Rhein Falls in Schaffhausen, Switzerland Nov 16th

Yesterday was our day off and we headed up about 1 1/2 hours into Switzerland to visit these falls. We followed the river most of the way and ended up being in thick fog most of the day as a result. The air was cold and wet. We found out later that Kandern was in a beautiful heat wave (17*) for the day and in pure sunshine which we completely missed. Oh well. The falls took on a rather mysterious feel and we decided that it will be a great place to go back and visit in the spring or summer. It's hard to get the feel for how massive these falls really are until you look at the picture where Mark is standing with the falls in the background.
















You can see a tiny yellow spot near the upper top right hand corner. It appears to be a kayak that is stuck in the current...not a place I would want to be kayaking!
In search of the perfect picture....tyring to hold the camera in freezing cold fingers without dropping it, getting our heads IN the picture AND the falls in the background. We took about 10 pics...here are a few.


Think we finally got it!
The castle at the top of the banks led to a series of steps right down to the bottom. There is actually a boat that you can take to the middle rock and climb up a spiral type staircase to the top. It didn't look like it was running at this time of year.

You can see a flag on the top of the rock to the left. This is where you can hike up to.

The falls are very impressive from the bottom!






















Pics along the path down to the bottom of the falls.

Herbstmesse - 2006
All the dorms head off to Basel on Oct 31st for a night on the town. There are rides set up in little outdoor plaza areas all around the old part of the city. Herbstmesse is an event that lasts for several weeks. The "feel" of the place is really interesting. It's full of young people, old people, families and friends. You can wander around the streets and back alleys without any fear of harm coming to you. People are dressed well and all of the ride attendants look like normal people...some even look like grandmas. :) There is little to no garbage lining the streets, no one is drunk even though liquor is served in most places. Food booths line the streets with everything from sausages to raclette to speciality sweets and hot roasted chestnuts. Most of the stores lining the streets also stay open till late in the evening. It's alot of fun.
Connor went on this ride.







The ferris wheel is about 100 feet high. We can actually see it when we're at a lookout point in Germany! The view from the top is amazing.







The bumper cars are always a favorite and BFA kids overtake them for about 2 hours in the evening. Connor and Caleb were on them for much of that time.
I know we don't look very happy...
we were all getting tired of standing there watching the bumper cars over and over again!











Jacob and some of his friends.