The Alps and Heidi’s House.

 What a great way to spend our last day in Switzerland!

We decided to do a tour – it was called “Heidi- Land”. It was a tour to Rappersil and onto Heidi’s farm and house, then to Valduz the capital of Liechtenstein.

Our first stop was Rapperswil-Jona, ‘town of roses’ located on the upper end of Lake Zurich. It is a delightful old Swiss Town and yes, it does have beautiful rose gardens. The old part of this medieval town is car-free, making it very easy to wander about and take in the sights. There are old castles and churches and many of the buildings have wonderful old frescos on them. There was so much to see in such a short time we hardly had time for lunch.

One of the beautiful old churches in the car-free area of Rapperswil.

 

 



Standing in way of the ancient archways.

 

In the afternoon we drove to Heidi’s farm and house en-route we saw the incredible Swiss Alps. We drove along Lake Walen, the deepest lake in Switzerland. It is a popular lake for all forms of boating. The tour-guide told us about a skeleton of a shark that was discovered high in the Alps about 5 years ago. The skeleton was air-lifted out and is now in a museum!

I remember the Heidi stories from when I was quite young.

After doing a bit of research and listening to the tour-guide I am still uncertain if the actual story is true or not. From what I have read, I suspect it was ‘based’ on a real person who is still alive. From what I have read Heidi did marry Peter, they had 4 children but parted ways later in life. The drive to the house and farm was well off the main road and through another very ancient village. It was quite a walk up to the house and farm. You walk through delightful Swiss meadows that still have ‘some’ of the beautiful wildflowers you see here in Europe. Once you arrive at Heidi’s house you can go inside which I did. It was interesting to see how the family lived all those years ago considering how cold it gets in that area.

Outside Heidi's House.

 

On the way back to Zurich we went via the Principality of Liechtenstein. It is a very small land-locked country of 160 square kms wedged between Switzerland, Germany & Austria and on the Rhine River. The official language is German and there currency is Swiss Francs. We only had time for a short walk around Valduz the capital. Again this is a very ancient place to visit.

All up a great way to finish off a visit to Switzerland.

 

The Alps you see the from Heidi's farm - a wonderful to remember Switzerland. 

 

Now – Hello Paris.