11 April 2015 - Meersburg and some fresh air!!

Well the doorbell rang 4 times this morning so we really did feel like locals!!!  The JW's were after us again and I think I stunned them somewhat speaking in English.  They must have a spring campaign because I was approached just the other day.  Then it was the parcel delivery for Marcus next door which we accepted on his behalf and then it was the landlord's brother coming to fix Annika's bed which kept collapsing. (He came twice and rang the bell both times and Annika's bed is good now!)  The trouble with the door bell ringing is that is a signal for Luke to go wild and yet another excuse for him to leap about instead of doing the last bit of school work for this unit.  Thankfully, eventually, he finished the requirement.

Annika had cooked some delicious vegetable soup for lunch which was just what we needed.  We took a moment to pause and think about Janette, Karl's sister getting married today to Ralph Harland.  We were so sad to have missed the special occasion but in all practicality, we just couldn't go.  We have seen one lovely photo so far and can't wait for more.  The time difference enforces us to be patient while the photos come through!  Janette and Ralph are driving around Australia for four months combining long service leave with a honeymoon and adventure.  Loads of fun!!  I think Karl's parents are feeling a bit deserted!

Gorgeous tulip display

Finally, we were ready to have an excursion and we all needed it!  As we have the car, we drove to Meersburg.  The problem with driving to places is that you need to have somewhere to park and little towns seem to lack such places for free!  The roads are so narrow that parking on the roadside is not possible.  When you consider that these historic towns are often hundreds of years old it is understandable that parking wasn't considered back during their construction!

Caught on camera but well camouflaged!

We did find a park eventually and headed down a road and by some forest where we spotted the white tails of some deer sprinting through the trees.

 

Vineyard overlooking Lake Constance

The grapes have a good view!!

 Following the path up through vineyards and over a hill Lake Constance suddenly came into view!  Lovely!  The car ferries and beautiful old buildings by the lake paint a picturesque scene.

Wildflowers between the rows!

Fitting water tank!

Grand buildings!

Many buildings from 1500's

There must have been bears in the forest...

The oldest part of Meersburg is so incredibly quaint and very well maintained and neat. It was just pure pleasure to wander through!

Oma's Kaufhaus - full of trinkets and decorated eggs!

Bubble blowing bear!

I love all these arches!

Town Hall!

Street scene

Front of the castle!

Check out the level of the floor beams!

Down to the Lake

Seat with a view!

Lakeside building

We did discover that bakeries late on Saturday afternoon have little stock left and abandoned the idea of buying our treat there in Meersburg.  We walked back to the car and plan to explore Meersburg more thoroughly later.  With our Tom Tom we got back to Bermatingen via a different route and stopped at our local shop for the last of their bakery treats and drove to some forest to eat our treats.  We saw another deer running across the path which was thrilling!

There's always the backerei

 All that remained in the bakery was some linzertorte, a buttery, nutty, crunchy pastry with raspberry preserve - rich and memorable as we stood munching our portions in the forest! And one other almond swirly delight...which we also shared!

The forest where we had our snack -  so, so so quiet!

Saturday night - pizza and movie night!  Luke was content with some Octonauts which worked well so we could watch a more sophisticated movie: "Argo" - great film and good choice, thanks Tim!