Rapperswil Rambling

Day 2 in the lovely Rapperswil… today we turned right and found some more lovely streets, buildings and doors…

And we also found a shop where you can buy all your guns, knives and picnic necessities… a one stop shop!

There were lovely art shops – nothing was open though except for the fun/knife/kitchen/picnic shop… it was either because it is Monday or way too early… 11am, which sound like civilised ours to me.

How delicate is this – a painted feather… I’m thinking this I the Rapperswil water front.

Sweet little alfresco eating spots… random arty finds on the ground and then if you look up, you’ll find more. Probably about time this one fell off the ledge. He doesn’t look happy to have been left there for an extra 10 days.

Some more doors… and, I’m not sorry.

I’m guessing there’s a lot of unexplained laughter behind those 3 at the bottom.

We were trying to avoid Me Jenny having to climb up all those stairs to the castle, so we went in search of another way up…

You just go round the back… Simple.

That’s easier.

One of the buildings had these little split windows… maybe it was too cold to have bigger ones? Maybe it was a cost situation? Maybe it was for protection? Either way, I’d like to know where they got that 10cm wide blind made.

So medieval! A man came out of this door just after I took the photo, it leads to a roof terrace and I assume to a penthouse apartment… like they had in medieval days.

Here’s the view of the square where our hotel is… it’s the one with the shutters.

In fact, from up here on this hill, you can see all the way to other side of the lake…

I couldn’t believe juts how beautiful it all was and then… we found the deer park! Apparently there have been Fallow Deer kept here since 1871… probably not these exact ones as I read that the average life span is only 4 ½ years.

They were really sweet and are obviously used to people being so close them. They were aware and alert, but not skittish.

Each fallow deer has a unique pattern that is found directly above their upper lip on the nose, between the nostrils. Much like human fingerprints, this pattern will never change. Only males grow antlers, which shed and regrow annually. Old antlers are cast off in late April or early May… and just like Finnish reindeer, their antlers grow back in the exact same shape every time.

More views… This pic shows 2 of the famous rose gardens, but we were too late to see any blooms.

Loving the autumn colours… and I do so love a lake reflection.

There was a bit of fog over yonder which gave it a mystic feel… Chris told us that it’s amazing when the mountains are covered in snow… something we thought we nearly might get today… top of 8 degrees!

Love locks… we wondered if somebody tried to remove their lock and ended up making a hole in the wire…. pretty keen to get that lock off!

Through the archway where Me Jenny braved quite a few stairs, but she managed like the trouper she is…

• looking back through the archway to the autumn colours
• some sort of musical instrument or wind/water chime
• the path around the castle wall
• there is a children’s adventure trail where you apparently follow the children who have been buried upside down with only the soles of their feet showing… 😳
• Me and Me Jenny rugged up, cause she cold!
• the path back around the river to the main part of town

Just taking some time to have a it down and soak in the beauty.

Now… I don’t care who you are – this just doesn’t stop being adorable and downright funny.

We kept going with our walk, across the railway line to the other side to have a look at the famous wooden bridge.

But first, it’s a good idea to read the signs… lucky I have the translate app that can read text, otherwise I would never have known about my faecal intake!

The bridge… so, in the Middle Ages, the pilgrims of St. James crossed Lake Zürich at Rapperswil on a flimsy wooden walkway on their way to Santiago de Compostela (Camino). in 2001, a modern 841m wooden bridge was built at the same location.

These are they 2 signs we noticed that Rapperswil is connected with the Camino… one shell on the ground and some pics on the bin outside the tourists information. I’m thinking maybe today’s pilgrims start the Camino a little closer to the finish line.

Anyway… this is the new bridge.

This is a good idea… and Me Jenny was happy to stand behind it. She’s not a big fan of the big picture stands where you just put your face in the hole. I mean, he always does it, but she’s never happy about it.

Then we walked back in search of a good hot chocolate – lucky for us, we had the inside info (it pays to have cousins!)

Hintergasse Cafe… I don’t feel one bit guilty. It was delicious and I think we will go back there again tomorrow.

Who’s going to stop us?