Day 69: Friedrichshafen to Uhldingen: Landing in Heaven

July 7, 2014

The camping in Friedrichshafen had the classical German sanitary block, where the quality of plumbing and surfaces is unequalled. Like many we have seen in France, as well, there is also a plethora of separate rooms that take a bit of time to figure out. That is, there are rooms with toilet and sink, rooms with sink, shower rooms for handicapped, regular shower rooms, rooms with sink only, and so forth. Dodie never did find the regular ladies' shower, and ended up using a handicapped room that had toilet and shower.

This morning we moved our stuff from the grass to near the building. For a place to comfortably cook our porridge, we had a choice of outside kitchen sinks with counters, or inside kitchen sinks and counters near the clothes dryers. The actual "kitchen" room was closed for some reason, until 8:00. In and around all these rooms we found lots of plugs usable for recharging electronics. So it was quite a good start to the day.

We had stopped yesterday just before entering Friedrichshafen, to allow a good chance to see the place today. Probably the main attraction is the Zepplin Museum. Friedrichshafen is where Count Ferdinand von Zepplin developed and produced the famous airships, starting in 1900. The design was successful, and the ships were used in passenger service and also in WW I. Things went wrong for the company when the Nazis started to use the ships for propaganda flights, and when in1937 the Hindenburg blew up in the U.S. after a transatlantic flight. The ship had been filled with flammable hydrogen after the U.S. banned the export of helium.

The Bodensee is not only where Zepplin was developed, but floating facilities on the lake were used for production, at least of early models. So Zepplin is very big in Friedrichshafen, and aside from the museum there is a memorial, a fountain, and general Zepplin references all around.

We gave the museum a miss, because of the 9 euro admission fee. In retrospect, that was probably an error. The rest of Friedrichshafen was fairly uninspiring, because it is mostly post war construction. The Nikolaus church, for example,was not only rebuilt after WW II, but had its interior removed and redeveloped in 1989. The result is, unfortunately, boring.

The schlosskirche, at the other end of town was also heavily damaged by air attacks. An offer to construct a temporary protective roof from the Duke Philippe Albrecht of Wurtemburg was turned down by the nazis, and after the war a shortage of building materials hindered work, resulting in rapid deterioration. The church was saved when the Protestant community in St Gallen came up with roofing tiles. What we saw today was not the ebullient ceiling painting of a baroque catholic church, but a more subdued treatment in plaster decoration. Still, the ceilings and church in general were very impressive. When we stepped in, someone was playing the organ - maybe just practicing. Visiting a church-is always much better if the organ is playing.

Many things in Friedrichshafen are Zepplin related - like this slide

In Friedrichshafen we stopped at a bakery for possible second breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. After over two months here, it still is remarkable that places like this are everywhere.

The rather plain main square in Friedrichshafen still boasts an interesting artistic, Zepplin inspired, fountain

The Nikolaus church in the main square is very ordinary inside

Rather modern stained glass in the Nikolaus church

This part of the fountain depicts a semi-animal engine

Interesting carving in the schlosskirche

Here is why Friedrichshafen looks rather plain - severe destruction in 1944-45

This airship is a Zepplin, run by a tour company.

The next towns along for us, as we carried on up the east shore of the lake, were not especially noteworthy. However we had now entered a region where grape growing is common, so near Immenstaad for example, we could look up at Schloss Hersberg, with its surrounding vineyards.

Meersburg also had schlosses and vineyards, plus a main ferry over to Konstanz. It was souvenir shops on the main street that caught our attention, though. We found cycling themed tee shirts that also say Bodensee and Meersburg, all in suitable grandkid sizes! Looking at the safe cycle path (today there was little or no on road cycling) and the swimming spots on one side, ice cream shops on the other, we had begun to talk more about bring some or all of the kids here some year soon. Well, they have already got the tee shirt!

Have a look at the menu and imagine being here

Dodie was very intrigued by a sort of museum - reconstruction of houses that might have been used here by stone age and bronze age people, whose dwellings were on stilts in the lake. The attraction that illustrates this is in Uhldingen, and we went to have a look at it. Another 9 euro admission fee put us off, but mainly we found that the visit is guided and that German is the only language. We were sorry to let this one go, but did cycle slowly off to our next thing. The next thing was the tractor museum. There were a lot of signs for it all around, including large illustrations on the backs of busses. We followed the signs, and these led us on, through Muhlhofen, and beyond. We were directed up hills steep enough to need pushing the bikes. Finally arriving, we found another 9 euro admission. These admission fees, which amount to about $30 for the two of us for each attraction would not totally break the budget, but psychologically there are about double what we expect or would accept. So with a spin through the gift shop, and a sniff at the restaurant (which wanted 5.50 per slice of Schwartzwald cake) down the hill we swept again.

We had been more willing than usual to at least roll up to an consider various museums, because we knew that Uhldingen was as far as we would be going today. That was because we got a Guestbook message from Jürgen Schmidt and Suzanne asking if we would like to stay with them. Normally we tend to just want to push on as far as we can get, but Jürgen reminded us that they had also made the same invitation in 2013, so this time we decided we ought to stop.

Finding the house was a bit of a challenge, even though we found the street easily enough. First, even though we had not stopped, nor dared to look at a map, a lady charged out of a house and tried to convince us that we were going the wrong way. This was based not on any discussion of where we were going, but on her assumption about where we ought to be going. With the language barrier, the discussion was not very enlightening for her or for us. We were confident, though, because we were following a sign that indicated house numbers 13-23 were this way, and we were looking for number 20. 13-23 turned out to be only the odd numbered ones, though, and we were forced to bothturn around and ask another another lady where number 20 was. As we cycled past the first lady, strong waves of "I told you so" emanated from where she was standing.

We did come to number 20, actually not anywhere near where we had predicted, and we were greeted by Jürgen and Suzanne. "Ah, Steve and Dodie - live", said Jürgen. I took this to mean "alive", since after slogging up the various hills in the heat, alive or not was where my thoughts were. But no, the reference was to finally seeing the people pictured in the blog, live.

Jürgen and Suzanne did something that I am sure all experienced hosts do. They showed us to the shower and the spot they had set aside for us, and left us to recover and rest. In this case, though, the "spot" was the upper floor of the house, comprising a large living area, two bedrooms, and a kitchen. It has a open, light and airy plan,and best of all - good cross breeze.

Jürgen and Suzanne had put out a large bowl of fruit for us (local wonderful ones - raspberries, gooseberries, apricots, and cherries) and showed us a cooleer full of juices, like orange-carrot and currant. On the bed was an eight pack of Knoppers!

Jürgen and Suzanne were able to tailor these treats for us because of reading the blog. In fact, in the short time we took to exchange some background information, we found that Jürgen had cycled across Canada, and that he had become an avid Crazyguy reader. He credits this with a big improvement in his English.

Jürgen is a veterinarian here, and as I write this he is just finishing his office hours. Then we will be able to learn more about this perceptive couple, who have scooped us off the lake shore.

Five hours later... we have been chatting for that long! Typically, sad to say, the majority of that time had Steve and Dodie talking about themselves. Moreover, half the stories have already been covered in the last three years of blogs, and Jurgen and Suzanne already know them!

We did at least find out that both are wonderful cooks. Suzanne put out a lovely table of delicious foods at supper time. This included Maultaschen, a ravioli like pasta dish with cheese and other mystery but tasty ingredients. The fact that the ingredients are a mystery to me is partly explained by this excerpt from www.germany.info:

"Swabian Maultaschen, are made with a noodle dough generally filled with meat or vegetables, eggs, spinach, parsley, onions, leek, dried bread, and spices, such as marjoram or nutmeg. There are, however, numerous variations, depending on family tradition and modern cooking methods. For example, Maultaschen are now often enhanced with ingredients such as ham, smoked pork sausage, ground beef, or roasted leftovers." Maultaschen is a genuine regional specialty, and is protected as such by the EU. We were fortunate to have someone prepare it for us!

There was also Seele, a salty local bread looking something like baguette, and that wonderful potato salad with cucumber .

Jurgen, meanwhile, had made a Blackforest cake - a specialty with him, based on a recipe and training from his mother. This had a base made with ground nuts, moist chocolate cake layers, and the critical cherries and whipped cream. All in all, it was a tour de force and one that might be hard to beat, even in the actual Black Forest.

Poster for the tractor museum. We cycled 5-10 km to find it, but did not go in.

Poster for the prehistoric lake buildings.

This English family was very interested in our trip. We met them near the lake building museum. Thy had walked from Meersburg - a bit of a hike - yet the kids were not at all cranky.

Fruit heaven put out for us by Jurgen and Suzanne

Maultaschen, with some cheese and sausage also in the shot

Jurgen raises these Greek tortoises. This baby is three years old.

Clouds on our horizon, from Juegen and Suzanne's place

Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 3,517 km (2,184 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0