A River Tamed

Today has a completely different feeling, as the river once again changes character, and with it the peopled landscape around it.

Coincidentally (or is it?) the sky has remained gray all day – as gray as the dams, the nuclear power station, the factories, and even many of the homes we’ve paddled by. And alongside the river is the roar of cars just a few meters away.

But I’m sure it’s not all like this. At the moment we are having lunch in Laufenburg, where old buildings nearly overhang both sides of the river. They are plain by the standards we’ve been enjoying upstream, but some color has returned.

Watching the ever-changing landscape has actually made me want to continue downriver all the way to the sea – how many more changes would take place en route?

But tomorrow in Basel my own river journey ends. I’m looking forward to exploring the town and learning much more about the Rhine past and present in this historically vital city where modern-day France, Germany and Switzerland intersect.