Today, Sally was reminiscing about her solo trip to Europe at age 19. These thoughts from the past surfaced as we started crossing country borders like jumping hop scotch lines. Back in the 70's, each time a border was crossed, your passport was inspected and the money in your pocket was worthless until exchanged for the currency of the country you were entering. Today, we have to closely inspect a map to figure where the border was, as we probably crossed it without notice. Except for Switzerland, who held out from joining the European Union, all currency is the Euro and all borders are open and transparent. With the Swiss Franc and the Euro at nearly par for value, ($1.04 & $1.10 respective to the U.S. Dollar) most places in Switzerland accept the Euro, although they prefer the Franc.
We started the day in Kreissen, Switzerland, heading north, with the Rhine just to our right. Somewhere, just past Au, Switzerland on the Rhine delta where it enters the Bodensee, a huge lake (sometimes called Lake Constance) we crossed into Austria. We cycled east along the beautiful waterfront park area of Bregenz, Austria, then followed the lakeshore as it turned north. Somewhere on the outskirts of Bregenz we passed into Germany.
Although the borders were transparent, we could tell we had left Switzerland. Everything was suddenly dirtier and grimier, and the people were not as friendly. I know this is a subjective observation and comment, but we did not realize we had crossed a border, yet we felt something had changed. Weeds now sprouted in the cracks of the roads and curbs. The chain link fences along the railroad were full of weeds. The area between the railroad ties were weedy. People we passed on the path responded to our "Gooten Morgan" with a frown or no response at all. The clerks and workers in the stores were sour and dismissive instead of smily and helpful. It was weird. Of course, not everyone was like this, but the percentages swung drastically higher with our new territory.
Riding around the Bodensee is the most popular bike route in Europe. Once we started to circle this huge lake the number of cyclists we encountered went way up. There is a designated bike trail for many parts, and quiet back roads for some. Regardless, not a moment went by that we did not see another cyclist and usually we saw 10 or 20 other cyclists.
Our goal was a campground near the medieval island town of Lindau, 10 miles up the shore from Bregenz. The cycling path was delightful, often right on the shore of the lake, sometimes through orchards just inland from the shore. When we reached the campground a few miles before Lindau, we felt it was too early to stop, so we scanned the map and found another campground 5 miles past Lindau, in Wasserburg.
We reached Lindau about noon and were surprised to find it a very popular tourist town. We explored its narrow streets and shops on our bikes, dodging the horde of people, and visited its ancient harbor on the lake. The town prospered as a trading port, located between Nuremberg and Italy.
We entered the town on a bridge on the south end and left via a causeway for bikes and trains on the north end.
More delightful cycling brought us to Wasserburg and our campground, about 2:00 pm. Most businesses close between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm for the mid day meal. We took the opportunity to ride the 0.5 kilometers to town and enjoy a pastry at a sidewalk bakery and plan our next moves.
We registered to camp with a stern German woman who softened and became very friendly the more we talked. With the tent pitched near the restroom in the shade, we rode out to the peninsula that was an island in the old days (hence the name "Wasserburg" - "water city") visited the church and settled into a restaurant on the harbor for a beer and a Coke. We spent an hour enjoying the sea breeze (remember, this lake is huge!) and passerbys before cycling back to our site for dinner of a salad.
Sally spotted a VW Westfalia and went to talk to the owners. They were a retired Swiss couple in their 70's that summer in Greece for 9 months and return to Switzerland each winter for three month of skiing. Both have a keen interest in medieval churches and travel to sites in Greece and elsewhere to study them. The conversation turned to American politics, in particular how wonderful they thought President Obama. They could not understand what was wrong with the American people who disliked him. They also were as disgusted with Donald Trump as we were. They were scared of the Republicans because such a bad man (their words) as Trump was leading the polls for the Republican party.
It has been fascinating, the attention everyone we have met, pays to American politics. They follow it closely, perhaps more than most Americans, and feel the impact of America's decisions in their own lives.
After dinner, we showered and read a little about tomorrow's distances and objectives. We only have a single border crossing tomorrow, when we take the ferry across the Bodensee from Friedrichhausen (Germany) to Romanshorn (Switzerland) to connect with our good friend Gallus near St. Gallen.
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