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On the road again

Zurich, Switzerland - Dear reader, I'm sorry to have neglected you over the last few weeks. Work has picked up lately and Hannah and I have begun cautiously venturing out of our apartment and its immediate environs as COVID-19 has been on the retreat here. So, between those two things, I've been a little busy. Regardless, I'm back in the saddle and ready to regale you with some of our recent adventures. 

The Situation

Before I jump into the specifics of our adventures, I'll give you a quick sense of our evolving situation here vis-a-vis COVID. (As he so often does,) Willie Nelson captures our spirit well in his essential "On the Road Again," selected lyrics of which are below for your convenience.

On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again
Here we go, on the road again
Like a band of Gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends
Insisting that the world keep turnin' our way 

Before you get exercised about our potentially incautious and reckless wanderings, let me provide some data that may allay your concerns. In late March and early April, COVID was quite bad here. Switzerland had among the highest per capita infection rates in the world. However, that has changed radically over the last month. Newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19 are down to <50 per day here, from a high of ~1,500 per day. 

Source: Worldometer. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/switzerland/

As it turns out, COVID-19 seems to respond remarkably well to decisive action, clear and consistent communication, and organization. Unfortunately, the Trump administration's unorthodox policy approaches - chaos and "F*** it, who has time for this?" - seem to have worked less well. 

Stein am Rhein

Stein am Rhein (literally, Stone by the Rhine) is a small town (population: 3,414), which (as the name suggests), is located along the Rhine. It's about 50 kilometers north of Zurich, located on the Swiss-German border.

A brief history of this adorable town: About a thousand years ago, an emperor of some variety moved St. George's abbey to this strategic point on the Rhine in order to strengthen the area and gain control of trade passing through the river and nearby roadways. About 500 years ago, during the reformation, the abbey was secularized. About 75 years ago, the United States accidentally bombed Stein am Rhein, having mistaken it for nearby Germany (oops!).

Also, Stein am Rhein has what might be the coolest coat of arms of any municipality we've seen thus far. It depicts St. George, slaying a dragon. 

Coolest Coat of Arms. Source below.

As mentioned before, Stein am Rhein is an adorable town. It's famous for its well-preserved medieval center, which features half-timbered buildings covered with marvelous frescoes. If you don't know what half timbered buildings are, don't worry: neither did I until five minutes ago. This is a type of construction, common in 19th century Germany, in which the structure is framed in timbers, and the panels in between are filled in with some kind of non-structural material. Those panels between timbers are often decorated, as they are in Stein am Rhein. 







Ebenalp

Ebenalp (approximately, "flat alp") is located in Appenzell Innerrhoden, about 90 kilometers east of Zurich. It is the northern-most summit of the Appenzell Alps. We arrived at the train station of Wasserauen in the river valley below and hiked up the mountain from there. First, we made our way up a steep roadway carved into the hillside and surrounded by forest to arrive at a beautiful Alpine lake (Seealpsee). The views here are pretty stunning, as several adjacent mountains rise up dramatically on three sides of the lake. From there, we clambered up a narrow, steep and uneven trail snaking along the side of the mountain to arrive at Ascher, a restaurant built into the side of a cliff face most of the way up the Ebenalp. At Ascher, we got beers, charcuterie, and soups to stem our hunger as we looked out over the valley. It was gorgeous: from here we had a wonderful view of the other peaks across and further down the valley, but we could also see the broad Swiss plateau that opens up to the North of the Alps. After lunch, we made our way back down to the Seealpsee, from which we took a different path down to Wasserauen. This trail took us over rolling hills spotted with wild flowers, cows, goats and the occasional farm house selling dairy products to hikers passing through. The cows were altogether unfazed by us hikers, to the point that they would occasionally park themselves on the trail for a good nap, forcing us to detour through the pasture briefly to make our way around them. Good for them.













Sources

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Location: Zürich, Switzerland

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