Cassy's mum Wendy and her partner Ron have a small apartment in the German enclave of Busingen in northern Switzerland. The apartment is conveniently located near Lake Constance and has plenty of storage space in the cellar. We decided to ride light (well for us anyway) and ditch one of the trailers for a dash around the lake. This ride was recommended to me by someone (can't remember who) before we left Australia.
Three countries border the Lake, Switzerland and Austria on the southern side and Germany on the northern side. We headed on the southern side first - planning a short 30km day after a midday start. We stopped in Stein am Rein - a beautiful town on the Rhine River then rolled into Steckborn where we planned to stay the night at a little camping spot shown on her map. I'm not sure what Cassy said to the camp people but they insisted that their campsite waws "not for foreigners" and that we had to go to another town. So we rolled another 20 km to Kreuzlingen where we found a campsite right next door to an impressive lake side restaurant.
The next day we targetted Bregenz - the only Austrian town on the lake - following a tip that it was a beautiful town. We cycled through some spectacular lake side scenery with rolling vine covered hills. We crossed the Austrian border with little fanfare and then headed to our campsite for the night. We walked into the town of Bregenz - circumnavigating the fun park with nausea inducing rides set up on the outskirts of town. We settled on dinner at a nondescript diner and were disappointed to find that in Austria there is smoking inside and outside of restaurants.
Up to this point I was not overly impressed with Bregenz. A lovely town - but most of Europe could be categorised as a lovely town. After dinner we walked to the lake foreshore and found my favourite "space" in the world. The stage for the main theatre in Bregenz is INSIDE the lake. The seats all face the lake and each set is built into and on top of the lake. We arrived at the theatre at around sunset. The main theatre is left open to the public whilst the show is not on (they were still finishing the set build when we were there). So anyone can wander into the "theatre" and sit down to admire the view during the day or evening. Australian insurers would probably freak out at leaving a venue like this open to the public but it is a lovely way to open this spectular venue to the public. The space behind the theatre was the most beautiful art filled square to sit and contemplate the world, chat with friends and expoit the free wifi. See the pictures below. And make sure you visit Bregenz one day.
The next day we rolled on over the Austrian border into Germany and started our way back along the northern side of the lake. We lunched at Lindau - a beautiful small walled island on the lake - before finishing the day in Friedrichshafen. We set up camp for the night and, on seeing the wet weather forecast, decided to reward ourselves with a rest day. We spent the day off doing the tourist things in Friedrichshafen including a visit to the Zeppelin museum. Friedrichshafen was the centre of the Zeppelin world for its brief period of dominance of the skies in the early 20th Century.
After our rest day we continued along the northern side of the lake. It was Ascension Day for the Christians and Fathers Day for the fathers so most of the little towns we rolled through were completely gorgeous AND had some sort of festival. We saw a food and wine festival in Hagnau, a performance by the "Bodensee Shantymen" in Stetten and a medieval fare in Unteruhldingen. We stopped for lunch in Meersburg - a gorgeous old German town host to thousands of tourists on bikes and foot and the occassional car.
We camped that night in Uberlingen and walked into (yet another) spectacular foreshore in a gorgeous town. Somehow we stumbled upon "Weinstein" - a wine bar / restaurant in an old building in one of the town's olders sections. The manager there took a liking to us and walked us through the menu - including letting us taste the barley risotto before we ordered. He chose a riesling for us and we ate two beautiful fish dishes. Dessert was an absolute revelation - I ate nearly an entire apply brandy pizza whilst Cassy marvelled at the pudding.
Cassy had lead the way for the entire trip around the lake after I begrudgingly yet insistently let her take the lead. There were SO MANY cyclists on the lake - and it was not yet peak season. We encountered far more bikes on the roads than cars and pedestrians combined. It was amusing to see the queues of traffic waiting for the boomgates at train crossings dominated by cyclists - with a couple of patient drivers waiting for the peleton to clear before they could cross. Generally, the drivers gave way to cyclists at most intersections, certainly much more than in Australia.
With Cassy leading the way and riding without a trailer our average speed increased by about 50%. Some days we were rolling at well over 20kms an hour. In France we had given ourselves "Tour de France names" Cassy chose "Lars Boom" because of his amusing name and the fact that he is over 190cm tall. I chose Jens Voigt because he is ... Jens Voigt. His basic English and accent combine with his amusing quotes to make for some hilarious YouTube videos. A particular favourite is when he is hurting on the bike and his "legs are hurting and they want to stop but my mind says SHUT UP LEGS!". He also says he enjoys being paid to make other people hurt for a living. A definite character.
On our last day riding back to Busingen, Jens Voigt (with a trailer) decided to launch an attack in the hills on Lars Boom (without a trailer). Jens pulled away momentarily before Lars responded and overtook Jens to reach the summit first! Cassy now has kilometres in the legs and time on the bike. Last time I think about attacking her in the hills!
Three countries border the Lake, Switzerland and Austria on the southern side and Germany on the northern side. We headed on the southern side first - planning a short 30km day after a midday start. We stopped in Stein am Rein - a beautiful town on the Rhine River then rolled into Steckborn where we planned to stay the night at a little camping spot shown on her map. I'm not sure what Cassy said to the camp people but they insisted that their campsite waws "not for foreigners" and that we had to go to another town. So we rolled another 20 km to Kreuzlingen where we found a campsite right next door to an impressive lake side restaurant.
The next day we targetted Bregenz - the only Austrian town on the lake - following a tip that it was a beautiful town. We cycled through some spectacular lake side scenery with rolling vine covered hills. We crossed the Austrian border with little fanfare and then headed to our campsite for the night. We walked into the town of Bregenz - circumnavigating the fun park with nausea inducing rides set up on the outskirts of town. We settled on dinner at a nondescript diner and were disappointed to find that in Austria there is smoking inside and outside of restaurants.
Up to this point I was not overly impressed with Bregenz. A lovely town - but most of Europe could be categorised as a lovely town. After dinner we walked to the lake foreshore and found my favourite "space" in the world. The stage for the main theatre in Bregenz is INSIDE the lake. The seats all face the lake and each set is built into and on top of the lake. We arrived at the theatre at around sunset. The main theatre is left open to the public whilst the show is not on (they were still finishing the set build when we were there). So anyone can wander into the "theatre" and sit down to admire the view during the day or evening. Australian insurers would probably freak out at leaving a venue like this open to the public but it is a lovely way to open this spectular venue to the public. The space behind the theatre was the most beautiful art filled square to sit and contemplate the world, chat with friends and expoit the free wifi. See the pictures below. And make sure you visit Bregenz one day.
The next day we rolled on over the Austrian border into Germany and started our way back along the northern side of the lake. We lunched at Lindau - a beautiful small walled island on the lake - before finishing the day in Friedrichshafen. We set up camp for the night and, on seeing the wet weather forecast, decided to reward ourselves with a rest day. We spent the day off doing the tourist things in Friedrichshafen including a visit to the Zeppelin museum. Friedrichshafen was the centre of the Zeppelin world for its brief period of dominance of the skies in the early 20th Century.
After our rest day we continued along the northern side of the lake. It was Ascension Day for the Christians and Fathers Day for the fathers so most of the little towns we rolled through were completely gorgeous AND had some sort of festival. We saw a food and wine festival in Hagnau, a performance by the "Bodensee Shantymen" in Stetten and a medieval fare in Unteruhldingen. We stopped for lunch in Meersburg - a gorgeous old German town host to thousands of tourists on bikes and foot and the occassional car.
We camped that night in Uberlingen and walked into (yet another) spectacular foreshore in a gorgeous town. Somehow we stumbled upon "Weinstein" - a wine bar / restaurant in an old building in one of the town's olders sections. The manager there took a liking to us and walked us through the menu - including letting us taste the barley risotto before we ordered. He chose a riesling for us and we ate two beautiful fish dishes. Dessert was an absolute revelation - I ate nearly an entire apply brandy pizza whilst Cassy marvelled at the pudding.
Cassy had lead the way for the entire trip around the lake after I begrudgingly yet insistently let her take the lead. There were SO MANY cyclists on the lake - and it was not yet peak season. We encountered far more bikes on the roads than cars and pedestrians combined. It was amusing to see the queues of traffic waiting for the boomgates at train crossings dominated by cyclists - with a couple of patient drivers waiting for the peleton to clear before they could cross. Generally, the drivers gave way to cyclists at most intersections, certainly much more than in Australia.
With Cassy leading the way and riding without a trailer our average speed increased by about 50%. Some days we were rolling at well over 20kms an hour. In France we had given ourselves "Tour de France names" Cassy chose "Lars Boom" because of his amusing name and the fact that he is over 190cm tall. I chose Jens Voigt because he is ... Jens Voigt. His basic English and accent combine with his amusing quotes to make for some hilarious YouTube videos. A particular favourite is when he is hurting on the bike and his "legs are hurting and they want to stop but my mind says SHUT UP LEGS!". He also says he enjoys being paid to make other people hurt for a living. A definite character.
On our last day riding back to Busingen, Jens Voigt (with a trailer) decided to launch an attack in the hills on Lars Boom (without a trailer). Jens pulled away momentarily before Lars responded and overtook Jens to reach the summit first! Cassy now has kilometres in the legs and time on the bike. Last time I think about attacking her in the hills!
