Views from the Munot

It rained heavily in the night but was fine and warm when we left.  We followed the Rhine for a while, then climbed into the hills. We passed through villages that were all deserted and nothing was open so we were glad we had lunch and dinner provisions. 

At Kaiserstuhl we took an extremely steep path directly down to the river and enjoyed our coffee with views to Burg Rotwasserstelz, a privately owned castle.   There was no way we could return up the path, and fortunately the winding road out of town was a much more manageable option.  

It was lovely cycling on quiet undulating roads and dedicated cycle paths, with lots of other cyclists enjoying the beautiful day.  We reached Tossegg where the brown waters of the Toss River joined the Rhine.  From there it was a steep kilometre climb out of the valley followed by another 3kms at a less steep gradient.  Once we reached the top, there was a little more traffic but we enjoyed the descent and expansive views before stopping at the Thur River for lunch.

The next part of the route was heavily forested and nice and cool before opening up again a few kilometres from the Rhine Falls.  It was heaving with people making the most of a public holiday and it wasn’t possible to see much without paying an entry fee.  Fortunately, we had plans to visit tomorrow with Simon’s friend Dave, so continued on to Schaffhausen.  

The street naming and numbering was a little confusing, but we eventually found our accommodation which was a lovely tiny cottage in the grounds of a much bigger house.  We decided to make the most of a lovely afternoon and walked the 50 metres down to the river and back across the bridge into town. Lots of people were eating ice creams which seemed a good idea.  The first shop we passed had a massive queue then the next appeared to only take cash, which was a problem as we didn’t have any Swiss francs.

Instead we forced our tired legs up to the Munot, a ring-shaped fortress that towered above the city.  Built in the 16th century, construction took 25 years and included forced labour. The design seemed to be as much about creating an impressive building as building a practical fortification.  However, it was only ever occupied once by the French, who fled after a brief skirmish.  The Munot guard still lives in the tower and rings the Munot bell for five minutes every day at 9pm. We can attest that he does a good job.

Entry was free and there were magnificent views over the old town, making the climb worth the effort. We took a different route down, passing vineyards planted on the hillsides which apparently produce excellent wines.  Back in the town the queue had disappeared from the first gelatari which fortunately took cards so we were able to have an icecream after all.  

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