We left Strasbourg in the rain and took our time driving through the Black Forest to get to Konstanz and the start of our cycling holiday
Jacky and Ken arrived ahead of us and sent pictures of torrential rainfall which doesn’t bode well for 5 days on a bike. By the time we caught up with them at Rheinfalls, any rain had eased and a watery sun appeared through the clouds.
It’s probably worth pointing out that although, technically we have been away with Jacky and Ken since Thursday, today is the first time we’ve actually seen each other.
Our detour to Rheinfalls was another tourist hotspot ticked off the list. The waterfalls are the most powerful in Europe and several attempts to create a hydropower plant or a diversion to enable ships to travel the whole length of the Rhine have been scuppered.
We arrived in Konstanz and are staying in the German equivalent of a Travelodge. Basic facilities but clean tidy rooms. We are abandoning the car on a industrial estate while we cycle, it doesn’t feel right but seems to be the thing to do when you can’t book hotel parking. Reassuringly, there are signs that other cars have been left here for a few days.
Our tour brochures caused some angst. There are two and they are called Ben and Max. We are used to unnamed guidebooks that take you logically from A to B. Not so with Ben and Max. They share our route between them, include significant sections that we don’t need and exclude precise directions to our hotels. We are sure everything will be fine as long as the lake remains on our right hand side!
So, not much from us today other than dinner was on a terrace overlooking the lake and was lovely…. until the midges came out.
braysabroad 