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After a while it's just more of the same, right? I would be "picturesque-d" out, too. Überlingen is so beautiful. I knew you would love it.
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Those lakeside garden beds look filled with tulips, gorgeous!
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Ingo, yes, Überlingen is so charming! Pretty yet so practical. I was here in 2018, and it was time for a revisit!
Ade, yes the flowers and laid-back atmosphere is really relaxing. Monday 20 April Today's mission was to see the Pile Dwellings & Museum at Unteruhldingen. I've been meaning to see it for all of my three visits to the area (once previously in Überlingen and twice in Lindau), so this time I would not let myself skip it. Getting there was super easy; bus 7395 leaves Überlingen every 15 minutes for Friedrichshafen (35 km away) every 15 minutes, passing Unteruhldingen, Meersburg, and Immenstaad on the way. That's four times an hour, not four times a day! And my hotel gave me a tourist card, making the bus free for me. I love Germany. The walk to the museum from the bus stop was easy. I enjoyed the museum, with artifacts and tools and objects from 3,000 BCE, including a child's sippy cup from about 1000 BCE! There were also displays about the findings & excavations & research, including the fact that there are many pile dwellings in the modern age in Africa and Asia. Very interesting. Then a walk through the reconstructed village, with huts dedicated to ceramics, clothing, cooking, tool making, etc. Sadly no photos were allowed inside the huts. It was very interesting, but not as good as the Laténium Museum outside of Neuchatel, in Switzerland. The bus back to Überlingen was full, but I was able to squeeze into a seat. On the walk back to the hotel, I stumbled upon a beautiful little path that took me right to the lakeside promenade. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fc12957d01.jpg Pretty scene with fountain and church in Unteruhldingen https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b93585692b.jpg The lakeside in Unteruhldingen https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...87a8e35b7d.jpg There was a small child's play park just beside the museum https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...326fb311a6.jpg Thus guy pointing the way https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0d7d5f0cdb.jpg The dwellings https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2608433f87.jpg Dwellings https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ca15821e38.jpg Pile Dwelling Village https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7ccd70ae71.jpg Dwellings https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3b3501f6ec.jpg Dwellings https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1e5be4b0c8.jpg Dwellings https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...88282b2db6.jpg Leaving the museum https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...56c81703b3.jpg Interesting spot, below which was an interesting path https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...939a9ce588.jpg The path https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6ec636299f.jpg So pretty. I'm doing a walking tour tomorrow, when I'll find out what this tower is, lol https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...88e50157af.jpg Pretty path https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c6b2bd54bf.jpg Pretty path, not on my google maps https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b33994a650.jpg Pretty path https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1f65a9b96f.jpg It took me right to the lake. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7a63e669f1.jpg Free lending books outside of the library https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5ef49a84dc.jpg Ahhh flowers and trees and lake. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8edcb8ed39.jpg Approaching the hotel from the lake. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...751ce34124.jpg It looks quite grand. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a0eb4ced2e.jpg I guess it is quite grand. |
Google maps is crap. Better use this: https://mapy.com/de/turisticka?sourc...7.7686911&z=19
And as you can see it is Rosennobelturm, the path runs along Stadtgraben. Pssst! Don't tell everybody about Überlingen!! |
You found the path less travelled! And it does indeed look very charming and peaceful.
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I'm with you every step of your wonderful journey! You've combined two locations in particular that I had planned as two separate trips before life intervened: Alsace and Bodensee areas, so I'm loving every minute of this. Please stay there and continue to report back to us!
Also, good for you to keep walking in spite of the difficulty involved. Prayers for your full and complete recovery! |
Fully agree with Trophywife - stay strong and keep walking!
It is the perfect time for a visit, I think. Such beautiful flowers at the lakeside promenade! |
It all looks so relaxing and appealing.
I’m desperately waiting for my trip and my ambling walks of discovery too. |
Adelaidean - I think we are all waiting for your trip (I'm only sorry you won't be here in the Valais!) and looking forward to your photos. Swandav - thanks for alerting me about this thread. I have just had the best half hour reading through it and admiring the photos... and looking forward to more.
I looked at the lovely pink tree in the courtyard very closely - I am sure it was a Judas tree. They are the only ones I know here that have flowers coming directly out of their trunks and branches. They are spectacular...and luckily we have one on our street! Photos bring back great memories of trips to Ribeauvillé many years ago. And the Appenzell ones - not so great memories of an awful stay at the Säntis Hotel on the Landesgemeindeplatz there... Full of smoke and seemingly you can even smoke in the rooms! I have not liked Appenzell since... |
Thank you so much, Trophywife! Have you been to the Bodensee before?? I also really appreciate your prayers!
Thank you, Ingo. It was a perfect time. The weather was cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoon. I wish I'd had time to go to the Therme. Ade, you will blink twice, and you'll be on your trip! I can't wait to follow your TR! Glad you enjoyed it, Hamgabahle! Yes, I'm sure you & Ingo are rught about the tree. I can only recognize oleanders, which we had in Arabia. Everything else is a mystery. And you, Imgo, and I agree 100% about Appenzell!! Wednesday 22 April
Spoiler
I started off with a car wash. My car was about a month late for its regular wash when I left Garmisch, so it was really, really dirty. I knew if I didn't get it done now, I wouldn't do it for a few days after I returned, and in Germany that's a terrible thing. An aside: when I was stationed in Heilbronn in the 1980s, I bought a gorgeous new BMW. I loved that car. But I worked 12- and 14-hour days, and I didn't take very good care of it. My German neighbors noticed. They told me, “If you don't take better care of your car, it will only last you ten years!” Hunh. Only ten years. My aunt, a nurse with grown children, bought a new car every other year. To me, she represented an American mindset. So the contrast was stark: in America, a 2-year-old car is old, while in Germany, a 10-year-old car is just getting started. Interesting. Anyway, I wanted to get the car washed. I found a car wash and input it to Waze. I'm telling you, as pleasant as it is to wander the streets and alleys on foot … in a car, not so much. Lots of one-way streets, 30 kph zones, a 20 kph zone, pedestrians, and maybe 120 roundabouts. Nope. Not pleasant. So I finally set off at 10.00, intending to walk the length of the moat. So I did, and it only took about 30 minutes. I guess there are more moats, but I wasn't inclined to hunt for them. I looked for and found the Suso House, one of the oldest houses in southern Germany (parts of it date to the 13th C). It was pretty. I made my way back to the lake, had lunch, then hobbled back to the hotel to relax and recover and pack. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...667684b7da.jpg Here's the bottom of the statue from yesterday https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...73f4167aff.jpg The moat walks are accessible at many spots https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8e3d4fb292.jpg Signposts to direct you from the moat walk https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...86b27179ff.jpg Again the town wall along the moat walk https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...de4ce468eb.jpg The Rosenobel, as Ingo noted, 17th C https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f70e4a32d2.jpg Rosenobel https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...df78279e72.jpg And more Rosenobel https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c19d12ca39.jpg The steps to access the moat walk from the train station https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5cae58e497.jpg More signposts https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7312e687fd.jpg Pretty view from the moat walk https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e377611ae1.jpg Obertor, Upper Gate, the main gate until 15th C https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b8f62b7fbd.jpg Pretty street https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...43b1bab2fc.jpg Nice square https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...accd76382b.jpg Another little alley https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c1297c0238.jpg The Suso House https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...363312ac69.jpg Suso House https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...12adbc633a.jpg I agree! ("Stop making stupid people famous") https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0801e25388.jpg It was market day https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...224a429e1c.jpg Market day https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fdd31b8ba3.jpg Market day. The market is about the same size as the one in Garmisch. The towns are about the same size. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7e822b20a4.jpg Market day https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...03205b98bd.jpg Market day https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f29eb99411.jpg Oooh! I found a new street. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5795c212d1.jpg As usual, it is pretty, lol. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0ed9380c86.jpg Pretty street https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9cce765641.jpg Pretty street https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...960f2374af.jpg Pretty street I feel that maybe I ought to give my opinion on a few of the towns of the Bodensee. I've visited three of them now. Lindau, 2014 & Oct 2021. The first time I visited Lindau, I thought it was too much like a movie set, too perfect, and not a place where folks actually lived. But on my second visit, I happened to see real life: garbage trucks, competing delivery vehicles, and municipal vehicles, all honking and jostling around throughout the morning. So it felt much more real. I think the views are better, too. For one thing, the Swiss mountains across the lake are closer and more dramatic (my favorite, Alpine lakes!). For another, you are on a peninsula, so there are water views nearly all around you. In addition, the town is filled with really beautiful medieval architecture. I'm afraid it's my favorite for visiting and being wowed as a tourist. Meersburg, July 2021 This may be the most charming town. It has basically two parts: the upper town with a castle, wine museum, gloriously delightful tangled streets, and views; the lower town is by the lake, and has lakeside restaurants, shops, and hotels. It really is, objectively, enchanting, but somehow it just left me cold. Überlingen, 2018 & 2026 It is a favorite on so many levels. It is drop-dead pretty. It has interesting streets, alleys, moats, and passages. It has independent shops and several second-hand stores. It is also practical, with an easily accessible Müller Drogerie and a few large supermarkets. I first visited Überlingen when I was recovering from food poisoning, and as I dragged myself through town, I thought what a very normal place it was. I saw families with prams and young children eating ice cream cones on the lakeside promenade instead of influencers posing and tourists snapping photos (like me, lol!). I think Überlingen is where I would want to live, but maybe not necessarily visit as a tourist. |
That's a very accurate description and assessment of the three towns. I completely agree. Konstanz is still missing (you know I've stayed there for five nights.)
Did I mention I love markets?? And that my Mercedes is 26 years old? LOL |
Ingo--26 years old?! Remarkable. I admire the persistent effort to maintain that vehicle.
Swan, I really enjoyed your reportage comparing auto norms. And you are bang-on about Society making stupid people famous: here in Toronto, the local rap star Drake just inflicted a silly pair of publicity stunts on the populace. I am done. the slice of Alsace & Bavaria |
Originally Posted by Ingo
(Post 17717899)
That's a very accurate description and assessment of the three towns. I completely agree. Konstanz is still missing (you know I've stayed there for five nights.)
Did I mention I love markets?? And that my Mercedes is 26 years old? LOL I'd love to hear more about Konstanz, so I'll check out your previous trip reports to see what i can find. Swandav: how well I remember going to the Cozy Wash in Berlin on Potsdamer Chaussee. I'm sure is wasn't the greatest on the paint but as you said, it's important to keep one's car tidy! |
Hallo hallo All,
Thanks so much for reading through to the end! I apologize for the weird captions for every photo, but because I could not use a return to get space between the photos, I had to make sure there was a caption to provide a minimum of separation. Again, thanks! Ingo -- yaaay! I'm so happy we agree on these towns! I have only been to Konstanz for a few hours as a day trip from Meersburg, so I don't have a full impression. I can see a future trip there, especially on a train trip and linked to some Swiss travel. No, I didn't know you like markets!! You did visit some good markets in Venice. And, yes, I was wondering if you still have your Mercedes! That's a great car. I had my last BMW for 14 years before I gave it to my nephew when I moved to Germany. It was still going strong. I think that's my own view of old Germany: things are expensive, but they last forever. I think that's changing now. Thank you, zebec! Just fyi -- my first name is Suzann, and my middle name is Wanda. My last name starts with "V." So that's the genesis of my screen name: s wanda v So you can call me Suzann or s. Sadly, I suspect the era of stupid famous people is going strong. It started about, what? fifteen years ago? The first influencers. Ugh. So true, TrophyWife! No substitute for quality. You may know that it's illegal to wash your auto at home in Germany; it's an environmental protection against chemical runoff. So, even though automatic car washes may be bad for the paint, it's all ya can do here. Thanks also for all y'all writing trip reports. You're the best writers! And photographers!! Until next time, s |
I had not heard that is was illegal to wash it at home; I figured since it wasn't practical to wash it at our apartment, we all were just stuck with the Cozy wash. We used to get lectured regularly from other residents about letting the car run while we scraped the snow from the windows; it's a protection for the air quality, never mind that in East Berlin they were burning coal for heat -- apparently the equivalent of 2 packs per day for the west. We were supposed to scrape a little hole in the snow and peak out as we drove. No wonder they had so many accidents when it snowed.
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Hi again Trophywife!
Oh right! One may not run the car unless you are actually driving! Nope, you're not supposed to scrape a little hole -- you are expected to stay outside working away for the 20 or 30 minutes it takes to get all the ice off both windshields and also get the meter of snow off the roof! I used to scoff at the option of a heated steering wheel (sorry Ingo, not in 26-year-old-cars!), but after scraping and brushing for 20 or 30 minutes, my frozen fingers really appreciate the heated steering wheel! One time I was stopped to input an address in my GPS, and the car was of course running; an elderly man came over to tell me to shut off the car! He stomped away before I could explain that ya can't input an address unless the car is running. Also, my neighbor is another American, and she routinely lets her car run as she scrapes it off. I don't know how to let her know that's not acceptable here without going full Karen. Ah well. So the foibles of living in beautiful Germany! s |
S - since she is American she might appreciate being told that what she is doing is illegal! There are so many things in Europe that people from America do instinctively that for environmental reasons are not allowed here in Europe.
Hope you got home OK and the car behaved ! You had a lovely trip. IF you go to Konstanz maybe go to the island of Mainau? I heard it is a wonderful place for flowers. It's on my list but Konstanz seems the other end of the world from southern Switzerland ! |
Hello S, and hello everyone! No heated steering wheel, that's right, but my car waits in my garage, so usually no snow or ice on windshields etc. ;-) I plan to keep my Mercedes for quite some more years. It notified me the bi-annual inspection is in order in a few days and I hope this goes smoothly. Well, the cars these days have way too many electronic gadgets for my taste.
I never posted a Konstanz trip report here, sorry. Back in those days (2010) I was on Virtualtourist.com and posted tips and pictures there. That website is sadly long gone but I still have a file with all the information. So, Trophywife007, if you are still interested I can send you the info per PM or email. Konstanz makes a very good base for the lake region, also for the Swiss side. |
PM sent, Ingo, thank you!
Swandav: no heated steering wheel for me, but the heated seats are a treat, even in our moderate climate here in CA. I'm getting spoiled. |
Email sent :-)
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Hi Hambagale! Yes, she's American, but she works for the US Army here, so she's covered by SOFA. She may not be overly concerned with compliance with local laws. But I will say something! Thank you, yes, the car did well!
Yes, I do have a plan to see Mainau. I have a childhood friend who wants to visit, and she is a big flower person. I do intend to go to Mainau with her when she comes over! Ingo, a GARAGE??? Color me green with envy. Lucky you!! Yes, you're right; there are a ton of gadgets and things to go wrong on the car. The drivers manual is very thick! Would you also send me your Konstanz info please?? I am interested in seeing it! Trophywife -- indeed they are. Such a pleasure while the heater gets warmed up s |
A year ago I got a new VW - Golf Hybrid plug in - it came with a heated steering wheel. I questioned the salesman as to why I need one. (Never had one before...). Now I know !! It is so incredibly pleasant in winter. Of course it has heated seats too. I think we take those forgranted.
Swandav - I am eagerly waiting for your trip to Konstanz and Mainau now!! |
I have had the same car for 12 years, I have yet to wash the outside.
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Swandav - you've got email ;-)
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I just came back from Konstanz in December last year. I did do a sort of trip report (https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...025-a-1734192/) but as I was working it wasn't a very tourism-focussed one. Konstanz I must say is an extraordinary location. The architecture is Swiss but culturally it's German, which is almost unbelievable given that it is completely surrounded by Switzerland and the lake. There was a good Christmas market, but I think the town would come into its own in summer, the lake is just amazing.
I did go out to Mainau with the hosts (university), but to see a light show one evening, not flowers. It was very beautiful, although I can't now say much about what Mainau looks like or the views as it was all under darkness. But we did dine on the island at the restaurant Comturey (traditional local fare). We were given a choice of hotels and I picked and got the Graf Zeppelin, but my other pick would have been Romantik Hotel Barbarossa, which was even closer to the main part of the pedestrian zone. Other people who stayed there were impressed. But I was very happy with my hotel as it was walking distance to the shops and restaurants, and also the bus stops and station. There is a bakery diagonally opposite and the breakfasts are very good, and there is a coffee roastery and a Reformhaus just next door. Altogether a small, walkable city that is affluent and interesting, and definitely worth a holiday! Lavandula |
Thanks for linking your TR, Lavandula, I'll be checking it out.
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Ha ha, time to catch up!
Hambagahle, yes! I love that heated steering wheel! Well, it may be a few years until I'm in Konstanz/Mainau. I am saving it for my friend who loves flowers. bilboburgler ... no! No. I really can't believe that! I knkw England gets a lot of rain .... but ....?? Danke Ingo! Lavandula, thanks for your notes on Konstanz! Surely I'll take a look when I begin planning for a trip there. Thise two hotels look charming and so well located! But I have to keep confessing -- I will sacrifice almost every criteria for a hotel to get a view of a lake.... Hope to see all you guys again for my next trip! s p.s., a big thank you to everyone for not correcting my title! Überlingen is, of course, in Baden-Württemberg, not Bavaria. Oops. |
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