易北河上的巴斯泰桥，德国撒克逊瑞士国家公园 Bastei Bridge above the Elbe river in Saxon Switzerland National Park, Germany (© Reinhard Schmid/eStock Photo)

易北河上的巴斯泰桥，德国撒克逊瑞士国家公园 Bastei Bridge above the Elbe river in Saxon Switzerland National Park, Germany (© Reinhard Schmid/eStock Photo)

A bridge that rocks

Sandwiched between soaring pinnacles of sandstone, Bastei Bridge is a highlight of Saxon Switzerland National Park. But don't be fooled by the park's name because we're not in Switzerland; we're hundreds of miles away in eastern Germany, close to the border of the Czech Republic. The name comes from two Swiss artists who visited the area in the second half of the 18th century and felt the picturesque upland scenery was reminiscent of their homeland.

The park boasts untamed forests and spectacular rock formations, including the Bastei in our photo. The rock pillars here were formed by water erosion over a million years ago and tower 636 feet above the Elbe, one of the major rivers in Central Europe. If you're not afraid of heights, you can walk the bridge that has connected these jagged rocks for almost 200 years. Originally made of wood but rebuilt with stone in 1851 to accommodate the increasing tourist traffic, Bastei Bridge offers stunning panoramic views of the river and surrounding Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It also leads to the remains of an ancient castle that once stood here and is now an open-air museum.

岩石桥

巴斯泰桥夹在高耸的砂岩尖顶之间，是撒克逊瑞士国家公园的一大亮点。但不要被公园的名字欺骗了，因为我们不在瑞士；我们在几百英里之外的德国东部，靠近捷克共和国的边界。这个名字来自两位瑞士艺术家，他们在18世纪后半叶造访过这个地区，他们觉得风景如画的高地风景让人想起了他们的家乡。

这个公园拥有未经改造的森林和壮观的岩层，包括我们照片中的巴斯泰。这里的岩柱是由一百万年前的水蚀形成的，耸立在易北河上方636英尺处，易北河是中欧主要河流之一。如果你不怕高，你可以走过这座连接这些参差不齐的岩石将近200年的桥。巴斯泰桥最初是用木头建造的，但在1851年用石头重建，以适应日益增长的游客流量，在它上面可以看到令人惊叹的易北河全景和周围的埃尔贝砂岩山脉的全景。它还通向一座古堡的遗迹，该古堡曾经矗立在这里，现在成为了一座露天博物馆。