1) Rhine Falls, Zürich and Astano

Friday (06.06.) afternoon I drove from Leipzig to Danny in Tübingen. After some dinner, several beers and good talks we went to sleep. The next morning (07.06.) we started early from Tübingen towards Switzerland. Our first stop was for the Rhine Falls near Schaffenhausen. A nice place to stop on your way... maybe not worth it to make a trip there only for these waterfalls which rather make a big cascade. We then continued to Zürich. We parked our car close to the central station. Danny was in Zürich before and so showed me the city. I was surprised by several things in the city... first of all the air felt very clear, almost like visiting a hill village instead of a town. Second, the city was more silent than many villages because of a lot of noise reducing mechanisms that are implemented in roads and tram system. Finally, the water quality in the harbour was astonishing... I could see the ground but not a single piece of waste in the water. This is incredible considering the city has over 400,000 citizens! Though, all this comes with very high prices. We bought some ice cream that cost us 3,50€ a scoop. After Zürich we drove to Lugano. The way offered amazing sceneries and we also drove through the famous Gotthardt Tunnel. In Lugano we ate pizza and pasta at some outside place during sundown. We were luckily to find a Couchsurfing host last minute - Nichola from Astona. Luckily the place was on our gps map. Still, the ride was quite an adventure as Nichola's place was close to tiny Astona but still an unpaved road downhill through a forest away. This was another of the very remarkable CS-experiences we had. Nichola lives in a small house built on old farm house ruins... the farmers left a century ago. The place is all forest on a steep hill with a few handmade terraces for farming. He grows not only his own vegetables but also makes his own lemonade and coffee. He also produces Shishas and has a selfmade server computer. The strangest ensemble of highest technology in purest nature I have ever seen. We played some table soccer and had many great talks. The coffee he offered us the next morning was incredible and just as good as the one I drank in Costa Rica. The only thing we could offer in return was bringing his rubbish with our car to Astano^^

I at the Rhine Falls

Clear air and water make the harbour views great!

Cristal clear water in Zürich

Amazing scenery on our way from Zürich to Lugano

View of Nichola's place in the forest from his window

Tiny but cute Astano