We finally are getting adjusted to the time change and got on the road at a decent time this morning (about 7:30 AM). Mark was concerned about the design of the trailer hitch that came with the bike, worrying that it is starting to fray so soon into our trip. He managed to secure some duct tape (which is apparently universally know by men from all nationalities, despite the language difference) from a kind German man at our campground. Soon, we were waving goodbye to our toothless neighbor with his wolf hound and heading off for another day.
After a very short ride (we needed breakfast), we rode into the Lindau, Germany which has roots in Medieval times. We were looking for tourist information center, which was not open until ten, so we took our time exploring the town.
The harbor opening into Lake Constance is protected by barriers on both sides with only a small opening for ships to pass. One side is a majestic Bavarian statue of a lion and the other is a lighthouse, both built in the 1800’s. It was a marvel to watch the seamanship of the ferry boat captains maneuvering through the opening into Lake Constance. We walked through town, taking in all the interesting architecture. I was particularly impressed by the colorful painting on the side of the old Town Hall. It reminded me of the fresco paintings in Rome. As it was Sunday, most of the stores and buildings were closed. We grabbed some sandwiches at a small bakery in the train station.
As we biked further around the shore of Lake Constance, we stopped to walk around the grounds of Schloss Montfort, an old Moorish-style castle that is now used as a concert hall, restaurant and wine bar. The grounds were beautiful, containing different varieties of weeping willow trees, some which I had never seen before.
The rest of our bike ride took us through farms again, like yesterday, we were biking on paths cutting right through the fields. But unlike the farms of yesterday, these were predominantly orchards and vineyards. We saw apple trees, pear trees (green and Bosc), plum trees, red grapes, green grapes, blueberries and peaches (or perhaps nectarines). For the first time in my life, I saw, in action, the crazy machine that bales the hay and wraps it into bundles to drop in the field… it looked like a trick from a Dr. Seuss book. A few of my favorite views of the day were an alpaca farm, along with a long stretch of “community gardens” which the inhabitants used from everything to trampolines, to vegetable gardens to Victorian gardens. Presumably, these were folks that didn’t have access to a yard where they live and so they “rented a yard” in another part of town.
We arrived at our destination in Friedrichshafen early. We decided to have a short ride today because 1.) it was time to do laundry again and 2.) we wanted to try out a Hostel because there is heavy rain coming, and there was one in this town. In another Sunday misfortune, we couldn’t find the tourism office and once again depended on the kindness of strangers to point us to the local train station. Once we got there, it was closed, so we once again depended on the kindness of strangers to find the Hostel (as I had used up my high-speed allowance for the day, so Google was not cooperating).
We found and checked into the Hostel. Not a bad place. The room itself looks a lot like a college dorm room (bunk beds and all), but we have all the amenities we need …. a shower, laundry facilities, free wireless, a bike cage, and free breakfast. We wandered out before the rain started to find a 5-star local pub, and once again shared pizza and beer (I see a theme here). We’ve been super lucky with the weather so far and are hoping tomorrow’s predictions will hold so that the rain will be cleared before noon, giving us time to move on.
