THE MARVELLOUS SUBTERRANEAN WATERFALLS (Part--I)

Engelberg Town

Engelberg town

  In the morning we could see the picturesque landscape of Engelberg, an international tourist resort with many hotels, shops and mountain sports training centers. We saw people paragliding accompanied by coaches in mid-air, hovering like birds above us. The pure climate, freshwater from mountain springs made this town a favourite destination for establishment of  spas and for enjoying Swiss delicacies. People here speak Swiss-German, a variation of German language, and can understand English also. People come here to enjoy sports like hiking, mountain climbing, bike-riding, sailing, skiing and swimming. This town is located at an altitude of 3,350 feet above sea-level surrounded by Alpine mountains. Because of its beautiful landscape abound with green valleys, mountain lakes and fresh air, this place is appropriately named "Engelberg" or "The Mountain of Angels." 

Inner View

 

Engelberg Church

            

Scenic View

Tunnel way

    










This town is well-connected to nearby cities like Luzern and Stansted by rail. Many hotels were established here during 1872 and 1874 by families of Cattani, Hess and Odermatt, pioneers of tourism. Because of its enchanting scenic spots, many Indian films were shot here. Another tourist attraction is the snow-covered peaks of mountains like Mt.Titlis. In 1967 Titlis Cable Car connection was opened here. In this town the Engelberg Abbey is a very ancient institution founded in 1122 by Conrad, Count of Seldenbiuren. During French Revolution many precious volumes of the abbey's library were burnt down. The abbey was re-built in Baroque style later. The abbey was given many privileges by kings and Bishops. This abbey founded a Fine Arts School for painters and writers. This abbey also maintains a cheese shop, a florist's shop, blacksmith's store and a well-equipped library. Even now nearly thirty monks stay here to run the institution.

  On our way to Trummelbach we took a short stroll through the park and streets of Engelberg. The beauty of this town lies in the fact that the place is not cut off from natural scenic surroundings. Wherever you go, you have a picturesque view of hills and green slopes with dotted with tiny cottages and herds of cattle. A serene and pure climate seems to get into every pore of your body. Some people were seen enjoying Swiss ice-cream while others were seen buying Swiss souvenirs from the vendors on the pavement. The photo cards and miniature figurines of Swiss cowbells and animals seem to attract everyone's attention.
 

Road from Zurich to Interlaken

Tunnel highway

 

    

Swiss Landscape Picture Card

Swiss Souvenirs

      

Lake Sarnen

                               

Interlaken

 Our bus passed through many tunnels and came across many lakes. The Swiss engineers are experts in construction of tunnels through mountainous terrain and in construction of ghat roads and rope-ways. The wide tunnels with bright illumination reveals the perfect workmanship and consummate skills of these dedicated architects. The distance from Engelberg to Interlaken is nearly one hundred miles and it took nearly two hours for us to reach that place. On the way we saw  Sarnen Lake with crystal-clear water mirroring blue skies. Interlaken is a tourist resort situated between two lakes namely Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. The Aare river flows between these two lakes. Mountains like Jungfrau (13,642 feet), Monch (13,474 feet) and Eiger (13,020 feet) are near the vicinity of this Swiss town. Hence many tourists come here to enjoy mountaineering, skiing, paragliding, boat riding etc. In 1890 the Berner Oberland Railway connected Interlaken with other tourist destinations like Lauterbrunen and Grindelwald.The nearestrailway station to Trummelbach waterfalls is Lauterbrunnen. But we went directly to the Trummelbach falls which is sixteen kilometers from Interlaken. 

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    9th November, 2015                                           SOMASESHU GUTALA

AN EVENING IN ZURUCH

Lake Zurich

Hans Waldmann

    After traveling about fifty km. in an hour, we reached Zurich, the financial hub of Europe, which
attracts big shots and the capitalists to deposit their wealth safely and escape from the legal hurdles of their native states. Though Bairns is the capital of Switzerland, Zurich attained prominence owing to its financial status. By the time we reached Zurich, it was very late in the evening. So we had a brief stop over and strolled through a few streets. The Zurich Lake with seven bridges spanning across it, is the main attraction of the city surrounded by many monuments and buildings. Many tourists come here to enjoy boat rides and do shopping on the river front promenade. The water in the lake is very clear and pure. This lake is formed by the Linth river which rises from the glaciers of the Alps and flows through the Escher canal and Lake Walen into the Lake Zurich. The outflow from this lake forms Limmeth river.  The richest world famous bank. U.S.B. (Union Bank of Switzerland) is located in this city. Established in 1854 it grew into one of the leading private banking and asset-management institutions. It has branches in more than fifty countries. It has more than 64,000 employees with huge assets of 910 billion dollars. This bank manages nearly 35% of private and institutional offshore funds.The U.B.S. merged with another gigantic Swiss Bank "Swiss Bank Corporation" in 1998 to form the present new U.B.S.

U.B.S. Bank, Zurich

Union Bank Of Switzerland

Fraumunster Church

Framunster Church near Munster Bridge

    Our Tour Manager during this brief stop over, took us to a beautiful historic church "Fraumunster Church" built on the remains of a former abbey. The German King Ludwig gave lands and many privileges like collection of toll, marketing and minting rights to this Benedictine Abbey. Emperor Frederick gave more powers and freedom to this abbey in 1218. During Reformation Movement the abbey was dissolved. The Romanesque Church building serves as a parish church under the evangelical reformed church of the canton of Zurich. We saw beautifully painted stained glass windows done by Marc Chagall in 1970. The carved figures on the walls depict the story of martyrdom of the patron saints, St.Felix and St.Regula. The paintings on the walls were done by Paul Bodmer in1920s blending the spirit and style of the medieval architecture.We sat for a while in the church and lit candles. The statue of Madonna with Baby Christ in her hands made us feel the tender affection of the Divine Mother.

Carved figures on column

Columns at Framunster Church

Paintings on church wall

  Later Our Tour Manager showed us from distance the hotel where Winston Churchill stayed when he came to Zurich on September 19th, 1946 to deliver a lecture at Zurich University. A stone plaque with
words "Europe, Arise!" is still seen in the city street "Paradeplatz". He also added that Switzerland, because of its non-involvement in World Wars became a peaceful shelter for many celebrities like Lenin, Albert Einstein and James Joyce. "The Cafe Odeon", a Viennese style coffee-house opened in 1911 overlooking Bellevue Platz, was the favorite spot for Lenin, Einstein and James Joyce. Joyce stayed in Zurich for four years (from 1915 to 1919) and was very much attracted by the peaceful atmosphere of the city, and admired Zurich as "the city of order and prosperity."

Paradaplatz, Zurich

Stone Plaque at Paradeplatz

               










  Finally at the western end of the Minister Bridge (Munsterbrucke) we saw a bronze statue of Hans Waldmann (1435-1489) the famous mayor and military leader of Zurich, who contributed much to the careful planning and development of the city. As the Master of Kambel Guild he renovated churches and beautified the city. But due to his overambitious nature and indiscriminate act of imposing heavy taxes on peasants of neighboring villages resulted in the revolt of villagers against him. In 1489 he was charged with corruption and was executed in public. The statue of the Mayor riding on a horse was done by the famous sculptor Herman Haller and was unveiled in 1937 by Kambel Guild commemorating his services to the great city.

  After this brief orientation tour in Zurich we traveled to Engelberg, a resort town in the canton of Obwalden in central Switzerland . It took nearly two hours to cover a distance of one hundred kilometers through Alpine region with mountain slopes and spacious pastures and dark clumps of fir dotting the hills everywhere. Our lodging was at Hotel Bankialp, a place with moderate amenities. To have our meals we were whisked away in batches to another place where Indian menu was provided. It was almost 10.00 p.m. After an exhausting journey we sank into our beds dreaming about the pastoral scenes of the Black Forest, the loud ringing Swiss bells, the melting sweetness of Swiss chocolates amidst the wild roaring sound of gushing Rhine Waterfalls heard from afar. In the morning we shook ourselves out of slumber responding to the wake up call at 6.30 a.m. In one hour we should get ready to see many more charms of the Alpine region.


         30th OCTOBER, 2015                       
                                                                                                               SOMASESHU GUTALA
    

THE FASCINATING RHINE FALLS, Switzerland

The Rhine Falls, Switzerland

Gushing Waterfall

   
                                                                                       

Munot Castle, Schauffhasen

Boatride on  the river

       

               
      We traveled towards Northern Switzerland crossing the German border to see another natural wonder -- the Rhine Falls located near Schauffhasen. The distance from Black Forest is nearly 125 kms. This is the largest plain waterfall in Europe formed by the gradual erosion of hard chalk stone by the rushing speed of the Rhine river 15,000 years ago. This 150 meter-wide waterfall tumbles from a height of twenty meters at a speed of 23 meters per second. Such huge amount of rushing waters, one will not see anywhere else. One can witness a huge mass of foaming white flowing incessantly like an outburst of white round pearls pouring in quick succession without any break. Though the height is low, the rushing abundance of water enthralls us very much. We can get a close glimpse of the waterfalls by riding in a boat. There is an isolated steep rock in the riverbed like a floating island. Visitors can go up to the rock by boat and then climb the steps to reach the top of the rock and from the terrace can have a spectacular view of gushing water falling in a wide spout  on to the riverbed.

   As we sailed by boat, the distant view of black rocks with dense greenery all around in sharp contrast to the foaming expanse waters looked like a picture-perfect presentation of natural beauty. This city has many old historic monuments like the Fortress of Munnot built in 14th century and many medieval inns and guild houses belonging to the period of thirteenth century.


               

   The famous 19th century painter, J.M.W.Turner often came here and made large paintings of this waterfall. Mary Shelley, wife of the famous Romantic Poet, P.B.Shelley, came here along with her son and described the beauty of these waterfalls in her diary.
                                                             

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          30th October                                                                                 Somaseshu Gutala

THE SYLVAN HEAVEN

Black Forest

Mountain Streams

 

The Bronze Deer

Devil's Valley

                                 

                               
                             

                                         

     Our next destination is the most fascinating sylvan heaven on the earth-- the Black Forest (Vohren Bach) in Baden--Wurtemberg in South-West Germany) at a distance of 172 kms. from Heidelberg. The name "Black Forest" (in German "Schwarz Wald) brings to our mind the mouth-watering Cherry Cake topped with chocolate cream, and the world-famous cuckoo clocks made of wood in artistic shapes and automated toy figures which move whenever the clock chimes.Apart from these this place is also famous for many native dishes and sports like skiing, hiking, ham boating and bike-riding etc. There are many resorts, spa centers and shelters to entertain tourists. As many highways pass through this region, tourism is one of the main sources of income for the people of this place. This forest is filled with densely grown black fir trees on a flat rocky mountain range over an area of nearly one hundred miles from Karlsruhe(S.W.Germany) to Rhine valley on the Swiss border. The whole forest looks like a mass of dark clouds lending a black hue to the whole area ; hence the forest got it name "Black Forest." This forest has many pastures, valleys, lakes, rivers and waterfalls with many pretty villages and picnic spots. The highest peak of this mountain is Feldberg which is 4898 feet high.

     Our Tour Manager took us to the "National Clock Museum", which has a clock workshop and a sales counter also. The process of making clocks and various types of clocks are displayed there. The salesman spoke to us in a jovial manner about the special features of cuckoo clocks. The earliest cuckoo clocks were made between 1740 nd 1750 in this region. He showed us one old clock which has only one hand showing hours. The early clocks worked based on a system of weights. All clocks are made of limewood whcih is durable and suitable for carving. The sound of cuckoo is heard along with other sounds depending upon the mechansim of the clock to indicate time.The clocks designed in shape of dancing couples and birds are quite attractive. There are different sizes and shapes in clocks and the prices range from 150 to thousands of Euros. Yet many people do not hesitate to buy these artistic clocks as cherished symbols of this most romantic spot.

Cuckoo Clocks

Clock Work Shop

             

Clock Museum

Cuckoo Clock

 





 













 Our Tour Manager told us that this forest was once the abode of beautiful stags and deer. But indiscriminate killing of these creatures led to their extinction. He pointed at the statue of a silver-colored bronze deer installed on the mountain valley as a token of remembrance of this red deer which jumped over the gorge and disappeared when it was pursued by hunters.This gorge  is called "Deer's Jump" (Hirschsprung) which is nine meters wide. This valley is very deep and is nine kms. long. Hence it is known by name "Valley of Hell."

Black Forest Horse

 

Hinterwald Cattle

               









  In this forest the most popular resort is "Titisee Resort." located on Titisee Lake. Another Lake Resort is on Schluchsee Lake. Many rivers originate from the hills and flow through this forest. The Danube River originates at the confluence of the Brigach and Breg rivers. Other rivers that flow through this forest are : the Enz, the Kinzig, the Nagold, the Neckar, the Rench and the Wiese. Among the waterfalls the Triberg Waterfalls and the All Saints Waterfalls attract many tourists. Otto Von Bismarck, the former Prussian and later Chancellor of Germany used to visit Triberg Falls whenever he wished to have relief from his busy schedule. Now you can imagine the heavenly beauty of this placed blessed with dense growth of trees, wide grassy plains, rich variety of plants and abundant flow of water through hills and valleys. Hinterwald cattle and Blackforest horses are well-known breeds of this region. The Hinterland cattle, the shortest breed in Europe, are well-adapted to survive in the severe cold Alpine climate and on steep hilly regions. They are bred both for yielding milk and for beef. The Black Forest horse is a local breed of this area. These horses are used for drawing heavy loads and for doing  work on farms. Now the are used for riding also.The people living in this region speak Alemannic and  Swabian dialects of German language. Amidst these most charming and picturesque surroundings we enjoyed a hearty Indian lunch along with delicious Black Forest Cake.The marvellous beauties of Nature stand before us so fascinatingly that we cannot but praise the sublime creative powers of God.

Delicious Black Forest Cake

                   

AT HEIDELBERG

  

Heidelberg University

Heidelberg University Library

 Later we travelled straight to view the most ancient university in Europe, the Heidelberg University established in 1386 by Rupert I, the Elector Palatinate of Germany. We have to content ourselves with an exterior view of this most famous citadel of learning which produced geniuses like Martin Luther, Hegel, Karl Jaspers, Alfred Weber and Christoff Schissler. There are nearly one hundred disciplines in this university and students from more than 130 countries come here to pursue their studies. The library in this university was founded in 1421 and has a vast collection of books. During the war of Palatinate Succession between the French and German troops (1689 -- 1693) the university and the town were completely burnt and destroyed. In 1803 Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, re-built the university and renovated the town in a Baroque style with carved sculptures and artistic constructions.

Market Square, Heidelberg

Church of Holy Spirit

   











                                                              

Closer view of the Hotel

 Hotel Zum Ritter St.Georg

               













 Heidelberg is a town situated in south-west Germany on the banks of the Neckar river. In 40 A.D. Romans occupied this region and built a wooden bridge across the river and set up a watch tower. After 260 A.D. the Germanic tribes drove out Romans. The old town with the market square surrounded by ancient buildings and with cobbled streets looks like a historic town in medieval times. There is a fountain in the market square called "Muenster Fountain" set up in memory of the famous humanist and cosmographer, Sebastian Muenster(1488-1552) of the fifteenth century.  There is another fountain in the market square called "The Hercules Fountain" set up in 1703 which symbolizes the strength and determination of the people who strove hard to re-build the ravaged town. Just on the opposite side there is an old Gothic church called "Church of Holy Spirit"(Heliggest Kirche) established in 14th century. Within the market yard there is an old building with fluted carved friezes and ornamental columns called "Haus Zum Ritter", the famous Ritter Chocolate House of long-standing reputation built in 1592. This building unravaged by wars remains as one of the beautiful mansions of the German Renaissance.

Hercules Fountain

Sebastian Muenster Fountain

    





       

Madonna Founain, Korn Markt

Closer View

  
                        

In the center of the Corn Square there is a fountain called "Madonna Fountain" with the statue of Madonna with a golden crown. The water taps around the four corners of the water tank are made of copper, which acts as a purifying agent on the water that flows from them. Our Tour Manager informed us that merchants and sailors before travelling abroad, used to come here and pray before Mother Mary, who is believed to  protect people from dangers and calamities. Historically speaking this statue was erected by Jesuits in 1718 to motivate people of Heidelberg to switch back to Catholic faith. The Jesuits set up Mary's statues in different places giving support to the Count Elector who had been trying since 1685 to convert his people back to Catholic faith. But all his plans failed. This statue is an excellent example of artistic beauty. We left Heidelberg after drinking water from this sacred fountain blessed by Mother Mary.

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   21st October, 2015                                                                   SOMASESHU GUTALA