The forecast is very good – for tomorrow........

I went to the supermarket and bakery for supplies and we ate breakfast in the apartment . It was nice to spread out and have toast for a change. Then we set out to explore the town at our leisure. There is an upper level where out apartment is and a lower level by the lake.

We went first to the information centre to get an English guide and to confirm that the card that we were given by Sandra, the agent, gave us discounts. We wandered through a few shops. We liked the nylon whirly things similar to the one John bought on a previous stay, however our favourites were some metal spinning things – except for the price. They made a great optical illusion. We also saw a bubble blowing teddy bear like the one we saw on the Romantic Road. A young girl was having a great time playing with the bubbles.

We then went to the Zeppelin museum and we did get a discount. It was all in German but the woman in charge was a real enthusiast. She was amazed that people fly for 25 hours from NZ to get to Europe. She did point out a few things to us in a combination of basic German and English but then a German couple arrived and she mainly showed then around. There was even a Bodensee (German name for the lake) airship – a smaller one that we think she was saying went across the lake from Friedrichshafen, a town a bit further around the lake from here. We think she said that the Bodensee would take 12 passengers while the Hindenburg took 400.

We admired the fancy china and saw they even had flowers on the tables – it would be stable so that made sense . They had a basin with taps that was made of aluminum – in fact lots of things from aluminum to obviously reduce the weight (and increase the fire risk). There was a machine gun, presumably from when the airships were used in the war. This reminded JB of an old school mate of his grandfather (Poppy) who won a VC for shooting down airships. JB remembers his surname was Ball. There was a time-line showing they were made from 1900 to 1936 and a few mementos of the Hindenburg. The contents of the museum had all been a personal collection now donated to the town. We had just taken a photo of a letter from Adolf Hitler when we saw the no photos sign. Oops. We usually look out for them but we just hadn't seen one here before then.

We thought about visiting the Old Castle which is at least 1000 years old. It dominates the skyline and we had taken a few photos of it already, however, our guide book seemed to emphasize the displays of medieval amour although also mentioning 30 furnished rooms . We went instead to the New Schloss, built between 1712 and 1740 for the prince bishops of the area.

The New Castle had a Leonardo De Vinci display that we had seen advertised around the town. I was a bit concerned it might be the one I had seen in Nelson but it was different. This was not interactive but did have replicas of some of his designs. However it emphasised more his drawings and also had screens with information in a variety of languages including English.

We were reminded of the range of his abilities. Mathematical and geometrical pages were followed by precise anatomical drawings. And his engineering ideas were so advanced. We looked mainly at his flying and bridge designs but there were also his military designs and his bicycle.

The 2nd floor had furniture that seemed to he designed for the building when it was a palace. We assumed this because the pieces were so big it is hard to see them fitting anywhere else. There was also some wonderful cabinet making . It was only as we left we looked at the ceiling with it’s magnificent frescos. The balustrade for the staircase was also wonderfully intricate in it’s design.

We only had to cross the square to go back to our apartment for lunch.

The weather had not been as bad as we had feared . It had stayed cloudy but we had not had rain so we decided to take a ferry to Konstanz which is on the other side of the lake. We had a timetable form the information centre so knew there was one at 2.30pm with a 4pm or 6pm option for the return.

The lake is so big that the curvature of the earth means you can never see the full length from shore. But the distance across from Meersburg to Konstanz is about 6km - 7km so it less than 30 minutes on the water. Both these places are in Germany although the Swiss border also goes through Konstanz and part of the shore line of the lake is in Austria.

We sat outside for most of the sailing. From the boat it is clear that Meersbug has the two levels, a number of properties (mainly hotels and cafes) near the lake edge and the upper town with the Castles, and other prominent buildings which we found were a state wine building and a Grammar school.

When we arrived at Konstanz we did first go to see the rotating prostitute – or more officially Imperia, the statue of the courtesan . She holds naked figures of the King and the Pope in her hands, showing the power of the courtesans of the time.

We walked along the waterfront, then returned and went into the main street. There were a number of children playing near the special fountain. This has a horse with 8 legs and "rabbit seals". There was a tour group being told about it and one brave member sat on the horse for the rest to photograph.

We then headed for the Cathedral, in part because there was a cache there. Like so many places there was also a very large church only 200m or less away from the Cathedral – the size and number of churches is amazing. We found the cache and checked out the nearby Roman ruins before heading into the cathedral.

The first challenge is to get in as the door is very heavy and intricately carved.. The entrance door is a quarter of the main door and redone so well that it is hard to find. As all information was in German we just wandered around and admired the stained glass and the altar. We did see dates that only had 3 digits including winter 401/402 but we assume it referred to a previous building on the site

We decided to return on the 4pm ferry which was a bit of a rush but we didn’t want to wait until 6pm. Konstanz did really deserve the extra time but we had decided to go to the Thermal Baths in Meersburg tonight . We thought the return was via the Flower Island, Minau, but it was direct to Meersburg so we just had time to drink the coffee we had ordered. Minau also deserves a visit but not on a cloudy day we decided.

We then walked to the other end of the lakeside part to find a huge car park and also the car ferry. There seemed to be at least 2 boats doing continual crossings, for vehicles and also passengers. It must save a drive of about 1 hour around the lake and longer in high season with busy roads.

We ordered just Spagel soup – cream of asparagus – at a restaurant on the waterfront. Their prices reflected the location and the full English menu but we only wanted soup. After about 15 minutes when we decided we had been forgotten we were in the process of leaving when the flustered waiter ran after us, saying it was ready. He seemed surprised that we were in a hurry but we paid him on the spot then ate the very nice soup before going back to the apartment.

On our way back we saw a young man dressed in an old fashioned outfit. Then we realised that some form of music practice was happening in a building behind the apartment. When the door opened we realised all the musicians were so dressed. It would be interesting to know the full story.

We ate some of our food then walked down to the Therme .

We had a lovely time in the mineral pool but it did not go smoothly. First we were half way there when I realised I have left the visitors pass behind. It was not worth returning for 1 euro we decided. We arrived and found no-one at the counter. Fortunately another person was also waiting and she wandered off to find a staff member. We were asked about our yellow token??? After a few bemused moments I realised it was for a parking refund and we had walked. We got a happy hour discount as the Therme closed at 10pm and it was 8pm. Then we got blue tokens but no explanation of their purpose. We followed the person before us and found it got us through the barrier – or should have but mine didn’t work. I assumed it was my error but the cashier tried and it spat back at her as well so she had to replace mine.

When we went to change I discovered that there were cubicles that you entered from one side and exited to another but I never did work out how to lock them . I went through to find lockers with keys and worked out that the blue token allowed the lock to work. They key was on a strap to wear on your wrist. All very sensible but it took a bit of watching others and following.

There were two pool rooms but as they were different temperatures we, like every other person, stayed in the warmer one. This also allowed you to go outside – through a plastic sort of curtain. It was lovely in the outside pool with a view over the lake – and usually you would have seen the mountains which would have been magic. This pool had spurting fountains and a shower type outlet as well as jets from the bottom. These turned on and off in a sequence throughout the time we were there. JB struggled because about 70m away a group of about 10 buxom young women were swimming totally starkers in the lake!!!

The inside pool had some hard jets from the bottom, others from the side and, my favourite, a bed of them at the side you could lie on . These also turned on and off in sequence. We moved from one area to another until it was getting too cool to be outside. We had just decided to get out in 2 minutes when the jets went off and people were asked to leave the pool.

As there were only 6 of us left in total I was surprised to find extra people changing but they would have been in the sauna area. I still couldn’t lock the changing area so tried to hurry but we had taken one hand towel in error and I had that. I had worked out that I should leave the key in the locker and take the blue chip but got flustered and left it behind. When I met John had had his key and so I told him to leave this key in the locker while I went back for my blue chip. Well my changing cubicle was occupied and so I asked the cashier what I could do. If I could show evidence of paying to enter it would be 5 euro for the missing chip!! I worked out how to get back to the locker to confirm it was not there and some helpful women offered to ask the occupant of the cubicle. By then it was empty but no chip. They suggested it might have been handed in but it wasn’t. So an expensive bit of carelessness.

We had a nice walk back to the apartment and then sorted some packing before bed