Riverside rendezvous

I've realized that I lost quite a few acquaintances over the last years because of my as well as their busy schedule. I was not able to keep up with all the catch ups and eventually those people slowly disappeared from my life. I'm not so sad about many of them as their disappearance was welcome, but there are a few that I would like to reconnect with this year. One of them is my former colleague that I lost touch with when we both left the company 6 years ago. I left for another opportunity and she left on maternity leave at that time. A few weeks ago I sent her a message and she was happy to catch up over lunch.

You might wonder why I am telling you all this. At the time when I agreed to meet her I didn't know that it was a special day yesterday! It was a big surprise when my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law congratulated us to our 12.5 years wedding anniversary in the morning. Apparently, it's a big thing in the Netherlands. It's called the copper anniversary and it's celebrated in big style. My husband is Dutch, but he didn't have any idea. And suddenly, we had a reason to celebrate 😊

I wanted to spend the day with him, but I also didn't want to cancel on her with such a short notice, so we agreed to leave our celebration for the evening, and I left to meet my old friend.

I met her at a cute bistro right at the river. We had a delicious lunch and it seemed like we never stopped talking. Her life is now all about her child, so she was glad that I contacted her. We were talking and talking long after we finished our meals, so we decided to go for a walk together to continue our discussion. I would usually prefer some time alone, but she was so enthusiastic that I couldn't say no.

As we were already at the river it didn't make sense to go to the city, but we continued along the river until we reached Germany when we realized that we walked quite a lot.

I love those colourful houses on the other side. In summer, you can see people jumping to water from their backyards. Such an advantage to live at the river as you don't need a pool at home 😊

The promenade is wide to accommodate all those tourists in summer. Now, it's the perfect time for a walk as you will only come across a few locals because all tourists are skiing in the mountains.

I remember when a train passed by above my head for the first time. It gave me shivers as I didn't expect it and it was so loud because of the metal construction. It was like something was about to fall on me. Now I know about that, and keep it in the back of my mind, so that I don't get scared again.

This is one of the scenic train routes that are part of the Grand tour of Switzerland. The train will take you to the most beautiful places in the country.

The sky was dramatic all day. There were patches of blue that created deep reflection in the river.

I have said it so many times, but I do feel lucky and grateful to live in this place. It's a region with mild climate, beautiful vineyards, interesting architecture, the river Rhine and the Rhine Falls, and two cantons bordering each other. On the left is Feuerthalen in the canton of Zurich, and on the right is the capital city of the canton Schaffhausen with same name.

The houses on the left (in the back) are in Busingen which is a German enclave in Switzerland. There is no border, only a sign that you're entering Germany and a sign that you're entering Switzerland on the other end.

It's interesting to see the colour of the Rhine over the months. In summer, it is blue/greenish and it gets dark in winter. It all depends on how the light is falling on the water.

Most of the houses have their boats docked in front of them, and in summer they go to the lake Constance which gives you a sea feeling in some places as you can't see the other end. There are also sand beaches and it looks like a coast in the Netherlands or Germany.

This is one of my favourite places in winter, but I try to avoid in summer as it gets too busy. These days it's quiet and serene.

I'm not sure where are the boats docked now, but it's full here in summer....

We don't own a boat as I don't feel comfortable on water, but I always wondered how people get on the boat without getting wet. It's quite far from the river bank, so I guess they somehow pull it closer and jump on, but I'm not sure.

Look how far it is...

The more we walked, the emptier it became. At times we walked in comfortable silence enjoying our surroundings...

Here, we realized that it was time to walk back. Actually, we didn't realize it ourselves. It was her husband asking her where she was as her son was asking about her all the time. Truth to be said, I didn't mind so much as we walked quite a lot already and we still had to go back.

I'm glad that there were some people standing there as you can see how big those trees are. Imagine them full of leaves in summer. It's impressive! They must be very old.

You might be fed up with those flower photos, but I have to show a few more 😊

Honeysuckle smells so good!

And the spring cherry doesn't smell any worse...

And yes, there were crocuses too 😊

I came home at 4PM and started to cook dinner for our anniversary. We agreed to go to a restaurant, but I wanted to surprise my husband. He loves Chinese dumplings, but I don't make them often as it takes so much time, but as yesterday was a special occasion I made a large batch and he was so happy! He told me he would prefer my cooking to the restaurant any day. How sweet!

See you next time!