Rapperswil: Switzerland,Photos,Places

Roses are red,and so I am blue @ Rapperswil - Jona

To know what I wore click here

Situated on the upper end of lake Zurich, this city is a City of Roses or so it is called. The name of “Rapperswil” is derived from a family which originated from “The Hamlet of the Ratprecht” (ratprechtsvilare) on the left bank of Lake Zurich. Founded in 1220,this place is just perfect for lazing around. May be because my hotel "Speer" was in the town just beside the lake where I could just walk in everywhere. We caught up Pre-Alpine Express(Pre Alpine is Alpine before Alpine) from St. Gallen to Rapperwil in the morning and here we were.

Previous Blog posts on Switzerland: Click Here

The routes in Switzerland are very scenic @ Rapperswil

Rapperswil - Why Rose is the Sign of Town

Roses as the coat of arms by Knights

The coat of arms was necessary as a distinct sign of identification in the late Middle Ages when knights wore armor with closed helmets. Friend or enemy had to be distinguished from the distance .It was important that the design on the coat of arms was simple, distinctly recognizable and bore a generally known meaning. Picture of animals and flowers were particularly appropriate.

Aha ! Beauty

The rose was preferred above all; it radiated the joy of life, happiness and love. The preferred colors were red and yellow.In 2007,Rapperswil merged with the neighboring community "Jona" and the old coat of arms with the roses also was included with the Blue Wavy Line

The town of Rapperswil - observe the wall art on homes

Did you know?

Since 2002, there is a contest to select a Rose Queen in Rspperswil - Jona. She is the ambassador of the City of Roses and represents the region around Rapperswil-Jona for a term of 2 years.

Rapperswil - Wooden Footbridge

The Marvel of Engineering from the Middle Ages

This bridge over the lake in the middle ages was regarded as a marvel of engineering, for thousands of years. That means the lake isn't very deep where the bridge is built and that was the reason why it was convenient to construct a wooden foot bridge exactly at this place. How was this built? First they rent oak piles into the bed of the lake, then only the longitudinal boards constructed on the piles and then they laid cross boards on the bridge .The cross boards were let loose, as there was no nail in the middle ages. That's why lot of people drowned here, because they were not able to swim. When the storm came, only the cross boards would be swept away not the whole bridge and that was medieval engineering. And so after the storm they have to gather the cross boards again and put it on the foot bridge again. Only 10 years back they found on the other side we already have a footbridge. About 3600 years ago was the age of wood , they have found the piles in the bed of the lake which is still there. There were 3 bridges along the distance of 1000 km over Lake Zurich.

Underneath the Lake

Rapperswil - Rose Garden

The tourist information Centre aimed in 1958 to plant more roses in the city of roses, so that the city of roses becomes actual city of roses. The rose garden has around 150 variety of roses. Another rose garden opened in 1984 is for visually impaired, with 2400 plants of 100 varieties of fragrance and labelled as Braille is there.

Cruising - Island of Ufenau

The place from where the cruise start

What would you think of me, if I say that I was so engrossed in the beauty of cruising in Lake Zurich that I even forgot to get down? When I was getting my pictures clicked, the saw my whole team down and waiting. So I ran,ran and finally could make it .Phew!

The Island of Ufenau

On the island of Ufenau you will find a farm and two churches: the church of St. Peter and Paul stands on the foundations of a Gallo-Roman Temple ,and the church of St.Martin can be traced back to the 7th century.We also have a small eating out option at the Island which serves delicious food and local wine.Try the fish,they are awesome.

Rapperswil : Eating Out

Dinner at Restaurant San Marco

Restaurant San Marco
Marktgasse 21
8640 Rapperswil
+41 55 211 22 24

Had Italian Ambiance with Mediterranean food.Though the ambiance was great,I didn't like the food as much.The deserts were yummy.