Jura Day 08

We visited a bakery for croissant and coffee and were soon on our way, walking westwards along the Rhine.  Being Switzerland, the numerous paths are well signed, and they generally try to keep cyclists and walkers apart.  At times (from South to North) there was the main road, a field, the cycle path, the railway, the walking path, some greenery, the Rhine. There were a few groups of rowers on the Rhine, the occasional train, and lots of red kites.  There were also lots of cyclists, so it was good not having to share a path.  It was a pleasant walk and we kept up a good speed.  We walked through vast orchards of pear and cherry trees.  (A quick calculation put the pear trees in the hundreds of thousands). 

We reached Stein am Rhein and crossed over the bridge to visit the old town.  This is the first narrowing of the Rhine after Lake Constance and you could see that it was a river rather than stationary water in a lake.  The town was crowded with tourists, come to admire the painted scenes on the walls of the houses.  (All the manhole covers had St George and the dragon on them because of the monastery’s connection with St George!).  We had a nice lunch, did a quick circuit of the town centre and then headed back to the south side of the river.  We finally had to do some climbing as we headed south, up through the forest, but it wasn’t for long before the short descent down to Oberstammheim and the hotel for the night.  The restaurant was shut so we walked along to an Italian restaurant (second in two nights).  The streets were deserted as we walked there, and we were able to get a table easily.  By the time we left, the restaurant was full, inside and on the two terraces outside.  Where had all these people come from on a Sunday night?  We walked back to the hotel, again along deserted streets.  The hotel is in a historic building; we are in one of the converted farm buildings with all mod cons.