Bicycle in Europe Part IV

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Europe by Bicycle: Part IV

Lichtenstein/Switzerland/Germany

I arrived in Basel, Switzerland.
I know the Swiss are tolerant but at the Central Station the most
notable impression was made by all the druggies partying unharassed.

The other thing I noticed was the increase in prices for things when
using the Swiss Franc as opposed to the Euro.
Using the McDonald's index, a Big Mac Combo costs 6.90 Swiss Francs ie.$7.25 CDN.

There is a sporadic customs/immigration check between Switzerland and
its neighbouring countries unlike the rest of Europe
which is borderless.

I rode to the Rhine River looking forward to a bike path I
could anticipate rather than just guessing at which fork in road I should follow.

It was very surprising to see how clean the Rhine River was. I expected
to see freighters and muddy water but people were swimming in it.
There were groups of people who would jump in at one point along the
bank of the river then float with the swift current, their clothes bundled in a float able bag,
until a point downstream where they would climb out and walk back to the starting point
and start again.
There's many beaches along the banks, along with small fenced off pay-beach areas
which included washrooms, grassy areas and recreation facilities.

Basel has several of the largest drug companies. Novartis which combines
Basel companies of Sandoz (discoverer of LSD during the war) and Ciba-Geigy,
as well as several generic drug companies all seen from the Rhine.


I biked along the Rhine and camped at a small flat area which was
10 km before Bäd Sackingen. In the morning it started pouring
around 6am and didn't stop until noon.
I'm a fair-weather biker. That was a good chance to read my book.

Then heading towards
Bäd Sackingen I got my second flat tire.
I had bought a Bell Kevlar tire especially for this trip to avoid
flats in my rear tire. It was the worse tire I every had.
I had no flats in my front tire which I bought at Mountain Equipment
Co-op in Toronto. It was made in Thailand. The Bell Tire seemed to
have no resistance to even the smallest thorn or splinter. The rubber
is too thin and the tread is not deep enough. I suffered
many more flats...all in my rear Bell tire.

I spent some time in
the town then headed out and camped at a place with a picnic table
and a tripod over a fire pit.see photo. The area's hostels
were totally booked in high season and everyone with any sense makes
reservations.


The next morning I met a friendly German biker going in the same direction
and made really good time to Waldshut.
It's interesting how much distance you can travel when you're being paced by
someone who knows the way.

While at a supermarket in Waldshut it started pouring.
I waited it out with a litre of ice cream.

I crossed into Switzerland and rode the bike trail
on that side of the border. When I arrived at a tourist information
bureau it started pouring again. This was a good place to wait it out.
Each town seems to have a tourist information post to encourage
tourists to stay in the area.

The Rhine Falls.
The highest falls in Europe and quite a tourist attraction,
near Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
There's a great hostel right at the falls but you need to reserve.
This marks a limit for large boats
travelling to the ocean, so east of this are pristine waters.

Wednesday August 25th.
The Swiss and the German borders are generally divided by the Rhine
but in several places one crossed into the other. At these times there were
officers at the border. These were the only borders
where there was a customs/immigration of sorts, since Switzerland isn't
a member of the E.U. I crossed at Stein am Rhein.


From Romanshorn, Switzerland to Friedrichshafen, Germany I took the ferry across Bodensee (Lake Constance)
The ferry conductor would not accept a credit card. Only cash. Cost €7.70 or SFr 12.10.
That means that if you pay in Swiss Francs you pay an extra $2.25 Cdn. Pay in Euros.

After disembarking at Friedrichshafen I found a great place to eat then continued along the shore looking
for a place to set up camp. I saw a 'nature area' along the lake. Most of the area was too soggy to pitch
a tent and some areas had hordes of little ants and something stinging my feet. It was getting dark and
starting to rain with a heavy wind so I pitched my tent. This was one of the few times I ran into lots of
mosquitoes. Up to now I was amazed at how few there were. Also there were lots of those ugly slugs
crawling on my tent. Next morning after the drizzle I went back to Friedrichshafen to the good restaurant.



Then I rode along the north shore, 27 km, to Lindau (see map) where I booked into a Youth Hostel.
It was a large hostel and in my room there were a couple of young German bikers who showed me
the route between Austria and Munich on their map.

In Lindau they have a Deutsche Bank where you can use a ScotiaBank debit card to get a cash advance
without paying the fee usual for foreign banks. This is because of the ATM Alliance between these two
banks as well as Bank of America et al.

From Lindau, Germany I rode about 10 km around the east end of the lake where I passed into Austria.

I like to compare the prices of McDonald's in different countries even though I rarely eat
there. It was considerably cheaper in Austria than just a couple of kilometres away in
Germany. The McDonald's Index is also used by "The Economist" to determine if different countries
are overpriced or not. This McD's offered beer and Red Bull.

Then continuing west along the south shore of Lake Constance I entered Switzerland again.

Taking the "New Rhine" (a canal?) I had a beautiful day (see photo) to ride towards Liechtenstein.
Four countries in one day by bicycle! And three of them were countries I hadn't been to before.
And the day was one of the nicest on the trip.


Principality of Liechtenstein:
Vaduz
The Vaduz Castle is about 700 years old.

This was another country I was hoping to reach on this trip.
After my pedal broke in Holland, I was happy to have made it to
Luxembourg. Now, I was thrilled to have made it to Liechtenstein, although
the former country was much more exciting.

Monday August 30th, I free-camped about 10 km before the city of Vaduz in a newly
planted tree area. I pushed my bike to the path the next morning to discover another
flat tire in my rear Bell brand tire, again. By the time I got to Vaduz it was drizzling.
The morning also showed newly fallen snow on the surrounding mountain tops.

Since just before WW II, the Vaduz castle has been the residence of the Princely Family.
It's the only country that's named after a family, Liechtenstein.


How many countries of 35,002 people (July 2010 census) can afford their own stamps?
Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world according to the CIA World Factbook.


The country is 25km long and 12km wide. Riding out towards Austria, not along the New Rhine, you can see that the
forest area between the towns is fenced off from the road.

It has an Art Museum/National Museum/government office buildings.
This country has the same number of people as a town like Orillia or Stratford Ontario.


Trivia:
Liechtenstein is one of the few countries in the world with more registered companies than citizens

I spent the last night in the country in a hostel.
They use the Swiss Franc here by a 1924 treaty with Switzerland. Rather than
using the posted rate for the hostel which was
in Euros and Swiss Francs, the reception re-calculated the
rate as of today's exchange rate. It happened to be
the highest rate between Euros and Swiss Franc in history.
If buy something in a store that claims to accept Euros,
well they will, but you'll be stuck with your change in Francs.
Very monetary minded. They have
one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.
The country and people seemed quite business oriented.

Tues Aug 31st, I rode through the drizzle northward back into
Austria.
This small country, only 24 km long, had a "rest area" for the
traffic.
In Feldkirch I booked a train
to Innsbruck rather than attempting to climb the
Tyrolian Alps. Yes, "I like to bike...but I'm not a fanatic".
I planned to read a book on the train ride but it was such
beautiful scenery I couldn't stop looking out the window.

From Feldkirch, Austria I took a train to Innsbruck, Austria.

.
see next blog entry

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Photos

Basel, Switzerland
Finally made it to a city on the Rhine River.

The Rhine Falls
The largest waterfalls in Europe. Wörth castle is to the right

Nice shelter
A portion of German forest offered some sort of shelter which
I took advantage of by camping there for the night.

Nice shelter
Passing the time until it gets a little darker to set up my tent

Another night.
The banks of the Rhine seemed to tolerate camping

Public Park on Fri Aug 27, 2010
Travelling down the Rhine, meandering between Germany and
Switzerland, the Swiss side was not quite as picturesque but did offer public rest areas along the banks.

Ferry across the Bodensee
Romanshorn, Switzerland to Friedrichschafen, Germany
(Lake Constance)

Austrian fair
Coming from Lindau on south shore of Lake Constance I entered Austria for the first time.

The New Rhine
Heading south from Lake Constance

The New Rhine
I set up my tent in the forest then the next day I rode into Vaduz. For a small country, Lichtenstein has towns and forest.
Lots of trekkers go here.

Vaduz, Lichtenstein
Vaduz Castle, residence of the Royal Family in background

Vaduz
Liechtenstein capital-population 5,000

Reigning Prince Hans-Adam II
The country has its own stamps.

Comments

[Graciela]

world traveller
Yes, you are a great world traveller. Amazing experiences. I like the pics.