Hike to the Habsburg Castle

On the Swiss National Day, August 1st, I had planned to go on the famous 4-lake trek in the Alps region of Mt. Titlis. Considering the morning's heavy rains and unfavorable forecast for the rest of the day, I had to change plans and randomly picked a hike that was within an hour's travel from Basel. The first option that came up was the scenic hike along the Aare river in the Aargau canton area. 

This is a nice, enjoyable 25 km hike with a well planned trail right by the river-side, letting one enjoy the deep-green waters and the beautiful swans and ducks that lounge about in them. The waters are so clear that one can see the river bed, colored pebbles and a variety of fish life. Along the hiking trail, one encounters a variety of plants and trees - wild black berries, blue berries, red berries and a variety of apples and pears. There are hundreds of acres of corn fields along the way, apart from industrial corridors that have sprung up. From the signposts in the trail, the painstaking efforts by the Swiss government to maintain course of the river and preserve its flora and fauna is evident.

The hike from the Schinzach-bad station to the castle takes a detour from the river, and moves deeper inland through the dense woods up a hill. Coming onto the clearing from the woods, one gets the clear imposing view of the Habsburg castle, or what remains of the original castle built in the 12th Century. This was once the seat of the powerful Habsburg dynasty that ruled over most of Europe, in its heyday. The fortress is now converted into a restaurant, and not much of medieval artefacts are maintained now. However, the story of the castle is illustrated through audio-narratives and pictures at various points in the castle.

Here is the Picture story (please click below) created from the hike, thanks to Google, and with minimal edits and comments added.

Swiss National Day celebrations

Yesterday, 1st August was the Swiss National Day, a day to commemorate the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy. Unlike the Independence day celebrated in various countries which were colonies of the British or other European powers, this National day signifies unification of the country. August 1st was the date when three key cantons came together by swearing allegiance to each other, and over the next 500 years all other cantons of Switzerland were eventually unified. This alliance, at the time was formed as a strategy to counter the powerful Habsburgs, who ruled the Aargau canton of Switzerland. Interestingly, yesterday, on the occasion of the Swiss National Day, I hiked in Aargau, along the Aare river with a culmination in the Habsburg castle! I'll put up a picture story on that shortly.

The Swiss National Day is marked by fireworks across the country, with the chief attraction being the fireworks in Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen. Basel is also a highlight in the celebrations, with fireworks along the Rhine river. In scale and celebration, this is like a mini-Diwali, with people bursting firecrackers for 2 days! Quite similar to India, a lot of fireworks shops/tents had also sprung up in the past week, selling rockets, flower pots and the like.

Fireworks in Basel (source)	..and one of the many make-shift crackers shops!