Switzerland has an abundance of springs, rivers and lakes. There are four main rivers that are all fed by countless smaller rivers mostly originating in the alps and hills of the country. In the end they all join the sea either in Germany, France or Italy, depending on which side of the alps they start.

Here in the picture is a small river, called the Sense (Canton of Fribourg). It is only about 35km long and at that point joins the Saane river. The Saane flows into the beautiful lake of Greyerz and past the pretty city of Fribourg until east of Berne it joins the Aare river.

The Aare is one of the main rivers of the country. It also leads more water than any other Swiss river and is fed by many other rivers and creeks such as those mentioned above. The Aare river reaches 288km until it joins the Rhein river (376km).

The Rhein is again fed from waters of the whole canton of Graubünden (southwestern part). Famous destinations are the cities of Basel, Schaffhausen (with the Rheinfall), lake of Constance and then finally the North Sea (in the very north of Germany).

The other big river system is the Rhone river, flowing through the Canton of Wallis, into lake Geneva, Lyon in France, Avignon, and finally into the Mediterranean sea near Arles (France).

The Ticino river is the name giver of the Canton of Ticino (Italian speaking). It flows through Italy and also ends in the Mediterranean sea in Italy.

Countless beautiful cities and villages with diverse language and cultures lie along those rivers spread across Switzerland, France, Germany and Italy.

Especially in Switzerland these rivers are still very natural and early on in their start rather wild yet very clean. People love to swim in them, boat down the rivers, bbq along them and just enjoy their special beauty.

On the last Sunday of October at 3 am the clock is set back by one hour. That means people have one more hour to sleep!

This means also that it suddenly gets darker one hour later. Beginning of November the sun rises shortly after 7 am and sets already at 5 pm!

Beginning of November is also the time when the beautiful and colourful autumn is slowly changing into winter. Temperatures often drop and the first snow appears in the higher areas. People should again get their cars equipped with snow tires.

This time switch also is called Daylight Savings Time (DST). The switch should help to make better use of natural daylight.

Lass than 40% of the countries worldwide use this method. Some studies suggest that the switch could lead to fewer road accidents and injuries as people enjoy more daylight while on the roads. Others claim that some people find it hard to adjust and a few suffer even some sleep deprivation.

The DST was introduced by the European Union in 1996. Switzerland being in the heart of Europe also decided to follow suit.

The time gets switched back into ‚summer mode‘ on the last Sunday of March. That is when spring really starts spreading.

I took this picture on lake Thun.