That white stuff is snow on the mountains. It probably fell yesterday.
What a difference a bit of sun makes! Nearly seventeen degrees today, so off came the Goretex jackets (though they were kept handy, just in case.)
It was a day for a leisurely 38km on the flat, with vineyards on one side and the Bodensee on the other. It was a day for a long lunch with a generous glass of local wine, without getting too schlossed. It was a day for browsing a couple of museums and a compulsory gloomy castle. And finally it was a day for sitting by the water with a Greek dinner (‘my cousin live in Brisbane’) with a Zeppelin buzzing lazily overhead.
Walkers and cyclists seemed to be Meersburg’s main customers.
No rain, no wind, and the sun almost breaking through as Europe’s most popular cycle route started to live up to its reputation.
Meersburg is touristy, for good reason.
Castle Meerburg is a gloomy place, like most castles, I suppose. All those cold stone walls, heavy wooden chairs, suits of armour, dusty cannons and battleaxes. The only guided tours were in German, which was a relief to me. I could speed through it at my own pace without having to listen to a lot of names and dates.
I should be fair and go back to give it another chance, or at least google it.
It’s not a great job, being a knight, standing outside a castle checking tickets. It must be hot in that helmet.
Placing dummies like these around still fails to bring the place to life for me.
So we strolled the streets instead…
…lunch by the water was time better spent.
Sculptor Peter Lenk has enhanced the Meersburg foreshore with his satirical work Magische Saule. It’s a complicated back story (he’s worth a detailed later post too) but as an artwork it’s a lot of fun, and shows that city fathers around these parts have a spirit of adventure and a sense of humour.
Peter Lens, Magische Saule.
Peter Lens, Magische Saule.
It was an easy 20km ride to Friedrichshafen, a bustling provincial town with a spectacular location. It’s main museum, The Zeppelin Museum, houses art and technology, particularly featuring the displays on airship travel. The Zeppelins are worth a later post on their own, but for now, here’s the Maybach Zeppelin saloon car:
The Maybach Zeppelin.
The cloud is high and scattered and the wind blows fair for Austria. Must stop blogging and get onto breakfasting and biking. More soon…
The writer was the guest of Freedom Treks and was assisted by Bodensee Tourismus.
Richard Tulloch's LIFE ON THE ROAD 
Your travel pictures are very special! Love those cute sculptures. Happy biking .
Thanks, ftm!
Richard, love your images and cycling adventure but it is making it very difficult to concentrate at work. I find my mind is wandering!
Maybe you need to find a different job, Big Pete. Believe it or not, this IS my work at the moment.
I’m speeding toward retirement. I guess then it can be my job. In the mean time, back to Reading Recovery teaching for me!
That sunshine certainly cheers things up!
10 deg and rain predicted for tomorrow, Andrew. The things we do just to entertain blog followers!
Such is life Richard! Last week in Northern Spain there was the constant threat of rain but despite the ever present clouds we never saw a drop!
WOW thank you Richard and Mevrouw T for lovely light and amusing reading along with marvelous routes and images which are dearly needed here in darkest Africa! Happy days.
Enjoy riding the Bodensee Richard. Is the Mosel Radweg on your list this year?
Thank you for posting photos and thoughts on your trip. Very enjoyable. I hope to do something similar for my hike in the Dolomites.
Oh, please do that, Rosemarie. A Dolomites hike is high on my ‘to do’ list.
Love those pics – what a wonderful place for cycling!
Hello, i’m a British ex-pat living in F’hafen and stumbled on your blog whilst looking into cycle routes in the area. Specifically looking for the bike track from FN to Meersburg so i can cycle to the Therme when my kids start school. Anyway, wanted to say hello and what a joy it is to find your blog. I’ll be clicking around to read more about your adventures. PS – my kids love Bananas in Pyjamas too!
Thanks for the visit and the encouragement…and you live in lovely part of the world. That circuit around the Bodensee is one of the best we’ve done. Glad you like those Bananas too – it was fun to write and the work has paid for a lot of cycling trips!