As there was no church service today, the Meschenmosers’ gave us a choice of either visiting Säntis in Switzerland or going on a boat trip on Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Europe. We decided that visiting the Alps would be more exciting, especially as it meant travelling into Switzerland AND a boat trip!
First we drove to Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance and briefly visited the Zeppelin Museum as the ferry wasn’t due to leave for some time. We looked at the displays in the foyer. Zeppelins are still made in various sizes, some are used for tourist flights. If you look closely at the LH photo, you may be able to see a model being played on by children outside the museum.
Walking by the side of the lake, we saw a nesting swan so close to the pathway. What a brave bird to nest so close to humans in such an exposed spot!
It was a lovely calm day on the lake and we could see the Säntis in the distance. It is the highest of the Appenzell Alps at 2502 m above sea level. We had even been able to see it (just) from the Meschenmosers’ house as the sky was so clear that morning. It was fun looking back to the German side – there was a castle on the outskirts of Friedrichshafen (pic top R) - and ahead to misty Switzerland. You can see the other ferry boat heading away from the Swiss side in the photo below left.
Eventually we reached Switzerland at Romanshorn, a very attractive-looking place (centre pic).We were soon driving off the boat, and then proceeded on our way. At first we passed many orchards. The grass was full of dandelions and other flowers. We had noticed the rather (to our eyes) unkempt-looking lawns in Germany and were told that while some people have ‘English' lawns (that’s to say they keep them short!) many prefer a more natural look and enjoy the wildflowers that come up. There were certainly plenty of them! We also passed many cyclists - what hard work to climb those hills!
We passed through many towns and villages on the way to the Alps - Rorschach seemed quite large, and the houses were timbered and had shuttered windows. We saw a Zeppelin in the sky! I didn’t like St Gallen very much, it seemed quite ugly – there were lots of ultra-modern multi-storeyed buildings. Even in the older part of town, the buildings towered up 6 or 7 storeys, but at least they were more attractive to look at. It's the largest city in Eastern Switzerland.
As we drew closer to the mountains, the scenery became more and more interesting. Smaller towns and villages such as Urnäsch, Herisau and Appenzell led us closer and closer to our destination. It was so lovely to see the little mountain chalets, Brown Swiss cattle, small farms dotted all over the plentiful green grass, with dark pine forests and the snowy peaks providing a pleasing contrast.
When we arrived at the foot of the Säntis it was so awe-inspiring to stand in the road near the cable car depot and to look up the mountain (LH pic). What would it be like to go all the way up there? We were soon to find out.
It was simply amazing! From time to time we’d cross over a sheer rockface, and on all sides you could see mountains. The snow soon covered everything and we had the most incredible views in the clear air. The car park soon looked really tiny and the people like little ants. The cable car was really large and can hold up to 60 people, but it wasn’t too full that day. It was a great way to travel and not at all scary. LH picture is the view back down to the car park near the top. Centre - view from top, RH sheer face at terminal.
The terminal building has several stories and includes conference rooms, restaurants, viewing platforms and a rock and mineral collection from around the world. Unfortunately there were no examples from New Zealand.
Once we went outside, the views were absolutely stunning. In one spot a large panoramic view engraved into a metal plaque showed the peaks that are visible in six countries: Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Lichtenstein and of course Switzerland. The land slopes down towards France and Germany but we could see some of the high alps in the others. Way over in the distance we could just make out Lake Constance (LH pic). One interesting mountain with a distinctive shape was the Altmann (centre), 2,435 m above sea level, and further north is the Churfirsten group (RH pic), a range of mountains whose beautifully scalloped peaks rise up into the sky.
As the day went on, it started to cloud up a little but we had a great time. It had been a lovely warm temperature of about 20-21 deg down by the lake but was only 5 degrees up on the mountain, 2007 m above sea level. Once the clouds started to thicken, a cold wind sprung up and we soon started wanting to seek shelter.
From one side of the complex you can descend through a partial tunnel in the rock - part of the outer wall is of glass so you can see outside – or into the snow that was covering it. It was really cold in there. On the inside wall were placed various pieces of equipment used over 50 years ago by alpine guides. The tunnel leads to the mountain guide quarters. Guides have been active on the mountain for well over a century. There is are tables set out on a small terrace where you can enjoy a cup of coffee or light meal. We did just that and it was most welcome.You could just sit back and relax, gazing at the tremendous views. Leading down from the buildings were paths leading to various places, with signposts telling you how many hours it’d take you to get to the other mountains and villages. If you want to walk/climb up or down the Säntis, it is supposed to take you 4 hours. It takes about 1/2 hour by cable car!
The complex also has an important weather station with a huge tower that was too difficult to photograph adequately (LH pic). it was interesting to look at however.
We also enjoyed watching the Alpine Jackdaws (centre) that liked visiting the outdoor restaurants and were having an amazing time soaring on the thermals up the side of the main building (RH pic).
We decided to leave around 4pm as we were starting to feel quite cold. We returned by a different route, driving around the side of the lake passing through a small section of Austria before reaching Germany again.
It was amazing how the countryside suddenly opened out into a broad, flat valley, bordered by snow-capped mountains – the Rhine. In one place we saw a cog railway that went up a steep hillside in a little gorge. I was quite surprised to see a vineyard or two in Switzerland, I'd always imagined it to be too cold! Pics: Urnäsch, Rhine valley scene, Altstadt.
It was interesting to find out that the Swiss still prefer to use their francs rather than the Euro. There is a hefty annual fee of E100 if you want to use the motorways there! It you don’t buy the ticket, it might cost you 2-300 Euros just to make one trip.
It’s often quite difficult to tell just when you cross the borders in Europe - unless your cellphone decides to tell you you've just joined a new exchange. Ours did this when we crossed from Belgium to Germany. We did notice that there were a lot of curved tops on the chimneys in Austria which was different from the Swiss architecture. Of course, place names change too, so if you know your languages, it does help. At some borders there is a police check-point but they usually only stop trucks. There was one between Austria and Germany.
We stopped to fill the car with petrol once we'd crossed into Austria. It was quite interesting to see the different prices between the diffent countries. It's cheaper to buy in Austria so many people make a special trip across the border just to fill up the car! The differences in price are caused by the way petrol is taxed in each country.hough sometimes you see a police-stop at the border (there was one at St Margrethen between Switzerland and Austria). They don’t usually check the cars, just the trucks.
We decided to stop for a break in Bregenz, an Austrian town at the side of the lake. It has an ancient history dating back to Celtic settlements over 3,000 years ago. We had a good walk around the waterfront, visiting a rather unusual-looking unfinished lakeside open-air theatre. Performances will cost €100 a seat! Ouch! Nearby was a marina where the Stadt Bregenz was moored (centre), and just past there, the town hall (RH).
We were feeling a bit hungry as we hadn't had much to eat since breakfast, so we bought some butter Bretzels – huge, butter-filled pretzels. Really nice but a bit too much butter! It gets injected into the roll in long strips about 5 mm thick! It was very welcome though as I was starting to feel quite weak and tired after all the walking an fresh air!
As it was getting on a bit and we were all rather tired, we went back to Friedrichshafen via a more inland route, and from there back to Horgenzell. We crossed into Bavaria in Germany over a river at Lindau. We had Spätzle for tea, a Swabian speciality.
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