Bruce getting ready to cross over the border from Germany to Switzerland
Day 12: Jumping borders into Switzerland!
Monday July 8 - Day 12 - 52 miles - Total 484 miles
This was the first time the tent was dry in the morning, which made for a speedier exit from Am Reidsee Camping this morning (after a cheese & croissant breakfast!). We had coffee at a cafe with a bunch of other cyclists that stayed at the campsite last night (closest coffee on the Danube River Bike Path). We followed the path for about 10 miles through scenic countryside to the town of Geisingen and then turned off onto our own route towards Konstanz, Germany/Switzerland. We then had to climb a long hill out of the valley which made for slow progress but then we had to lose all of that altitude to get down to Lake Constance (Bodensee) and we did... quickly... down the side of a mountain... and the wind was blowing. This flirtation with death did not seem to bother our sturdy Bruce but it scared the hell out of Andrea who thought that she was going to get blown over the guard rail at 30 mph.
We passed through Engen, Aach, Volksertshausen, Steisslingen and Radolfzell on our downwards ride to the shores of Lake Constance, although it was not all downhill - those pesky road engineers threw some momentum sucking rises in our way still. And our bikes when fully loaded (which they are!) they lose momentum like a fat man bellyflopping from the high board. We are falling in love with the gears in our low ratio on the Rohloffs.
We stopped for our afternoon coffee break in Steisslingen (although it is spelt with one of those funny looking "B"s rather than the double "s" - I am sure I could find that particular letter on the Apple keyboard if I pressed Ctrl, Alt, Cmd and something all at the same time - but life is too short), where we had wonderful almond macaroon pastries dipped in chocolate - truly the kick we needed to get going again! We caught sight of Lake Constance near Radolfzell, and it was beautiful. Since the weather was gorgeous today (about 27C/80F and sunny) there were a ton of sailboats out there, against a backdrop of medieval buildings on the island of Reichenau.
There was essentially a bicycle superhighway along the lake shore and especially once we got into the built up area of Konstanz - everyone was on their bikes. We were passed by 90 year olds......There is a special bridge over the Rhine river for bikes and pedestrians only. Kids were jumping from it into the river to cool off- we seriously considered joining them, but Bruce didn't want to leave an oil slick in the river from sweat and sunblock - the Germans and Swiss can be touchy about these things......
We arrived at the border station into Switzerland which is right in the middle of town - half of the city is in Switzerland, the other half in Germany. There is no immigration anymore as Switzerland joined the Schengen countries a couple of years ago - however there are still customs controls - which meant that I had to get paperwork stamped by the Germans as we crossed out. The advantage of this is we get the VAT back on the bicycles which we have now exported out of the EC.
We went down the to the lakeshore and took some photos with us at the border markers so we were in both countries at once - then we watched the sailboats and other people strolling along the esplanade. We found an open tourist information booth and she directed us to a campsite just down the road - perfect! Even better they sold cold beer and the showers were excellent!
The World is Ours!
Monday July 8 - Day 12 - 52 miles - Total 484 miles
This was the first time the tent was dry in the morning, which made for a speedier exit from Am Reidsee Camping this morning (after a cheese & croissant breakfast!). We had coffee at a cafe with a bunch of other cyclists that stayed at the campsite last night (closest coffee on the Danube River Bike Path). We followed the path for about 10 miles through scenic countryside to the town of Geisingen and then turned off onto our own route towards Konstanz, Germany/Switzerland. We then had to climb a long hill out of the valley which made for slow progress but then we had to lose all of that altitude to get down to Lake Constance (Bodensee) and we did... quickly... down the side of a mountain... and the wind was blowing. This flirtation with death did not seem to bother our sturdy Bruce but it scared the hell out of Andrea who thought that she was going to get blown over the guard rail at 30 mph.
We passed through Engen, Aach, Volksertshausen, Steisslingen and Radolfzell on our downwards ride to the shores of Lake Constance, although it was not all downhill - those pesky road engineers threw some momentum sucking rises in our way still. And our bikes when fully loaded (which they are!) they lose momentum like a fat man bellyflopping from the high board. We are falling in love with the gears in our low ratio on the Rohloffs.
We stopped for our afternoon coffee break in Steisslingen (although it is spelt with one of those funny looking "B"s rather than the double "s" - I am sure I could find that particular letter on the Apple keyboard if I pressed Ctrl, Alt, Cmd and something all at the same time - but life is too short), where we had wonderful almond macaroon pastries dipped in chocolate - truly the kick we needed to get going again! We caught sight of Lake Constance near Radolfzell, and it was beautiful. Since the weather was gorgeous today (about 27C/80F and sunny) there were a ton of sailboats out there, against a backdrop of medieval buildings on the island of Reichenau.
There was essentially a bicycle superhighway along the lake shore and especially once we got into the built up area of Konstanz - everyone was on their bikes. We were passed by 90 year olds......There is a special bridge over the Rhine river for bikes and pedestrians only. Kids were jumping from it into the river to cool off- we seriously considered joining them, but Bruce didn't want to leave an oil slick in the river from sweat and sunblock - the Germans and Swiss can be touchy about these things......
We arrived at the border station into Switzerland which is right in the middle of town - half of the city is in Switzerland, the other half in Germany. There is no immigration anymore as Switzerland joined the Schengen countries a couple of years ago - however there are still customs controls - which meant that I had to get paperwork stamped by the Germans as we crossed out. The advantage of this is we get the VAT back on the bicycles which we have now exported out of the EC.
We went down the to the lakeshore and took some photos with us at the border markers so we were in both countries at once - then we watched the sailboats and other people strolling along the esplanade. We found an open tourist information booth and she directed us to a campsite just down the road - perfect! Even better they sold cold beer and the showers were excellent!
The World is Ours!
Andrea in a garden that follows the border between Switzerland and Germany
Bruce and Andrea at the Bodensee (Lake Constance)
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