Colourful Constance

It was a short drive to Konstanz and it wasn't very long before Lake Constance or Bodensee in German came into view. The lake is about 40 miles long, shares borders with Germany, Austria and Switzerland and is dotted with islands. We had time before arriving in Konstanz to visit Reichenau island, approached over a 2 km long poplar lined causeway. Reichenau island has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. It has a beautiful abbey dated back to 724 AD and a lovely church. Despite only being about 3 miles long and a mile wide it also has incredibly fertile soil and grows abundant crops of vegetables and fruit. As we arrived on the island we could see people in the fields harvesting large squash. We spent a little time walking around and took respite from the heat in the church behind which were wildflower meadows.

Reichenau 

Needless to say before leaving Reichenau we stopped at a fruit and veg stall and purchased a large bag of plump cherries which I can confirm were delicious. In fact the quality of fruit and veg in Southern Germany was one of the unexpected surprises of our trip. 

Once in the city of Konstanz (Constance) we had the arduous job of carting our luggage across the Rhine (which was now a brilliant blue colour) to our Airbnb apartment tucked away in one of the narrow cobbled streets of the old town.

The Rhine (again) at Konstanz

Once we'd recovered from acting as pack mules we set off to explore. The old town was delightful full of colourful buildings, narrow alleyways and many, many buildings dating back to the 1300's.  

The Munster came into view with its elaborate spire and from narrow alleys a wide open place around the church opened up.  

Konstanz Munster

Walking down to the lake shore mingling with weekend crowds we could see why Konstanz is such a popular holiday resort. It offers lots of water orientated activities and ferries criss cross the lake to Switzerland and the northern shores. It was lovely renting an Airbnb apartment for this part of our stay. The old building was cool and rather than eating out we could prepare a healthy salad for an evening meal. German cuisine tends towards the 'hearty' and carb heavy and after a while you develop a craving for lettuce!

In the morning we decided to take a short free bus trip to Mainau Island. Mainau is a few miles from Konstanz and is a beautiful formal garden island with an 18th century house at the centre as well as hot houses and a butterfly house. Mainau is a floral wonderland. Its only a small island but has millions of flowers all laid out in different formal gardens surrounded by the blue waters of the lake.

We followed paths leading to the house but before that spent an enjoyable interlude in the butterfly house. This is the second largest of its kind in Germany and is kept at a temperature of 26 degrees, so cooler than the outside temperature on the day of our visit! Inside a wide variety of butterflies from different parts of the world flutter and dance in the air, feed on fruit and nectar and add to the riot of colour that is Mainau.

Some of the butterflies and moths of Mainau

The house itself is rather grand but we couldn't see inside - other than visiting a small chapel attached to the house where we inadvertently found ourselves in the midst of a Sunday service.

The baroque chapel at Mainau

We quietly slipped out between hymns and continued exploring. By the lakeside the water was so clear we could see large fish swimming and ducks aplenty.

Fish and fowl....

Mainau had everything including a child friendly petting zoo with the standard fare of rabbits and goats etc. I had to tear Mrs B away....

After several hours of walking we returned to Konstanz on the bus and had another ramble around the old town.This time we went into the Munster and paid a small fee to climb the tower. This gave panoramic views of Konstanz and Bodinsee. The effort required paid off as the views were great and gave us a birds eye view of the city and its surrounding landscape.

Tired after a lot of walking we returned to our apartment for much needed rest.

We had to leave Konstanz the next day to continue our journey west, and chose to take the car ferry across the lake to Meersburg which sits on the lake on the opposite shore to Konstanz. There was time to linger in Meersburg before driving on and it was yet another picturesque little town, nestled on steep slopes running down to the lake. Vineyards covered many of the slopes surrounding the town which also did a BOGOF on castles, there being an old castle built from the 7th century and a new 18th century one that was, at one time, the home of the Bishop of Konstanz. 

The old castle...

...and the new castle

The new castle had an especially ornate chapel - every baroque cliche had been thrown at the interior. 

Narrow streets wound their way uphill and we were surrounded by colourful old houses - as though a primary school teacher had let his or her pupils loose on a house painting job.

 

At the top of the town we had gained enough height to get a birds eye view of Meersburg, the blue of Bodinsee sparkling in the sunlight and in the distance Konstanz. Closer were rows of vines growing on steep terraces and wildflower meadows. 

Grapes and wildflowers

At the top of the hill a wooden sun lounger had thoughtfully been placed to take advantage of the views - and Mrs B decided to have a quick nap whilst I took some photos. 

Mrs B in full on holiday mode

We wound our way downhill back to the car. It was time to leave the state of Baden-Württemberg and continue travelling to the south and west. We were now about to enter Bavaria.