I’ve always lived near water. In Glasgow, we have the Clyde, and nowhere in Scotland is hugely far from the sea. (Insert horror memories of learning to swim in a North Sea fed pool in St Andrews.) Arriving in Switzerland in the 80s, I was pleased to be living so close to another lovely river. I took one look at the oddly green waters of the Aare swirling through Olten, and I knew I was going to be right at home there.
I wasn’t aware of it then, but the Aare would be in and out of my life for years.
It rises in the Bernese Alps and winds down through the Haslital. When the boys were small we spent several autumn holidays there, so the Aare is in my memories of many of the places we visited in those days.
Just past Meiringen (Sherlock Holmes fights to the death with Professor Moriarty near here) the Aare expands into Lake Brienz…
…then passes Interlaken and flows into Lake Thun. At the town of Thun it moves northwards, a river again. 
And on to Berne, where it flows right through the centre of the old town.
On it goes through western Switzerland, in and out of Lake Biel, and northwards…
…through Solothurn…
…and Olten (see top photo) and on towards the border of Switzerland and Germany, where it flows into the Rhine. At 280 km, the Aare isn’t a long river – but it packs a lot in.
Book News: It’s been a fabulous week for Baby Dear, doing very well on both sides of the Atlantic and hitting number 13 in category Crime – a large category so I’m really pleased with that.
And – I’ll have some very exciting new book news to share soon! 🙂
linda huber 
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