2010 Trip: Konstanz Day 1

27th May 2010

We arrived in Zurich at precisely 9:14 in the morning. Swiss trains are naught but prompt! The station was extremely busy, but I managed to get myself a ticket to Konstanz and a coffee (at 3.90CHF it was rather on the pricey side!). Then back onto another train. This one took the whole punctuality thing to another level - at one point they announced (in three languages no less) that the train had been delayed by - shock, horror! - three whole minutes (that they caught up by the next station).

The countryside became rolling hills and soon we were heading in a long sweeping bend down toward the Bodensee, to Konstanz. On the way I saw a small doe in the grass, then just as we were about to roll out of sight, a fawn hidden by the height of the grass bounced into sight. All very cute! I wandered around Konstanz, trying to find somewhere with Internet, as I had neglected to record Angela’s mobile number.

Eventually I found a place, turns out Angela had been trying to find me as well. We met up in short order and headed across the Rhine to her flat. On the way she explained to me some of the history of the place. It acted as a central crossroads in Europe throughout the days of the Holy Roman Empire, so much so that when the papacy was divided into three, the city’s harbour building was commandeered as a central location to hold the talks. Such was the city’s position that when the cantons of Switzerland got together to form a state, Konstanz was not included as it was considered too powerful and, they thought, would unbalance the nation.

Set on the shores of the Bodensee (Lake Constance), it is an incredibly picturesque town and in summer becomes full with an absolute glut of tourists. After I had gotten rid of my pack, we walked back towards the centre, wandering around the old city that makes up the main commercial district of the town. We walked through the old streets with buildings covered with frescoes and signs that without much ado stated the year of construction of the building… Dates like 1403 appeared without fanfare.

The town is on the border with Switzerland, one can just wander across the border as it runs through the town. We also visited the towns wealthy cathedral, the tourist centric waterfront, and even admired art from one of the town’s resident artists: a sculptor, Peter Lenk. He produces odd fountains and statues with historical and allegorical meanings - corpulent old men and women in a bath, a horse that has jets of water out both ends, a peacock with three heads (the three popes), and the most well known, Imperia, a semi nude prostitute holding aloft a pope and a king.

At 2pm, Angela had to head to work, so after visiting a small modern art exhibition which I actually rather enjoyed (strangely, as I’m not usually given to liking modern art), I headed off to wander along the banks of the lake. Everyone here bikes or walks; a large percentage doesn’t own a car. To that end bikes have reached critical mass here, there are real bike lanes, underpasses, and bridges dedicated to them (none of this “let’s put a lane on a road so you can get bowled now and then”). One can just walk or bike out onto a road and the cars will politely stop and wait for you.

So surrounded by bikers and walkers, I walked along the pleasant (and now sunny) lakeside. The water here is clean! By clean I mean that not only can one see the bottom of the lovely teal blue water, but trout can be seen swimming against the current. Locals bike to any point on the coastline, sunbathe and swim. People here are not such prudes as in New Zealand about how clothed they are (but local bylaws do restrict nude swimming to certain areas).

So I walked along the coastline, past well maintained houses (some rather closer to mansions), to a place called Egg. Here, I wandered up the hill, past the University, and back to town (about 12km all up). Angela like 13,000 others is a uni student here and with a total population of only 80,000, the town is very much a university town.

After visiting the supermarket… oh the cheeses, oh the olives… We made home made German noodles, Spaetzle, with lots of cheese, we also had roasted fennel and a delicious salad. Luckily, Angela is as much, if not more, of a foodie as me. Lukas, Angela’s boyfriend, joined us for dinner. I had brought a soft drink from Czech, Kofola, and I finally figured out that the unique and rather palatable taste was cardamom. By this time it was fairly late, so we made plans for the morrow and went to bed.