were just as quickly blown back by the train passing - not stopping - at 50 mph!! We conferred with the others and decided to take the last train 2 stops in the other direction to a larger station where there would be later trains to Zurich.
Once at the larger station, we found we'd have to wait about an hour for the direct train to Zurich and settled into the station cafe for some beverages. Note this station is one stop into the next canton over. Under advice from BK, we bought additional tickets to cover the one stop back into Zurich canton where our day passes were valid. We boarded the train and about 20 minutes later the conductor came through to check tickets. We handed him both our canton passes and the extra tickets
we had purchased. He furrowed his brow and said "These are not good HERE." We were thoroughly confused by this and J and B vehemently tried to explain to him that the tickets were valid. He kept shaking his head and saying "This is not good, this is not good!" He then told us the fare to Zurich is 40 francs per person, but he would only charge us for one person out of kindness. When we refused to pay the 40 francs, he said we would have to come with him when we arrived in Zurich. We said fine and sat there fuming for the rest of the ride in. J and B decided it would be a wise idea to hide all of our money (save exactly 40 francs) in our shoes at this point. When the train pulled in, the conductor came back over to us and pointed to us while nodding at the two cops standing on the platform. The conductor explained the story to one of the cops while J explained our side to the other guy. Both of the cops were younger than us and seemed to be humoring the conductor while listening to
his animated tale of how we cheated the system. Apparently, the train we got on was run by a different train company than the one we had tickets on. The line took a different route into Zurich, a route with 6 stops in the other canton, passing nowhere near Winterthur. We had no way of knowing this was the case. Recall a similar situation occurred last year on
The Famed Glacier Express. Once the conductor walked off, the cops were supposed to collect 40 francs from us but instead they asked us to step out of sight of the conductor. They said "We know you tried to do the right thing, and it is very confusing. We won't charge you, but if the conductor asks you, you paid us 40 francs OK?" We thanked them profusely and walked away from the station as fast as possible!!
After this episode, we headed over to
Zeughauskeller for dinner. J, B, and C went in on the baby beef steaks wrapped around a sword - yes, an actual sword! CM had the Kalbsgeschnetzelte which can be described as veal stroganoff. Everything was excellent and a great time was had by all.
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Pamela
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ummmm me hunter!
Well, J looks a little scary with that sword standing over his meat... hummmm. It's like some caveman instinct has taken over his body, he looks proud and serious about his kill. CM, I wouldn't let him but any sword souvenirs... just something to consider!