Day 11: Travel by train & bus to Rodi & walk to Faido. Travel by train to Lavorgo & walk to Giornico. Travel by bus & train to Bellinzona (MAPS 3 & 4).
After breakfast they headed to the railway station of Airolo (1141m a.s.l.), which is the highest railway station of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) (BAHNHOF AIROLO). There they boarded the "Treno Gottardo" to Faido. In Faido they changed to a bus and got off at Rodi "Dazio Grande".
The "Dazio Grande" is a building from the middle of the 16th century. It served as customs house for goods, transit traffic, hoarse-changing station, guesthouse, hostel and warehouse until 1803, the year when the Ticino became part of the Swiss Confederation. It remained in operation, until the Gotthard railway line was inaugurated in 1882. Nowadays, it is still open for the public as a museum and provides a rustic restaurant and overnight accommodation (DAZIO GRANDE).
From there they started their hiking, which took them along the "Via Gottardo Süd", passing by the two most impressive gorges ("Piottino" and "Biaschina"), which are shaping the landscape of the upper Ticino, and ending by the village Giornico.
Day 11: Travel by train & bus to Rodi & walk to Faido. Travel by train to Lavorgo & walk to Giornico. Travel by bus & train to Bellinzona (MAPS 3 & 4).
After breakfast they headed to the railway station of Airolo (1141m a.s.l.), which is the highest railway station of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) (BAHNHOF AIROLO). There they boarded the "Treno Gottardo" to Faido. In Faido they changed to a bus and got off at Rodi "Dazio Grande".
The "Dazio Grande" is a building from the middle of the 16th century. It served as customs house for goods, transit traffic, hoarse-changing station, guesthouse, hostel and warehouse until 1803, the year when the Ticino became part of the Swiss Confederation. It remained in operation, until the Gotthard railway line was inaugurated in 1882. Nowadays, it is still open for the public as a museum and provides a rustic restaurant and overnight accommodation (DAZIO GRANDE).
From there they started their hiking, which took them along the "Via Gottardo Süd", passing by the two most impressive gorges ("Piottino" and "Biaschina"), which are shaping the landscape of the upper Ticino, and ending by the village Giornico.
Day 11: Travel by train & bus to Rodi & walk to Faido. Travel by train to Lavorgo & walk to Giornico. Travel by bus & train to Bellinzona (MAPS 3 & 4).
After breakfast they headed to the railway station of Airolo (1141m a.s.l.), which is the highest railway station of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) (BAHNHOF AIROLO). There they boarded the "Treno Gottardo" to Faido. In Faido they changed to a bus and got off at Rodi "Dazio Grande".
The "Dazio Grande" is a building from the middle of the 16th century. It served as customs house for goods, transit traffic, hoarse-changing station, guesthouse, hostel and warehouse until 1803, the year when the Ticino became part of the Swiss Confederation. It remained in operation, until the Gotthard railway line was inaugurated in 1882. Nowadays, it is still open for the public as a museum and provides a rustic restaurant and overnight accommodation (DAZIO GRANDE).
From there they started their hiking, which took them along the "Via Gottardo Süd", passing by the two most impressive gorges ("Piottino" and "Biaschina"), which are shaping the landscape of the upper Ticino, and ending by the village Giornico.
Day 11: Travel by train & bus to Rodi & walk to Faido. Travel by train to Lavorgo & walk to Giornico. Travel by bus & train to Bellinzona (MAPS 3 & 4).
After breakfast they headed to the railway station of Airolo (1141m a.s.l.), which is the highest railway station of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) (BAHNHOF AIROLO). There they boarded the "Treno Gottardo" to Faido. In Faido they changed to a bus and got off at Rodi "Dazio Grande".
The "Dazio Grande" is a building from the middle of the 16th century. It served as customs house for goods, transit traffic, hoarse-changing station, guesthouse, hostel and warehouse until 1803, the year when the Ticino became part of the Swiss Confederation. It remained in operation, until the Gotthard railway line was inaugurated in 1882. Nowadays, it is still open for the public as a museum and provides a rustic restaurant and overnight accommodation (DAZIO GRANDE).
From there they started their hiking, which took them along the "Via Gottardo Süd", passing by the two most impressive gorges ("Piottino" and "Biaschina"), which are shaping the landscape of the upper Ticino, and ending by the village Giornico.
Day 11: Travel by train & bus to Rodi & walk to Faido. Travel by train to Lavorgo & walk to Giornico. Travel by bus & train to Bellinzona (MAPS 3 & 4).
After breakfast they headed to the railway station of Airolo (1141m a.s.l.), which is the highest railway station of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) (BAHNHOF AIROLO). There they boarded the "Treno Gottardo" to Faido. In Faido they changed to a bus and got off at Rodi "Dazio Grande".
The "Dazio Grande" is a building from the middle of the 16th century. It served as customs house for goods, transit traffic, hoarse-changing station, guesthouse, hostel and warehouse until 1803, the year when the Ticino became part of the Swiss Confederation. It remained in operation, until the Gotthard railway line was inaugurated in 1882. Nowadays, it is still open for the public as a museum and provides a rustic restaurant and overnight accommodation (DAZIO GRANDE).
From there they started their hiking, which took them along the "Via Gottardo Süd", passing by the two most impressive gorges ("Piottino" and "Biaschina"), which are shaping the landscape of the upper Ticino, and ending by the village Giornico.
Day 11: Travel by train & bus to Rodi & walk to Faido. Travel by train to Lavorgo & walk to Giornico. Travel by bus & train to Bellinzona (MAPS 3 & 4).
Day 2: Walk from Fischenthal to Wald via "Alp Scheidegg" & continue by train to Rapperswil.
At 8 o'clock, Daniela and Thomas met at the breakfast table; a few minutes later they were joined by the rest of the group.
Over a rich breakfast which Ruth served them, they started to discuss briefly their program for the day. First they would hike to the "Alp Scheidegg", from there continue after a short picnic to the small town Wald, and then take the train to Rapperswil, via Rüti. To save them time Hans-Ruedi, the father of Thomas, organized the baggage transport to their hotel in Rapperswil.
Fischenthal is a small village with a population of about 2000 inhabitants and is imbedded in the pre-alpine landscape of the Zurich Oberland (FISCHENTHAL). From their starting point in Fischenthal they followed a narrow steep trail along a mixed deciduous and coniferous forest. The planned walking time was approximately two hours, which they had no problem to keep up with. Once they had reached the peak at 1200m a.s.l. ("Alp Scheidegg"), they stopped for a coffee break in the highest chalet restaurant in Canton Zurich "Gasthaus Alp Scheidegg", which was approx. 100 years old but nicely kept (ALP SCHEIDEGG). During their break they enjoyed a spectacular panoramic view to the surrounding mountain peaks ("Säntis": 2502m a.s.l., Glarus Alps, Central Swiss Alps, "Rigi": 1797m a.s.l., "Pilatus": 2118m a.s.l.) and the lake of Zurich. Bettina was a student from the Canton Appenzell, and Nicolas, a student from the Canton Glarus. They were happy to recognize the peaks of their home canton and took of course lots of pictures (Figure 1).
Figure 1: View from "Alp Scheidegg"
After the break was over they were again ready for the continuation of their trip. From the "Alp Scheidegg" the group had to follow quiet a narrow path. The hiking path took them through high meadows. After approximately one hour walk, they reached their picnic area, which was at a shadowy slope site direction to the "Sagenraintobel".
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The "Sagenraintobel" (Figure 2) is a steep ravine in the forest ending at the beginning of the small town Wald (SAGENRAINTOBEL).
Figure 2: Hike through the "Sagenraintobel" ravine
To reach Wald they had to cross 22 bridges over the ravine, mostly wooden and go two by two at a time. They made it to the train station at Wald on time for the train to Rüti, from there they took a connecting train to Rapperswil.
The city of Rapperswil is also known as town of roses "Rosenstadt" and is with a population of around 27'000 inhabitants the second largest town in the Canton St. Gallen. The community Rapperswil-Jona includes also the villages Kempraten, Wagen and Bollingen. Rapperswil is not only famous for its rose gardens, but also its old town, castle "Schloss Rapperswil", monastery "Kapuzinerkloster" and children zoo (RAPPERSWIL).
Upon arrival they headed to Mc Donald, which is located at the beginning of the famous piazza, the "Fischmarktplatz", overlooking the harbor (Figure 3). Around the piazza there were several Italian restaurants and cafés and the Italian language was frequently heard.
One of the participants felt at home, it was Giovanni, who was from Italy and studying Systematic and Evolutionary Botany at the University of Zurich.
Figure 3: View to the "Fischmarktplatz" piazza in Rapperswil
After dinner they checked-in their hotel. The hotel "Jakob" is in the centre of Rapperswil. Their plan was to stay there for 7 nights.
The hotel "Jakob", build in 1830, is located in a car-free zone in the old center of Rapperswil (Figure 4). It is just below the church "Schlosskirche" and near the monastery "Kapuzinerkloster", which would be on their visiting list for the next day.
Figure 4: Historic center of Rapperswil with hotel "Jakob" on the left street side
Tired but happy and satisfied with their day, the group settled down and prepared for an early night, except for Daniela and Thomas who stayed a bit late to discuss the next day's program, and some highlights of the past. Daniela was tired, it was a long day and she looked forward to a restful night, but her sleep was interrupted by loud voices and music coming from the piazza, and it went on till almost midnight. She was quite upset and decided to change her room the next day.