Month: May 2012

It felt like we were taking it easy.  Yes, there were a few hills the first day.  But we had so much time to cover not many kilometers (Schaffhausen to Basel in 3 days), that the pace seemed almost leisurely.  Especially since through this area, the ambience is all lovely farmland, pretty little towns, and the swiftly flowing Rhine.

Schaffhausen is known for its oriels (bay windows above the ground floor). They were once a status symbol for the rich merchants in this town which was built up simply because shippers needed a place to off-load their goods in order to get around the falls.

Since the bikepath often took us along hiking paths through the woods along the river, we saw a few remains of cement bunkers, left from World War II.  Often German territory is directly across the Rhine from Switzerland.

We stopped at Augusta Raurica a partially reconstructed Roman amphitheater, a little east of Basel.  For another point of view, search on “Augusta Raurica, Augst, Switzerland” and zoom in on the satellite view.

Too perfect to be true, but it is.  The plan (the dream?) was 4 days biking by the Bodensee with 3 nights camping.  The reality was 4 glorious days biking by the Bodensee with 3 nights spent being completely coddled by friends.  I had not realized that a couple whom we let park in our driveway in America while they were vacationing there lives close to the Bodensee.  When Jon mentioned this, I emailed them to see if they might be at home for a hello.  They invited us to stay in their house for as much of the holiday as we liked.  AND every night and morning they fed us a mountain of wonderful food (see 5/15/12 to understand how important this was) and entertained us with their company.  I am hereby extending my assumptions of warmth and graciousness which were earlier granted to the Swiss to all of Germany. (I do hope I’m correct in doing so.)

BODENSEE DAY 1 Mostly the path takes us by farmlands, orchards, small towns, and a number of typically German permanent campgrounds filled tightly with tiny trailers.  It’s a bit cold with the constant breeze across the water, but as Jon said, it’s great to be finally really comfortable because we’re on the bike and for us, this is what Europe is. Almost always we have a view of the huge lake and an unusually clear view of the Alps, so rare in summer, with sail boats dotting the water in the foreground.  Then our first major hill: we walked beside the old fortress/castle, up the steep narrow lane lined with tiny shops, touristy but not kitschy.  Following Google’s directions to our friends’ home, we climb another very steep hill, wondering if we’ve lost the path.  And then we are in their town, and face yet another, fortunately somewhat shorter, hill to our rest for the night.

 

BODENSEE DAY 2 At our hosts’ suggestion, we ride back to Meersburg, ferry to Konstanz, and visit the garden isle of Reichenau, rather than the garden isle of Mainau which is expensive and requires a full day to visit, better when they are at the height of their flowering season.  Reichenau is peaceful, lovely, and free.  We go through Stein am Rhein, which is famous for it’s painted houses.  We end our ride at Radolfzell and train back to Bermatingen.

BODENSEE DAY 3 With better instructions for avoiding the monster hill between Bermatingen and the lake, we slid down to Friedrichshafen to see the Zeppelin Museum.  We were surprised to learn how very many of these airships had been built, how there were regular flights across the Atlantic (only four days to Brazil!), and how many were produced for military purposes.  Then up along the coast to the cherry-sundae Birnau Cathedral, after pausing at a Middle Ages fair in Uhldingen.