Adventures in Deutschland: Day 51 - The Rhine Falls, Take 3

On Tuesday we decided to take a half-day trip after Monday's long adventure. We left for the Rhine Falls when it was still nice and cool out in the morning. It is only a 20 minute train to Schafhausen, Switzerland from Radolfzell which makes it ideal for a smaller trip. Our timing worked perfectly. When we arrived in Schaffhausen, we had 7 minutes to buy tickets to the little platform that serves for a train station at the falls (called Schloss Lafen). We bought the tickets and were seated on the train with 2 minutes to spare. Therese was happy because it was a Swiss train. She LOVES all trains, but particularly loves Swiss ones because their head-rests vary in color. She makes a big deal out of picking out which color she will sit under and points out the color of seat of everyone around her.

We took the beautiful short train ride to the falls which takes you next to the Rhine and over the falls. Once on the platform, I decided to let Therese walk up the first bit of stone (and mud) stairs while I carried her stroller. She was a champ and walked pretty swiftly up to the castle. The whole area was still under construction (and will be until next summer) so we went straight to the trail that leads to the footbridge over the top of the falls. The entire walk in shaded except for the bridge, making it a pleasant and cool walk. Plus the path is paved so it is easy on your feet. It is still hard to describe the feeling of walking over this bridge with torrents of water rushing below your feet while hearing nothing but the sound of the crashing water. It is so powerful. On the way down the falls, Therese and I took the bike path so that I could push her the entire way. She was persuaded to sit in her stroller by the promise of a slide at the bottom of the falls. We let her run around the park for a little while and then ate perfect brats and fries right on the water's edge. The high point of Reese's day was not the slide or the following boat ride or ringing the bell of a tour bus shaped like a train (for which Dave got in trouble for letting her do) - no, the high point of her day was riding a little plastic horse that went up and down and played music like any other toy horse in any Meijer or mall in the US. That is what she wanted to talk about. She also greatly enjoyed running up and down a little ramp near the bathrooms. Go figure.

After her time on the horse and running up and down the ramp, we took a boat back across the Rhine and walked up the millions of stairs to the train platform. The boat ride was refreshingly breezy and cool. You could almost touch the cold Rhine the boat was sitting so low. Of course we didn't need to touch the water because we could feel the spray of the falls on our faces. We could feel the tug of the current on the boat, another reminder of the power of this water.

After arriving on the other side of the Rhine and walking up a million stairs to the train platform (Therese walked up every one of them), we had just 3 minutes until the train came to pick us up. Great timing. After this little trip, Therese and I split up with my mom and Dave so we could all take naps. Therese beat us all to it and fell asleep in her stroller. I decided to walk her over to Todd's school to meet up with him so he could help me push her home. As soon as we were at Todd's school, Reese stirred, slightly parting her eyelids, and then exclaimed, "Daddy's school!" That was the end of her nap.

For dinner we went to the Golden Engel in order to partake of the salad bar. We sat at a pleasant table outside. My mom and Dave wanted Vodka tonics, but somehow things was getting lost in translation. We think the problem was with the use of the term "tonic water" because the waitress couldn't seem to get over the "water" part. We ordered our food and Todd, being the adventurous person that he is, ordered the daily special not knowing what it was. It was a fish - a whole fish, eye and all. Despite the scariness of the presentation, it tasted very good. Being the American that he is, Todd stayed away from the head. When the waitress brought out the food, she gave Dave a salad with shrimp on it. He had ordered a pork filet. She put it on the table and Todd told her in German that we did not order this salad, that he ordered the fish and the three of us ordered pork. Interestingly, the waitress' immediate reaction was to say that no, this was in fact Dave's food. We all insisted that this was wrong and Todd recited what we ordered. Suddenly something clicked in the waitress' head and she took back the salad. At least this worked out better than the previous day's lunch. Of course, if Todd wasn't there to speak German who knows what would have happened. After this incident a new waitress took over our section. She was very friendly giving Therese fruit snacks and commenting on how she was sweet. Todd and I noticed how nice she seemed and realized it was because she smiled. We are both a bit tired of German reservedness. You can say that people in the US are artificially nice to each other, but at least they are nice. It gets really old going places and feeling like you are bothering the waiter or cashier or person on the street walking next to you. At least the Irish hospitality should make up for this German stoicism.