On the way to the Monastery island Werd

The island is located on the river Rhine about 30 minutes walk from Stein am Rhein. You can reach it by car as well but this is not so much fun. I prefer to walk from the town.

This bridge is where I was heading. It leads to the island where you can find a small old monastery called St. Othmar. Nowadays, there are 5 Franciscan monks living there but I haven't seen any of them yet. In summer, they have a nice flower garden and some herbs around the monastery. It is allowed to walk in the garden but you should keep quiet not to disturb the monks.

On the way, I came across dozens of seagulls. I have never understood what they do so far from the sea 🙂

I was quickly getting closer to the bridge and I was glad to see that there was no one. Also, the only people I met were dog walkers, no tourists at this time of the year.

Looking back at Stein am Rhein - it's one of my favourite places in Switzerland. It's a picturesque little town which is definitely worth a visit when you're around.

The house on the right is the monastery on the island. The history of the monastery is very long. The first chapel on the island was built more than 1000 years ago.

By now I have reached the bridge. It is about 200 metres long and it offers fascinating views of the river and the town.

A view from one bridge to another 🙂

Those seagulls don't like to be photographed. There were plenty of them sitting on the railings until I took off my phone. Then all of them flew off. I have tried to be fast every time but they were much faster! At least this one took a pity on me 🙂

I rather stayed farther away from those three as I didn't want to disturb them. They stand there like little soldiers.

The bridge looks rusty but it is 100% safe. At first, I would not think that this is a monastery as it looks like a normal house.

There was also one swan among all those seagulls.

I love how you can see the bottom of the riverbed. Water here might be about 2 meters deep.

There is a small beach but in summer it is filled with water. The water level was low when I was there.

I wanted to stay a bit longer but the fog was setting down, so I decided to call it a day and go back home 🙂

Until the next adventure...