Cruisin'
Being the fit young things that we are, the Missus and I decided to take a hike at the long weekend (for us Friday, not Monday). So, I duly found an "Easy" hike along the route Heiden-Kaienspitz-Rorschach Hafen. 13.5km, bit of climbing but much more descent, should take 3h 55min.
So, we duly set off about 11ish from Zurich, took the train to St Gallen and the bus to Heiden. Rain all week had grudgingly given way to hot and humid patchy sunshine and showers, and we set off with packs "lightly" loaded.
The walk wended its way through Alpine meadows, looking out above Lake Konstanz/Bodensee. In the first hour, we came across goats and sheep and cows and cats and dogs and horses and bees and parrots (oh my!), all keen to say hello. The fearsome dog that was as wide as long that charged us to fling herself on her back at our feet and beg to have a tummy scratch cannot have been the world's best guard dog.
We climbed up to the Kaienspitz" in Kanton Appenzeller, remarking at how the "easy" definition in Swiss hiking should not be taken for granted. A short pause at the summit to nom some eggs and cheese (and dry my shirt out) made me very glad we hadn't opted for a longer route.
We carried on down into a valley, passing through some picturesque villages with old gaffers on benches, gruffly nodding a "gruss Gott" as we passed, through some cool pine groves, and came across a spotless dairy farm. We managed to convince the famer that we weren't cattle rustlers, and only wanted to buy some cheese. The 400 grammes served as excellent provisions over the next 3 days, although it could possibly have been used as a chemical weapon by day 3. We still ate it though.
After 3 h and 45 min, us two young(ish), relatively fit and comparatively active types finished the "easy" hike with aching calves and sore backs at Rorschach Harbour (no relation), with renewed respect for Swiss hikers. We hopped on the boat to Lindau in Germany, an hours crossing to the island. There, we stayed at the Lindauer Hof hotel, on the harbour, with a beautiful lake view. Would thoroughly recommend it if you are ever in the area.
Lindau is the only bit of Bavaria on the lake, and is a Nobel Prize winners' gathering spot in the summer, apparently. We enjoyed the food.
Saturday, we hopped on the boat to Bregenz in Austria (the countries are close together here...someday I'm going to see how many I can cycle to in a day, but I digress). Bregenz has a very famous opera season, but aside from that, it was a little quiet. The only thing we managed to do was use my first aid kit to help a gent who'd gashed his head open particularly nastily on a low hanging awning, was spouting blood all over the place and in mild shock (Gauze pads came in handy. Need to add surgical gloves and some form of antisceptic spray to the kit, as well as some kind of anti bacterial hand wash for my use afterwards).
So, we hopped on the train back to Lindau, bought some noodles (that traditional German dish), and caught a boat further up the lake.
Whilst pootling along, we found another hotel in Meersburg to stay the night in. We hadn't really planned where we wanted to go for the weekend in detail, leaving it a bit open after the first night. Thankfully, a combination of Lonely Planet guidebooks, Tripadvisor, and a couple of Blackberries works wonders.
Before Meersburg, we stopped off at Friedrichshafen to have a look at the Zeppelin Museum. They still manufacture various sorts of airships at the factory, and one can even take a trip, but at 300 CHF per 15 minutes or so, it was a bit pricey for a spontaneous Saturday afternoon. The museum had a full scale section mock up of the Graf Zeppelin, including sleeping area and saloon. Looked a very civilised way to travel (apart from the Hydrogen of course).
Continuing on via the hop on hop off boats of the Bodensee-Schiffsbetriebe GmbH, we ended the day in Meersburg, a steep town with an Alt and Neu Schloss. We found a pleasant restauarnt for dinner, then a bar with a Widescreen TV, where we proceeded to watch Germany's Lena win the Eurovision song contest, and the UK come last. The barfull of German's managed to not gloat too much.
Sunday, we toured the Alt Schloss as it was incessant, loud and persistent rain. The dungeon had a particularly gruesome guillotine style instrument, where the "blade" didn't come all the way down, just enough to hold your head in place, after which they bashed it in with large hammer.
We carried on the the garden island of Mainau, to stroll around the manicured beds and go into the petting zoo.
They also had a nice and warm butterly house, where I just about managed to take some photos before my lense steamed up.
Finally, we hopped on the trusty Swiss boat back to Kreuzlingen, the train home (finishing off the last of the Cheese on the way), to watch Robin Hood in the evening, which was more or less "meh".
Frankly, I don't know that I could do an actual 3 days hiking carrying all my stuff with me. I think I'd need to do some sawing of toothbrushes in half at least.
View Zurich in a larger map
So, we duly set off about 11ish from Zurich, took the train to St Gallen and the bus to Heiden. Rain all week had grudgingly given way to hot and humid patchy sunshine and showers, and we set off with packs "lightly" loaded.
The walk wended its way through Alpine meadows, looking out above Lake Konstanz/Bodensee. In the first hour, we came across goats and sheep and cows and cats and dogs and horses and bees and parrots (oh my!), all keen to say hello. The fearsome dog that was as wide as long that charged us to fling herself on her back at our feet and beg to have a tummy scratch cannot have been the world's best guard dog.
We climbed up to the Kaienspitz" in Kanton Appenzeller, remarking at how the "easy" definition in Swiss hiking should not be taken for granted. A short pause at the summit to nom some eggs and cheese (and dry my shirt out) made me very glad we hadn't opted for a longer route.
We carried on down into a valley, passing through some picturesque villages with old gaffers on benches, gruffly nodding a "gruss Gott" as we passed, through some cool pine groves, and came across a spotless dairy farm. We managed to convince the famer that we weren't cattle rustlers, and only wanted to buy some cheese. The 400 grammes served as excellent provisions over the next 3 days, although it could possibly have been used as a chemical weapon by day 3. We still ate it though.
After 3 h and 45 min, us two young(ish), relatively fit and comparatively active types finished the "easy" hike with aching calves and sore backs at Rorschach Harbour (no relation), with renewed respect for Swiss hikers. We hopped on the boat to Lindau in Germany, an hours crossing to the island. There, we stayed at the Lindauer Hof hotel, on the harbour, with a beautiful lake view. Would thoroughly recommend it if you are ever in the area.
Lindau is the only bit of Bavaria on the lake, and is a Nobel Prize winners' gathering spot in the summer, apparently. We enjoyed the food.
Saturday, we hopped on the boat to Bregenz in Austria (the countries are close together here...someday I'm going to see how many I can cycle to in a day, but I digress). Bregenz has a very famous opera season, but aside from that, it was a little quiet. The only thing we managed to do was use my first aid kit to help a gent who'd gashed his head open particularly nastily on a low hanging awning, was spouting blood all over the place and in mild shock (Gauze pads came in handy. Need to add surgical gloves and some form of antisceptic spray to the kit, as well as some kind of anti bacterial hand wash for my use afterwards).
So, we hopped on the train back to Lindau, bought some noodles (that traditional German dish), and caught a boat further up the lake.
Whilst pootling along, we found another hotel in Meersburg to stay the night in. We hadn't really planned where we wanted to go for the weekend in detail, leaving it a bit open after the first night. Thankfully, a combination of Lonely Planet guidebooks, Tripadvisor, and a couple of Blackberries works wonders.
Before Meersburg, we stopped off at Friedrichshafen to have a look at the Zeppelin Museum. They still manufacture various sorts of airships at the factory, and one can even take a trip, but at 300 CHF per 15 minutes or so, it was a bit pricey for a spontaneous Saturday afternoon. The museum had a full scale section mock up of the Graf Zeppelin, including sleeping area and saloon. Looked a very civilised way to travel (apart from the Hydrogen of course).
Continuing on via the hop on hop off boats of the Bodensee-Schiffsbetriebe GmbH, we ended the day in Meersburg, a steep town with an Alt and Neu Schloss. We found a pleasant restauarnt for dinner, then a bar with a Widescreen TV, where we proceeded to watch Germany's Lena win the Eurovision song contest, and the UK come last. The barfull of German's managed to not gloat too much.
Sunday, we toured the Alt Schloss as it was incessant, loud and persistent rain. The dungeon had a particularly gruesome guillotine style instrument, where the "blade" didn't come all the way down, just enough to hold your head in place, after which they bashed it in with large hammer.
We carried on the the garden island of Mainau, to stroll around the manicured beds and go into the petting zoo.
They also had a nice and warm butterly house, where I just about managed to take some photos before my lense steamed up.
Finally, we hopped on the trusty Swiss boat back to Kreuzlingen, the train home (finishing off the last of the Cheese on the way), to watch Robin Hood in the evening, which was more or less "meh".
Frankly, I don't know that I could do an actual 3 days hiking carrying all my stuff with me. I think I'd need to do some sawing of toothbrushes in half at least.
View Zurich in a larger map