This weekend we wanted to stay close by, especially as this area got some rarely seen winter sunshine, and we traveled only 30 minutes to the starting point of both our Saturday and Sunday walks. The area may be fairly flat, but the landscape is varied just the same, as we walk our 12 kms in the pastoral landscape, through small farming hamlets, along streams and rivers, maybe visiting a cloister along the way, and still with views of the mountains in the South, if the air is not too hazy.
At the women's cloister called Frauenthal (Women's Valley) I experienced one of those fantastically long German words: "Zisterzienzerinnenabtei", what a tongue-twister! It means "Abbey of the Cistercian Sisters", the Cistercian Order being a branch of the Benedictine Order of Monks, formed in 1098 in France. The Frauenthal Cloister is the second oldest Cistercian cloister in Switzerland and dates from about mid-1200's. The order emphasizes self-sufficiency and hard work, and so the nuns work the land, have stalls with animals, and even a small power plant next to their buildings.
On Sunday we started again close to home, parallel to our Lake Zug, but this time only a short 1.5-hour Sunday afternoon walk. Both were very nice winter walks, and it's nice to experience our home territory sometimes!
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| Start of our hike at the Railway Station in Mühlau, along the Reuss River. |
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| Village of Mühlau on the Reuss River, start of our 12 km hike to Lake Zug. |
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| Crossing the Reuss River, one of Switzerland's most important rivers (flows to Lucerne) |
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| There are always clusters of forested areas on our walks. |
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| Approaching the Cistercian Cloister in Frauenthal, established mid-1200's |
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| Cistercian Cloister in Frauenthal, established mid 1200's. Bottom right is their power station. |
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| The Church of the Frauethal Cloister is built purely in Rococo Style. |
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| Can't be too tall to pass through here.... |
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| So many babies... |
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| Old covered bridge on the Lorze River |
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| The cloister is built on an island in the Lorze River. |
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| Along the way to Cham on Lake Zug |
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| Church in Cham, end of our walk. |
On Saturday we started in Mühlau on the Reuss River and walked 12 km to Cham, from where we can take a bus or train back home. The walk took us 2 hours 45 mins. On Sunday we started in Buonas on the West side of Lake Zug and walked 6 km to Immensee on the lake (Urs' home town), always with Mount Rigi in our sights.
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| Start of Sunday's walk from Buonas to Immensee, always walking South with Mt. Rigi in our sights. |
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| The countryside is dotted with farms with great backdrops! |
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| The countryside is dotted with farms with great backdrops! (Lake Zug in the background) |
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| Always trying to photograph birds of prey, but they are always a little too far away... |
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| Walking along the railway tracks |
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| On Saturday we forgot to take coffee along, but not on Sunday |
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| Approaching Urs' home town Immensee on Lake Zug, at the foot of Mount Rigi |
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| Immensee on Lake Zug, our destination before heading home by bus. |
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