The Last Post

Our cycling tour ended with a whimper rather than a bang. We cycled 25km of the last 40 in pleasant albeit windy conditions but things got worse and rain was imminent so we hopped onto a train back to Konstanz. We got soaked riding from the station to the hotel (bad) but had extra time in Konstanz to visit a sports store and stock up on great German and Italian cycling gear (good). Now, a day later, we are in an apartment in a 300 year old building in the centre of Colmar, France (Airbnb!) and it's so nice that we visited the local market to buy wine, cheese and terrines so could eat in. 

For those interested in cycling, we booked with Radweg Reisen and would recommend their tours. This trip has been nicely varied, with (almost) comfortable, good quality bikes, and the hotels, meals and general service from the company have all been excellent.

It has also been encouraging to see so many grey-haired cyclists in this part of the world!

Colmar Cathedral windows

Our apartmenr in the pink building in the middle

Colmar has been a great choce for our last 3 days. It rates as one of the prettiest towns in Europe and we certainly agree. Wandering around gazing upwards, then hanging out in this lovely apartment has been relaxing before we fly to Rome tomorrow, stay overnight again at Villa Rosita before the long haul via Dubai back home.
A few pics of Colmar tell the story:

Dinner place - Chez Hansi

Lunch place

Colmar Cathedral

Little Venice

A few reflections on this trip:

Codgers playing petanque in the south of France

• We have been interested in the number of "Codgers" (elderly blokes) hanging out in many places - playing petanque/bocce or cards or backgammon or just chatting. What a healthy thing for men of a certain age to do! I am thinking of sending Lester over for further Codger training.
• Overwhelmingly people have been welcoming, helpful and kind. This is encouraging
• We have visited some achingly beautiful places, many of the UNESCO World Heritage sites - thank goodness they are protected (which makes Syria even more of a tragedy!)
• Cycling is the way to go - even if we have to resort to electric-assisted bikes at some stage
• We like the European life style, especially the early evening walk that happpens in many places - very family orientated
• You can never get too many vegetables when travelling!
• The bucket list hasn't got any shorter, even though a lot has been crossed off

Many thanks to those of you who have been interested in this journey and kept in touch - we have appreciated your contact and comments. Facebook isn't so bad really! Au revoir for now.

Cycling days 7,8 and 9

Day 7: Germany to Austria

A pleasant cycle today largely along the lake from Friedrichshafen (Germany) and on to Bregenz (Austria). Many opportunties to admire the displays of late summer flowers and pretty architecture, but we pushed on because rain was looming. Stopped in beautiful Lindau just as it turned cold and started to rain, and bunkered down in a warm Backerei/cafe. Wandered through Lindau but didn't really do it justice because of the weather, then rode the last 10km to Bregenz in drizzling rain. Not really a problem because we are well protected up top by our gear and then could immediately enjoy a hot shower at our hotel. We were spoilt by being allocated a suite with separate lounge room, so plenty of space to dry stuff.

Day 8: Austria to Switzerland

A varied day, leaving our lovely suite at Hotel Messmer in Bregenz for a cable car ride up to the top of Mt Pfander for some beautiful views both of Lake Constance, where we had been riding and the mountains above the lake.

The 35 km ride was straight forward, with an interesting view of the Rhine Delta on the way. Not a lot of actual lake view though - more around a series of spits. 

Arrived at our hotel in Rorschach (Hotel Mozart) to find we had probably the best room in the hotel - top floor, spacious, with all 3 windows having expansive lake views. Time for some in room wine and nibbles (supermarket purchased of course - this IS Switzerland!) just to enjoy the vista.

Day 9: Switzerland

Something different today - no cycling! Instead, we caught a cog train up into the hills behind Rorschach, to Heiden and then hiked 8km across the hills to Walls'n'houses (or some such name), through farmland, villages and forests. It is called "Laughter trail" because all the way along are signs with jokes. We only realised what these signs were after we got back, despite having tokens to be able to listen to them. But they were all in Swiss/German anyway. We were to have returned via another cog rail way and a small boat but because it was very windy and the lake was rough, these were cancelled and bus and train had to suffice.

Cycling days 4,5 and 6

Day 4

Mainau Island

The journey this morning took us first to Mainau Island, Botanical Gardens where the emphasis is on flowers - things made from flowers, tulips in Spring and, for us, Dahlias in Summer/Autumn. We were gob-smacked with the variety and perfection of the latter.
After lingering for an hour here the rest of the cycling day was a bit prosaic - mostly inland and including some hills as well as apple orchards and a couple of nice villages until we got to Radofzell, a nice town on the lake where we enjoyed a sunset walk.

Sunset on the Lake in Radofzell

Day 5

Lovely lunch spot in Uberlingen

Promenade in Uberlingen

The first 15km of the day was inland back over some more hills to the North shore of the lake. Lester was up for it but I decided the 10 minute train trip was more interesting. However from there, the remaining 25km along the lake edge was a real treat, with one particularly lovely town, Uberlingen, inspiring us to linger indeed and walk along its pretty promenade. It's Saturday and there are lots of people around cycling, boating, lunching, drinking in the last days of summer. From there we ended in our home for the night, Uhldingen. our focus is on cycling, not so much sight-seeing so we passed on the reptile house and the monkey compound!! We continue to appreciate the way that cycling takes us into small places we would not find by ourselves.

A well earned beer by the lake in Uhldingen

Day 6

Meersburg

The journey continued today along the lake through the pretty town of Meersburg to Friedrichshafen. This is where Count Zeppelin was born and Zeppelins manufactured. It was heavily bombed during WW2 by the Allies because of airship factories and the old town was destroyed. The church was damaged in 1944 but renovated by 1950. Friedrichshafen is now a University town, home to the private Zeppelin University - I wonder if the teachers there are full of hot air?

Meersburg

Meersburg - vineyards by the lake

Baroque style Lutheran Church in Friedrichshafen

Two bags of hot air

Oompah music is fine in a real German beer garden

Stein am Rhine and surrounds

Stein am Rhein is an absolute stunner!

Stein am Rhine

It is purported to be the prettiest and most well preserved mediaeval town in Switzerland and we certainly can't argue with that. The pictures speak for themselves.

Stein am Rhine

Stein am Rhine

Stein am Rhine

View from our balcony Hotel Chlosterhof

Hotel Chlosterhof on the lake is a delight and we feel very spoilt, particularly by being able to have a bath after a day's cycling.

























The next day we rode 28km from Stein (in Switzerland) through Germany and finished in Switzerland again at the Rhine falls - quite impressive, especially when viewed from a boat

Border crossing!

Rhein falls

Rhein falls

We were to have caught a boat all the way back to Stein, but the Rhine water levels are too low so we went part way by boat and then hopped on a train rather than ride an extra 10km. We are saving our cycling legs.

Boat trip half way back

Day 3 of cycling was 30 km back to Konstanz on the other side of the lake, with time out in a Konditorei and then just sitting admiring the view. The paths we have taken have varied - bike paths, lanes, gravel tracks and the odd quiet road and the scenery has been diverse too - farmland (cows and veggies) lake side, pretty villages, the odd boring bit.

Konstanz and cycling

Painted facades in Konstanz

We were happy to arrive in Zurich (flight from Nice) then Konstanz, on Lake Constance (or Bodensee) Germany (train from Zurich) - some reasons being:

• everything works like clockwork and is on time
• there are seats to sit on - both in public parks and public toilets
• cleanliness is guaranteed

Unfortunately the food is not as good as in France!

We spent a day doing a self guided iTour of Konstanz, particularly the Old town. We were especially taken by the beautiful mediaeval buildings, often painted to tell a story. 

Konstanz harbour on Lake Bodensee

There was a very important gathering of churchmen in Konstanz from 1414-1418 to plot the future of the Catholic church (and the demise of 3 Popes). The statue of Imperia on the harbour is a modern depiction of an actual person, one of 600 prostitutes who came into the town to "meet the needs" of the visiting clergy! She holds a naked Pope in one hand and a naked King in the other and has caused significant discussion. There are other whimsical statues in the town. We also learned that the little room jutting out from many buildings up high were in fact toilets that opened down onto the street in mediaeval times. A walk along the street would have been risky.

Imperia

Next day we began our cycling trip around the lake - 10 days of riding, around 300 kms or so. Beautiful day and an absolute delight to be on a bike again. The first day's ride was to Richenau (a major vegetable growing island area), then a journey on a boat (with bikes) and on to Stein am Rhein. We only got lost twice in 25 km.

Churches and cabbages

On the boat