Our next significant destination was Lindau on the Bodensee (Lake Constance). There is an old town area there that is out on an island (walk over a bridge). It was very pretty and scorching hot. It has been extremes with the weather as after that nice day it rained most of the night. We had an interesting encounter a young guy was walking down the road saw us in the van and came over to see what the score was which was nice, turned out he was Bavarian and was heading to Switzerland to do a lot of walking (it was just him and his backpack) and he would be away a few months. I tell you about this positive encounter for balance as I'm going to get a bit negative and philosophical.
On our way to visit my friend Ines in Switzerland we had an encounter of a nature becoming all too familiar on out trip (one that left you despairing for the sanity/mentality of humanity). Our first 6 weeks on the road have provided us plenty of time of people watching, interactions and such, several of which have given us pause for thought. In fact so many that we may perhaps catalogue such if they continue with such frequency as an incite into the modern psyche. Anyway you want the story. So we stopped for lunch in a small town in Austria it turned out we were next to the training fields for the local team (minor stadium next door maybe 2-3,000 capacity). There were several portable goals around and i spotted that, in one, a ball had been left behind. So I went and had a kick about for about 5 minutes, as i was returning the ball to the goal I noticed a bunch of teenagers a little down the cycle trail. Well no sooner had i returned the ball and got back in the van did they ride up and steal the ball.
We spent the weekend with Ines and her boyfriend Marcel. Ines was such a lovely host and put us up on an air mattress and had several things for us to do. Ines now lives in the area she grew up which it turns out is Heidiland. She was able to show us the house she grew up in and the land they used to farm. We visited the Heidi house and Vaduz (Leichtenstein) where Ines works. The weather was getting quite hot and we went higher up into the alps to a lake which was very pretty and took a stroll around (higher up and in the trees the temperature was just right). Ines put on a special Swiss style indoor BBQ for dinner. The next day the Tour de Suisse cycling final leg 9 was happening in the area. They were doing a 26km time trial. Through Marcel we got entry to a little brunch drinks and nibbles which was a nice bonus. Also to get up to the finish line we could go on a gondola free of charge which was cool. It was really hot, so it was good that we were a bit higher up. It was very hard for the cyclists and the times were a little slower than expected. We saw the Kiwis Sam Bewley and Hayden Roulston. While up there we also got to go and see a real proper Alp milking shed and cheese makers. We checked out the local castle ruins in the early evening, pretty funky with some great views. Unfortunately we couldn't stay longer as I'm to see my brother next weekend when he has time off and we had a very long way to go.
Palace in Liechtenstein
Cycling finish line
Heidi House
Ines and I at the Cycling
Hayden Roulston on the left
From Ines's we travelled through Austria including the Tirol region where we went over an Alpine Pass to the head of the Lech River. Again the heat was getting up there, when we got to the top of the pass the views were great and the temperature ideal so we stayed for about 45 mins sitting out taking it in. Down the other side we passed Austrian ski resort towns and beautiful countryside before we hiked up to an Austrian castle called Ehrenberg by Reutte (in the woodland by the castle we saw a red squirrel YAY).
Austrian Alps
Ehrenberg Castle
So that gets you to about a fortnight ago. Oh and I'm posting this on the 30th my 31st Birthday, what an old man.
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