2010 Trip: Konstanz Day 5
31st May 2010
Today I headed out fairly early to explore the the area to the north and west of Konstanz. Firstly, I headed down to the harbour and caught a high speed catamaran to Friedrichshafen on the far side of the lake. So far this is only form of transport I have been on that actually has WiFi and it was free!
The misty rolling hills and little towns that come down to the lake front were very beautiful and the ride was very smooth. Fourty-five minutes later we were there.
On the water front is the museum I was here to see - a Zeppelin museum! Graf Zeppelin, the renowned German inventor, was born in Konstanz and worked in Fredrichshafen. The museum was incredibly interesting, it went into detail about the technical development of Zeppelins, their usage for military and passenger applications, and even presented a recreated section (40m out of the 254m total) of the infamous Hindenburg.
I was unaware that in the 1930s alone Germany had a fleet of 110 Zeppelins that provided regular services to the Americas and Asia. One of the most successful craft actually flew over a million kilometres on routes to America. The research into aerodynamics, engine production, light weight alloys, gaseous fuels was incredibly interesting, as was the wartime applications of the craft. Contrary to popular belief the Hindenburg disaster did not put a sudden end to Zeppelin use, a greater cause was the rise of fascism and WWII. The USA used Zeppelins for radar reconnaissance until the 1960s and during WWII, none of the convoys with Zeppelins as observation platforms ever got attacked.
From here, I spent a little bit of time seeing the town before heading out by train to Schaffhausen. This very pretty town is situated within Switzerland on the Rhein river. Pretty narrow streets and frescoed buildings led me from the station down to the river. The river water was beautifully clean and trout could be seen swimming against the deep teal water.
I walked down stream for about thirty minutes. On the way, I past a swans nest on the edge of the river bank, it was busily defending its eggs from rats that would periodically race past in an attempt to steal its eggs. Unsurprisingly, the swan really wasn’t happy. What I had come to see was just around the next corner, the Rheinfalls. This waterfall, while only featuring a short drop (13m), is decidedly impressive. Masses of bubbling, churning water foaming over rocks. The water volume here is huge - 250 cubic metres every second. I walked down one side, caught a little boat across the base of the falls, and wandered around the more impressive far side. A platform out above the falls has the water thundering underneath, a Swiss flag flutters impervious to the spray.
From here I caught the train back to Konstanz, there is a little station just up the hill from the falls. As the station is so small there are no ticket machines, so the station has a sign that reads, “Please purchase your ticket at your next destination”. Only in Switzerland would such a trust system exist!
I was running fairly late so only made it back to Konstanz just in time for dinner at 8pm. We had Raclette. For those who don’t know, Raclette is a Swiss cheese that has a tradition method of preparation. Most swiss people own a Raclette grill, a round grill with wedge shaped trays for grilling and a hot surface on the top. People will grill their cheese in the wedges until it is bubbling, then it is eaten with boiled potatoes and vegetables/meat cooked on the top surface. It is positively delicious! The cheese itself has a strong distinctive flavour that is potent and most tasty. After dinner and even dessert, it was pretty much bedtime.