Another day more or less in transit. This is an unusual trip for us as we are spending the first few days focusing on covering ground to get to where we want to start really looking for adventures. Ton saw we were passing by Stuttgart and told me there was a major US Army Garrison there and she wanted to use big American washing machines. So our first priority today was laundry, with some shopping for American stuff in the military stores on the base. These long trips have a different rhythm than one or two week vacations.
When we arrived at the Army base I was startled to see a bunch of Marines running around. When I was a Marine we had very little presence in Europe, but that was a long time ago. Today there is a headquarters for US Marine Forces Europe and Africa right next door to where we were washing our clothes. Somehow seeing the young men and women from the service I served in gave me a good feeling and brought back very pleasant memories.
Herenberg was a pretty sleepy little town, but it did have a nice square. The church in the background had the onion dome roof that seems to be common in this area.
It took a few hours to take care of everything, and we headed for a parking area in a small town near the base. We got the next to last spot in the Stellplatz so we have electricity for François tonight. Our neighbor is a friendly Brit who told us he loved traveling around the western US, particularly Montana and Wyoming.
Ton liked this list of services from the barber shop on the town square.
After we got settled in we decided to head into town to look for some German staples that we liked from our previous trip. The town is cute and has some nice half timbered houses, but overall was pretty sleepy. We found the Lidl Grocery and now our refrigerator is truly stuffed with a mix of French, German, and American favorites to tide us over for a couple of weeks.
We have been enjoying Lake Constance so we decided to spend another day on the lake at a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Reichenau Island. Yesterday we visited “Flower Island” and today we are visiting “Vegetable Island”.
The drive over was quick and uneventful except for a diversion to the ferry terminal as Greta Garmin decided that was the quickest way to Reichenau, she was probably right but we decided to skip the ferry fee, and after some resetting of Greta, we were on our way by road.
World Heritage Sites are usually pretty spectacular, so when we pulled on to Reichenau it seemed that the emphasis was on vegetables and not memorable architecture. For our friends from Oregon think of Sauvie Island with three small churches. After settling in to the Stellplatz we decided to walk on over to the Abby which is the largest of the three churches that make up the UNESCO site. The walk was thru a bunch of vegetable fields where we played guess the vegetable, Ton won.
A field of different types of Lettuce on Vegetable Island.
We arrived at the Abby and it was a nice enough church but nothing spectacular. We finally figured out that the smaller church called St. George Church had the paintings that were what caused the UNESCO designation, and we had a couple of hours to wait until the next tour.
Part of the Abby which was the center of the religious order on the island in the middle ages.
The island this time of year is really very quiet and peaceful, and we spent quite a bit of time just wandering aimlessly around the streets enjoying the views of the lake and enjoying the ambiance and the greenery, it really reminded us of Oregon. We visited the museum to try to understand the history of the Abby as the tour was in German so we needed to prep.
A reproduction of some of the art that we would see later in St. George Church.
Finally what we thought would be the highlight of the day was the tour of the interior of the church which has artwork from the 10th century that was rediscovered in the 1880’s when the white wash that had covered them was removed. The paintings are in the process of being preserved, access to the church is limited to help minimize the humidity in the church.
An example of the paintings from the 900’s that are being preserved at the entrance to the church.Some of the art inside the chapel, this type of painting is very rare and this is the northern most church in Europe that this style is found.
The explanation of the on going work to preserve the paintings and the meaning of the paintings was quite extensive, but we did not understand much as it was of course in German. But the guide was quite obviously proud of the work and very knowledgeable.
The exterior of St. George Church, sometimes modest structures hide real treasures.
We had planned on taking the bus back to François after the tour, but I was unable to figure out the bus system, and the bus guide we had did not match the one at the bus stop. So being unsure whether the bus was going to take us home, or into Konstanz I talked Ton into walking the 2 miles back. On the way she saw a sign for a grocery so we detoured down a side road where we saw a small brewery.
Being a little curious we crossed the street and were peering in the door when a man waved us in and welcomed us in German. We were a little shy as we do not speak any German, but the man switched to English and asked us where we were from, when we told him Oregon he laughed and his wife smiled. He said he got his Masters Degree from Southern Oregon University! They have been operating the only microbrewery in the region for about 3 years. Thomas insisted on giving us a tour of the facilities and a couple of beers to taste. His beers are excellent. We were also invited to a special event the brewery is having on Saturday including beer making, bands and food. It looks like we may be staying in the far south of Germany for a few more days.
Thomas and me in his wonderful brewery. If you are anywhere nearby try Insel Beer.We ended the day by walking down to the beach for a romantic sunset over Lake Constance.
Woke to blue skies, so morale is up for the day. We decided to spend another day here to further explore the area. As we walked into town we decided to head over to Mainau Island to explore what is called the Flower Island.
We had not done any research, but knew we had to take a ferry there. The ferry was a little expensive, but the shock was the lady who sold us the tickets said there was a €20 charge to get onto the island once we landed that we should buy on the boat ride over. At this point we were committed so on the ride we were feeling a little guilty about the cost, questioning our decision, and vowing to do more research next time.
Meersburg from the ferry as we were leaving. The castle is in the upper left.
When we began the walk it became clear that the decision was a good one. The island which is 110 acres is a giant botanical garden that is really well done. The island is owned by a Duke and Duchess and was originally a Grand Dukes residence. There is a strong Swedish royal connection, and the Swedish flag flies conspicuously on the residence.
A really cute topiary that greets you when you enter the island celebrating the flower island theme.
During different times of the year they feature different flowers and for April and early May it was Tulips. The flower gardens featured over a thousand varieties of Tulips interspersed with other flowers.
Some of the tulips on display with other flowers mixed in, really well done.Another beautiful flower patch with the Swedish tower in the background.
In addition they had a petting zoo full of cute animals, and a butterfly building with thousands of butterflies flying around that we got to walk thru.
A Shetland Pony pony that Ton thought was really cute.Ton’s favorite butterfly amongst the thousands in the butterfly building.This lady was kind enough to pose for a couple of minutes while Ton and several other people took pictures of the butterfly in her hair.
Their Arboretum was full of very interesting trees most of which we could not identify, but interestingly they had about 15 or 20 Sequoias from California. Beside the tulips there were other flower gardens including poppies, and rhododendrons.
A giant sequoia that had been moved from California at some point.Ton loves poppies.
While we may not have known what we were getting into when we got on the ferry there was no doubt that it was a great decision. Mainau is by far the best botanical garden we have visited in the world. What we thought would be a quick couple of hour visit turned into a whole day on the island.
The Alps towering over Lake Constance.
We ended the day by visiting the most famous winery in Meersburg Staatsweingut. We tried a couple of their whites, a red and a rose that was labeled Spätburgunder we liked the rose and asked what grape it was made from. After some asking around amongst the staff it turns out that Spätburgunder is German for Pinot Noir.
Heart shaped vines outside the tasting room at Staatsweingut.
Another cold night last night with lows in the high 30’s. The weather has been less than ideal this trip. We have so far had only two sunny days, we have several days of heavy rain, and even the days when it has not rained have been cloudy and cold. It is starting to wear on us a bit.
There were 5 vans in the Stellplatz last night and we were the last to leave in the morning by a good bit. We have a good excuse as we were up at about 5am celebrating the Trailblazers game 7 win in the NBA playoffs.
We wanted to swing by Lake Constance while we were in this part of Germany. It is about 40 miles long and 7 miles wide at its widest point. Germany, Switzerland, and Austria all have part of the lake. Some of the tourist ads refer to it as Germany’s Riviera which is stretching it.
Lake Constance and the lower town of Meersburg from the top of the castle.
Meersburg made a favorable impression on us, though I think it would have made an even better impression if it was not gray, windy, and about 50 degrees. (OK I am done complaining about the weather.) Meersburg is a nice town with two very distinct levels. As you look over the lake towards Switzerland you can see the Alps. The upper level has a couple of very large estates one of which is an upscale winery, and the other a museum. The lower level has some typical tourist stores as well as a lot of nice restaurants.
Vineyards stretching down the hill towards the ferry landing.
There is also an old castle that looked interesting so after some debate we decided to go for the tour. It turns out that this is the oldest castle in Germany dating to the 1300’s.
The entrance to the castle.
This castle is in private hands now, after the church moved to a modern castle in the late 1700’s a family bought it in the 1800’s and still lives there today. The first impression was just ok as we walked in just as about 60 French middle schoolers arrived. But one of the guides came to us and told us to wait a few minutes to let the middle schoolers go, and we could join a guided tour that included a climb to the top of the tower which was not on the public tour. The tour was in German, but she went out of her way at each stop to pull us aside and give us information in English.
A view of the castle from the lower town. We climbed to the top of the center tower.
Like many castles it went thru several additions, and remodels so several different architectural styles are represented. It did successfully withstand one siege of two months in the 1600’s. They also have an extensive collection of armor and weapons from the middle ages until the late 1700’s.
Part of the collection of medieval armor and arms in the castle.
It turned out to be a great tour. At the end the guide spent twenty minutes with us discussing the area, different dialects of German, and other fun things. She convinced us to stay another day and explore some more.
Ton took this picture on the way back to François. It is one of her favorites so far on the trip.
Tonight we are sitting at the bottom of a ski run in the Black Forest of Germany. We are near a small village called Schonach and the Aire/Stellplatz is quite nice. When we arrived there was no machine to pay so we went to the info board, and it said to pay at a hotel in town. The hotel was 800 meters (about 1/2 mile) away, we thought this was weird, but chalked it up to different ways. We made the trip, paid our €7 and headed back to François with a packet of paper giving us permission to park. When we got back to the Stellplatz a German Van pulled in. We saw them wandering around, and then there was a knock on the door, and they asked how to pay. I did my best to explain, they looked confused, and kept asking 800 meters? After the third time trying to explain I took them over to the board and showed them. They shook their heads and muttered in German as they headed into town, so the set up here is not a German thing, just weird.
It was still early so we decided to head down to a town nearby called Triburg which is supposed to be the Cuckoo Clock capital of Germany. We knew we were in the right place as everywhere else we had driven thru on this trip was closed for Sunday, this place had nearly every store open. There are several stores selling cuckoo clocks, and a couple of nice looking restaurants. The town also has the highest waterfall in Germany, but we had a minimum walking policy for the day that was already messed up buying our parking pass, so we passed on the hike.
Germany’s highest waterfall was up above but we did not have the motivation to climb the hill.
We did drive down to see one of the worlds largest cuckoo clocks, it is quite large but it is unclear where it stands in the world of large cuckoo clocks. It appears to have held the record for two years before being passed by one in Steamboat Colorado.
Probably the second largest cuckoo clock in the world in Triburg Germany.
Today was certainly less hectic than yesterday. We woke up a little earlier than usual, but were in no hurry to get going for the day. After puttering around for a while we decided to head into Freiburg.
Freiburg is supposed to be one of the greenest cities in Germany, it is full of walking trails and bike paths. When we checked in I got a lecture about how to sort our garbage before depositing it at the campground.
This walking trail follows the river from the campground to downtown Freiburg.
The old town walls are mostly gone but two of the old gates are still in place. We headed to the Cathedral square and were surprised by a very large farmers market. We spent about an hour poking around the market looking at the various vegetables. There were three sausage grills going that were doing booming business. I was drooling, Ton was more impressed with the number of vegetables for sale.
One of the three sausage carts. The number of sausages was impressive, and the smells were to die for.
We went in to see what the interior of the cathedral looked like. As we went in unlike almost any other cathedral we have been in many people were sitting in the pews. It turns out there was an organ concert scheduled in a half hour so we sat down and waited. The concert was really nice, and the cathedral was packed.
The organist just sitting down to begin the concert.
In fact when we left the concert the city center of the town was really packed with people. We were both startled with the number of people as this is not a big city, but it was really busy. After one more pass thru the city we headed back to the campground.
This gargoyle is mooning the city hall. The story is that when the cathedral was being built the town council told the stonemasons working on the cathedral that they needed to work faster, and with more detail. This gargoyle is the response from the stonemasons guild to the request. It was done quickly and with a great deal of detail.
As soon as we got back the wind really started howling, and then rain kicked in. We did get our laundry done which is always a landmark event on these trips, so all in all a productive day.
Today was supposed to be an easy day. We only traveled 70km’s and the only chore for the day was to fill the LP gas. That was where the easy day unraveled.
We had our first experience of German Autobahns as we left Kehl we traveled for about 50km’s on the autobahns and for a 15km stretch there was no speed limit. So we were puttering along in the right lane at about 90kph (roughly 55mph) while cars were blasting by in the left lane at least double that. The roads are really good though and free.
About 20km from Freiberg we saw a sign advertising LP gas at the next exit so we whipped in for what I thought would be a quick fill. Our LP gas system that we use for cooking, heating, and running the refrigerator when we are not plugged in is British, and a bit unusual for Europe. Most RV’s carry cooking bottles and they exchange them when you run out. Unfortunately the bottles and the regulators are not standardized in Europe. To get around this problem we bought this British fixed bottle gas system, and you fill it from a pump like the US. The pumps are pretty common at gas stations as a fair amount of the cars and vans here run on LP gas. The only problem is the pumps are not standardized there are 4 different systems, one for France and Spain, one for Germany, and one for Britain, I am not sure where the fourth system is used. The system came with 4 different adaptors so I could hook up to the pump depending on what country we were trying to fill up in Now that you know way too much about LP gas in Europe here is the story.
We have filled up in France on multiple occasions so I thought no big deal as I pulled up to the pump. When I opened the bag that I keep the adaptors in the German one was missing. After digging around hoping it had come loose and was rolling around in the back I remembered that in Spain I was sorting thru them the first time I filled up there. I am certain I forgot it in Spain.
We need gas so I said some bad words and got in the car, confessed my stupidity, and as I drove on to Freiburg Ton began researching propane stores. We tried one RV dealer without success, and when we arrived at the campground I asked the receptionist if she could help. She was kind enough to call around to ask. After a couple of calls she told me there was a place that had it, so we were off.
When we arrived they realized we were talking about something different than they thought. They took a look at our system and said the words I did not want to hear, we do not have these in Germany. But the two of them had a further conversation and asked me to wait a minute. A few minutes later one guy walked out and handed me a sticky note with the address of an Esso fuel station. He said the owner had a box of adaptors people had forgotten in the past and I was welcome to go see if one that would work was in the box. Well to make a long story short there was a well used one in there and it works. Even better he would not take any money for it. So we are not faced with calling England and arranging to have one shipped to us here in Germany!
The well used replacement adaptor.
To make penance for my stupidity I took Ton to two groceries store for some recreational shopping. We always say we are traveling not vacationing, so today was a day for traveling not sight seeing.
