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Published: June 27th 2017
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Sunflowers and the Bodensee
Sundflowers were amongst the many crops we came across between Stein am Rhein and Konstanz. I forgot in previous days to mention bikes. Bikes are here by the thousands. Everywhere is geared up for bikes. Streets have dashed off areas separate from cars, some streets are cycle only and the cycle trails are fantastic. Mostly they are hot mix, smooth, the width of half a road and extensive. Bikes have their own parking areas crammed with a variety of machines. Konstanz, a university town has bikes everywhere. Out on the trails there are the speedsters on their road bikes, tourists on their tourist bikes and the locals on all sorts.
Today we cycled back to Konstanz but on the south side of the Rhine. It was a lovely bike ride practically alone in the morning through lovely scenic countryside. Sometimes it was urban, sometimes through medieval villages, along the lakeshore, then orchards and market gardens until we got close to Kreuzlingen. Somehow we lost the trail and ended up a hill thinking "this doesn't look right". Eventually we retraced our ride and found a sign we'd missed. Isn't it funny how any going wrong is always uphill? Back in Kreuzlingen we crossed the border back into Germany and therefore Konstanz. At least here we knew
where to go as we headed across the Rhine again and followed the shore. The coastline is quite lovely in this area with a wide promenade of gardens and trees right on the lakeside. Out on the water were lake ferries, yachts, canoes, and swimmers. We followed the peninsula, through the forest, eventually arriving at Mainau Island. Here was a huge parking area and people everywhere, all there to visit the gardens on the island. It is renowned for it's flowers and trees. You cannot drive or ride to the island but only walk on the causeway. We had to pay E20 to visit the gardens which we thought was a bit steep since at home we pay nothing to visit some of our top gardens. The gardens were well worth a visit even though a lot of the flowers had finished. We were particularly impressed with the models of flowers and ducks made entirely of flowers. We didn't stay too long as we had a ferry to catch at Wallhausen. Again we managed to get lost by going to the wrong ferry jetty. Of course getting back on track meant hauling up hill again. Why is it getting lost
A flowery flower
One of the flower models made of flowering plants at Mainau Island gardens always involves hills which I hate?
The ferry took us from Wallhausen across the lake to Uberlingen which is another pretty town right on the lakeside. Our hotel is the Hotel Bad (meaning bath or bathing, not bad as in bad). It is a lovely 4 storied, 200 year old building surrounded by lovely gardens and paths out to the lakeside. Our room is in the original roof so has the framework falling within the room. A bit different. After a walk along the very nice waterfront and cafes we returned to the hotel for drinks and a very fine dinner. There appears to be some virtues in eating at hotels as opposed to outside cafes. The menus appear to have more variety and class. It has been dead calm and warm so perfect for sitting outside until after 9pm. People here know how to chill out which we're not very good at. They sit, chat, and eat at a very leisurely pace.
We liked today's bike ride. The scenery was great with heaps of variety. It wasn't as hot as yesterday which was a huge plus. The medieval architecture along the way showed people's pride in keeping
Who could resist these flowery ducks
Duck models and garden made of flowers. Very cute. their history alive.
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Grace Krieger
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Beautiful
What a beautiful cycle trail you are doing. I got excited after seeing the first sunflowers out yesterday on my way to Germany meaning that it is officially time for a new onslaught of sunflower photos to be taken! Are you cycling with a group? Or have you made your own itinerary?