Unser Lääbe in Thalwil

The Penultimate stage of our journey, in which we are guided by many signs, admire the style of a litter bin, hunt for the elusive bench and have an artistic encounter under a water jet.

The lake was quiet as our train passed along it in the early morning light. Only a few swans and ducks disturbed the slow waters. Oh, and three divers bobbing around near the station in Horgen. We were clearly not the only ones to start the day early.

After arriving in Richterswil, we soon headed up the cobbled paths of the old village centre to the church. Remembering how we lost our way due to stingy sign-posting in affluent Freienbach, we couldn't help noticing the large number of carefully placed signs which guided us through its less prosperous neighbour.

As we walked on, we enjoyed several nice panoramas of the lake before crossing the SOB railway line and continuing down into Wädenswil. This picturesque town is one of our favourite places on the lake with many small shops and a very friendly atmosphere. One new highlight we hadn't noticed until today were the rather special litter bins along the lakeside path. These mark a rather stylish contrast in an age of utility, where litter bins are mainly design to keep out household refuse. It's one of the peculiarities of affluent Switzerland, that people of all social levels will go to enormous length to avoid paying the two-franc levy on rubbish bags, including dumping it piecemeal in public litter bins.

From Wädenswil onwards we were able to follow a rather nice path, right by the side of the lake. The next village we passed is known by the rather forboding name of "Au" - a German expression of pain. In actual fact the name refers to the 'peninsula' jutting out into the lake. However, the painful associations were not comepletely unfounded as we hunted in vain for a bench to rest our weary legs. Finally at the far end of Au, we found a nice place to taste our picnic.

Leaving benchless memories behind us, we finally came to Horgen. As we walked along the lake, close to the station, we noticed two things: the first is a new water jet - putting this sleeping lakeside town on a par with world cities like Zurich and Geneva. The other was three divers we saw earlier - still bobbing around underneath the jet. Why were they still here? When we looked more closely, we understood why: they were not humans but dummies. A work of art.