Explorations of the Area: Ravensburg, Lindau, and Meersburg

[As a quick warning this post may be forever long.]

You know what keeps me up at night? Worrying that one day, I will wake up and take for granted how beautiful the Lake Constance area is.

Okay, maybe I don't stay up worrying about this. But I do wonder if I will get used to it. If at some point I will look around and say, "I mean, it's pretty dec". I hope this doesn't happen, but who knows. Maybe I will look at one too many lakeviews, or castles, or cottages and start shrugging my shoulders instead of staring.

This is to say I have visited some sickeningly beautiful towns recently. The first town I visited was Ravensburg, just a short train ride away. My journey there was an adventure in itself. When I got on the train there was no sign or announcement letting me know I was on the right one. I just had to assume this was the one. At the next stop they announced something about the train going to Stuttgart-a far way from where I was going, and certainly not what I had bought a ticket for! I started panicking and tried to get off.  I decided to just sit down and see what happens. Maybe I could try to explain myself to the ticket collectors. Maybe they would by sympathetic. Or maybe I would wind up in Stuttgart with a large fine to pay. The train went on for a bit, and then an announcement was made regarding all the stops on the way to Stuttgart, including Ravensburg. Whew! But really, they couldn't haven mentioned that sooner?

The day was a bit overcast. I wandered around a lot in the older part of town. I bought a backpack, as my current drawstring bag had a large pickpocket-friendly tear in the side. As much as I like this new backpack, I have since realized that a black leather backpack is not the best for bike rides in the sun, but more on that later.

This past weekend I biked to both the Island of Lindau (there is a bridge, I didn't bike through the bottom of the lake), and Meersburg. When I went to Lindau it was also overcast, but I was just glad it was dry! Again, I did a lot of walking around. I wandered down to the port and looked at the lake. I climbed up to the lion, but did not go to the top of the tower, I think I'll say that for a clearer day.

Look at my lack of crazy eyes! Kind of.

 Then, of course I ended my day with ice cream before biking back. I picked a blue ice cream called Engelblau (which I think translates as Angel Blue). It tasted like bubblegum but I ate it anyway. At this point was my only blip in the trip, in which a man decided that it was appropriate to follow me on his bike to say, among other things that I didn't understand, that my shirt matched my ice cream. I was a bit insulted really, I mean did he really think I hadn't known that and planned it accordingly? (who doesn't match their ice cream to their shirt, after all? #ellewoodsingitup).

Okay, but actually it wasn't cool. After enough dirty looks where I made eye contact then deliberately looked away (Atlas Shurgged-style), he got the picture and biked away. Whew. I like making friends, but I am not that desperate.

In real life the colors matched more
and the ice cream was not
fluorescent, I promise!

On Sunday, I apparently had not had enough of biking, so I biked in the other direction to Meersburg. I had the brilliant plan to leave at midday and be on a path with little shade. Also, let's go back to that black backpack. Yeah, I have not been so sweaty for so long ever. Although I dried off (really, I was gross after the 2 hours), I never really cooled off once I got to Meersburg, as it was still pretty hot out.

Meersburg has by far been my favorite place so far. It was so beautiful I wanted to pinch the cheeks of a fat baby penguin and scream. I left my bike at the ferry stop, along with a million other bikes, and spent the day walking around.

To get out of the sun, I visited the Neues Schloss (New Castle). It was nice, but I think I might be mostly castled out. I mean, I want to look at the outsides of castles, and maybe the insides of a select few, but the insides are mostly just "and here is were King somethingblablablerg and Queen blergblablasomething slept" and some paintings of dead royalty. I think it really might be the outsides that I am just interested in, but we'll see.

This castle was pink.The 5 year old girl in me who had plans to move to England and wait until she was old enough to marry a prince died a little. There was a wedding going on, which was cool. I mean, how many people get to say they got married in a castle? It was very sweet, until they started playing Bruno Mars' I Think I Wanna Marry You at the end. Nothing says romance like "Oh hey, I'm bored. Want to get married? And if it doesn't last that's fine by me." 

Maybe I was being a bit judgemental. I really don't like Bruno Mars. But still. Of all the songs about love, why that one?

I walked around more, and finally I found a spot on top of a hill, where I just sat in the shade and stared at the lake and the old castle and everything for approximately a forever and a half.

The ride back was long, and I was exhausted. I stopped to get ice cream at what turned out to be an alcoholic ice cream place of sorts- there were different wine flavored ice creams, and lots of sundaes with liquors. Although I was really curious, I had to bike back and did not fancy getting a BUI :P

The best part though, was when I got home I saw this:

A note with directions to make pizza, with dough and other ingredients all ready to go in the fridge from my Host Mom :) Twas the best! I was so beat.

More biking adventures to come soon! As long as the rain clears up by the weekend.