Well, what a night! We were woken about 2am by an inconsistent bass note and a variety of voices and screams. We’re not sure where the party was, but it kept going until at least 4am. Not a great start to our cycling holiday but, on a positive note, breakfast was not bad for a bargain hotel. And to be fair, the place was spotless but that didn’t make up for lack of parking and a sleepless night. The Mercedes is abandoned on an industrial estate and really deserves better.
We set off in our usual fashion, going round in circles for a few minutes until we found our way out of Konstanz and across the Swiss Border
We wound our way through lovely lakeside villages, each time commenting that ‘Inntravel would have booked us here and told us which way to turn our of the hotel’. It seems a little unfair to compare walking holiday instructions to our cycling ones but our Inntravel instructions have always been exceptional.
We cycled alongside the lake, stopping for coffee before following railway lines, through pear and apple orchards.
Our lunch break was beside the lake in Mannern. It had just gone 12 and we’d completed 2/3rds of our ride. We had liberated rolls and cheese from our breakfast buffet and it felt very leisurely sitting in the shade overlooking Untersee.
Next stop Stein am Rhein and a visit to the Lindwurm Museum, a complimentary ticket has been included in our pack so it seemed rude not to go. Stein am Rhein is very pretty and has a chequered history. It suffered in the French Revolution and lost income from tolls on the Rhine bridge, resulting in food shortages and loss of trade in wheat and wine. The town didn’t recover until railways appeared in the late 19th century and it regained some of its economic success. As a result of the long decline many of its medieval buildings survived.
The Lindwurm Museum recreates an upper middle class house from the 19th century. Parts date date back to 1279 when it started life as one of the most important houses in Stein before falling into decay. Jakob and Emma Windler inherited it from grandparents in 1945 and set about its renovation it eventually became a museum in 1992. It is also the only museum we’ve visited that has a group of chickens roaming in the yard to add that realistic feel.
The final few km to Residenz Seeterrasse were surprisingly hilly and came as a shock after the ease of the rest of the route. Some bike pushing was necessary which is a big worry ahead of tomorrow’s ‘Mountain Stage’
Our hotel is the complete opposite of last night. A lovely spacious room, with a balcony and lake view. Is it ungrateful to complain that’s it’s too hot to sit outside?
Finally, it’s goodnight from us. We have an early start tomorrow
braysabroad 