Day 71: Uhldingen to Reichenau

July 9, 2014

We stayed up late with Jurgen and Suzanne and the rest of the world (other than North America - which doesn't care) to watch the Germany/Brazil match. The first ten minutes were as expected, but then the roof fell in on the Brazilians. Elation turned to sympathy for Brazil, and in the end the match was much less enjoyable than as if there had been a contest. Jurgen stayed up even later to follow the post game commentary, while the rest of us turned in.

Today's paper says the game with Brazil was just crazy.

Morning brought a chance to sit for one last time with Jurgen and Suzanne, sharing fresh rolls from their high quality bakery, and a variety of ham, sausage, cheese, yogurt, and fruit. Even though we have cycled super short distances in past days, we are still about twice as hungry as usual for at home. Still, we managed to leave some stuff on the communal plates. Encouraged by Jurgen and Suzanne, though, we quickly squirreled all that away for the "hardships" to come, out on the road. We even managed to get some containers and pack the last two pieces of Jurgen's Black Forest cake. So Suzanne will be hitting the farmers' market right away, to restore the family supplies once the invasion of cyclists has moved on.

Not much left on Jurgen and Suzanne's table!

We did, sadly, move on, but not before inviting these two who feel like old friends to come to Vancouver Island. We also threatened to return, with Avi and Violet, some year soon - and we really hope we will be able to make good on that.

Now following our slightly changed itinerary, we made our way back the short distance to Meersburg, and hopped the ferry across to Konstanz. Actually, we had to stop not far down the road to Meersburg, as my chain pin that has been backing out backed out, with the risk that the chain would fall apart. I used my small chain tool to drive the pin back in, but clearly the chain would need to be shortened to excise the troublesome pin and now slightly bent side plate. This is not such a big deal, but it is a pain out in the rain. So we decided to get a bike shop to do it in Konstanz.

Look Sandra - I wonder what theirs is like?

Dodie pays the 10 euros to hop to Konstanz

Even right off the boat, and in the rain, Konstanz seemed to us even more pleasing than we remembered from our swing through two years ago. Outside the altstadt, 19th century town houses were great to look at, and the altstadt itself has a large and interesting pedestrian zone.

Before getting in to it, though, we stopped at the planned bike shop. Dodie kind of lured the man outside to point out the post office (where another big mailback of souvenirs happened). Then we said, "And can we get you to do something about this faulty chain pin and plate?". The man brought out the big chain tool and set about the shortening process. His partner came out to lend a hand, and so we met both Sercan and Martin from the Kultur-Radle bike shop. They said there would be no charge for the service, except did we have a Canadian dollar? Unfortunately all our Canadian cash is stashed away in Frankfurt, so we promised to mail them some coins. Of course, this is not an idle promise, and it absolutely will happen.

Martin stayed outside to chat for a bit (while Dodie went to the post office), and I found that he too was an avid tourer. Aside from going all around this great area, he had made numerous trips into the Alps. He said that the south Tirol, and other parts of northern Italy are great for cycling. So now we are getting psyched up to go see what he is talking about (next year, not now!). This would align with what Tricia Graham has also been advising.

With the chain nicely fixed and the package on its way to Canada, we ventured into the town. First stop, as last time, was the provocative statue, Imperia. This portrays a courtesan, one of many who attended the Council of Konstanz, in 1414-1418. In her hands are two caricatures - naked figures of King Sigismund and Pope Martin V. The statue rotates slowly, so eventually everyone is presented with the sight of her ample front.

From Imperia we pushed the bikes though the pedestrian zone, which has lots of attractive, if not ancient, buildings, plus the frescoed rathaus and other fresco-ed buildings. As usual, my eye was caught by a bakery as well. It could have been just a chain bakery, but the shelves loaded with attractive breads are still so different from what we have back home, that I took another bakery picture, just while rolling by.

Our traditional stops are the churches. This is not exactly a special interest of ours, it's just that the churches are the largest, most prominent things in most towns we have visited. Konstanz is large, and has a few of them. St Stephans was the first along our way. This one does not have elaborate frescoes, but its walls are painted with rectangular images containing biblical scenes. There are also paintings of various saints. I tried to capture St Basilius, but the photo is a little washed out.

The Munster Unserer Lieben Frau is really the major church, and the major building in Konstanz. We parked the bikes and both went in to this one. It is subtly, or maybe clearly, different from other churches we have gone in to. What strikes you right away is the number and antiquity of the treasures and artifacts inside the huge space. Basically, everything is 1000 years old. Dodie points out that whether or not you share the particular religion, you can not help but feel the weight of so many years of belief and veneration inside the building.

Actually, the guidebook to the Munster that we picked up lists 40 major events, additions, and restorations in its life, with the earliest date mentioned being 590. However, the current building can not be older than from 1052, since for that date the book mentions that the cathedral collapsed. The current building as it perhaps mostly stands today was consecrated in 1089.

Among the artifacts that we noticed was a two metre diameter medallion, currently mounted in the crypt. This definitely dates from about 1000. Then there is the tomb of Bishop Conrad, also from around 1000. There is a gold box in the room, which apparently contains his head.

In a side chapel, two restorers were hard at work.

Our stay in the Munster was almost extended for a long time, as the rain outside was just too heavy to venture out in. Fortunately, it tapered off, and we headed out of town. Our destination generally was Radolfzell, but we found the bike way blocked off on the direct route, and the road was too busy to try. So we diverted onto Reichenau island. This is the way we came last time, and though two years have passed, we found that we remember every bit of it.

Last time we stopped at the bakery and all the fruit stands, and then jumped a ferry back to the mainland, to continue north to Radolfzell. This time, though,it was getting late and the rain was heavy. We stopped at the Tourist Information, and when Dodie lamented that it was too wet to camp, they pointed out that the camping has rooms to rent.

So we have ended up in a "radlerzimmer" at the SandSeele camping. The cost is 42 euros, which is quite steep for just a room with two bunk beds and a table. However there is good light and power, and the washroom is just down the way, along a covered walk. There is also a TV room, so we hope to join everyone to watch any football that may be on tonight. The covered area is also perfect for cooking with our gas stove, so really we have everything we could want.

A field of zuchinni. Reichenau hs many greenhouses with tomatoes, and fields of vegetables, including artichokes.

Our room at the camping had a double bunk bed and nearby facilities - such as this playroom!

Lots of cover at the camping, where we can cook with our gas stove.

Wigratzbad Update

Before we arrived at Lindau on the Bodensee, we passed through Wigratzbad. There we found a large complex devoted to the Virgin Mary, and wondered what it was all about. Here is some of what Wikipedia has to say. It's an interesting tale:

"The village of Wigratzbad was home to a series of notable Marian apparitions in the early 20th century. The primary visionary was Antonie Rädler, who, while sick during the 1918 flu pandemic, reported a healing apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1] Later, following the rise of National Socialism, Rädler defied authorities by refusing to replace an image of the Virgin in her father's butcher shop with one of Adolf Hitler; furthermore, she refused to substitute the Bavarian greeting of Grüß Gott with the mandated Heil Hitler. As a result of her noncompliance, she endured several attempts on her life.[1]

In gratitude for their daughter's survival, Rädler's parents erected a Lourdes grotto in their garden in October 1936; a month later, Rädler reported that the statue "smiled" at her.[1] On December 15, 1936, Rädler had another apparition of angelic choirs singing: "O Mary Immaculate, conceived without sin, beloved Lady of Victory, pray for us".[1] The apparitions were not restricted to Rädler; on February 22, 1936, Cecilia Geyer likewise received an apparition, who told her: "Build a chapel for me here ... I shall crush the head of the infernal serpent with my feet ... People will come to this place in large numbers, and I will pour a flowing of graces over them. Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony and the souls in Purgatory will assist Antonie".[1]

This apparition became known as "Our Beloved Lady, Mother of Victory" and a chapel was constructed in Wigratzbad, dedicated to her patronage. The inauguration of the chapel was planned for December 8, 1938, but Antonie Rädler had been arrested by the Gestapo on November 21.[1] Rädler was freed from prison on December 18, the feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1] The chapel was consecrated on March 25, 1940.[2]

Today, approximately 500,000 pilgrims visit the shrine each year, and spiritual conferences are held weekly at a pilgrimage center.[1] Antonie Rädler died in 1991"

Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 3,576 km (2,221 miles)

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