3/11/24
The room was comfy but it was lacking airflow. A stuffy box. The window was open initially; they open all the way like a door, in a fashion that would be illegal at home. But we closed it because of the assorted city noises. They aren’t there in the forest.
We woke up quite early, we’d gone to bed promptly and wanted to have some freedom to explore without bikes or luggage. That would be something, we thought. It was Sunday morning, and very quiet. It’s honestly still a bit spooky that they have such rest.
We walked into town, the same way as the day before but this time we detoured down some interesting streets. Meandering wherever looked interesting and intriguing. Sometimes it was hard to choose. The tall buildings lining each side of the narrow streets had dates imprinted that were hundreds of years old. The cobbled streets made it feel timeless.
We beelined for the cathedral, with its spiky spire. Beneath it was a glass window on the street, letting you view what was presumably the remains of the original building that stood there. We found a beautiful hotel with intricate paintings on it that were clearly medieval. We don’t have those often at home if at all.
Overpriced coffee was found at a mostly vegan cafe that opened at 9am. We were first through the door but plenty more streamed in. We had a piece of “cheese”cake to share but wished we’d had the apple based dessert that we’d avoided because, well, everything is apple here.
We soon headed back to the hotel the way we came, over the cycle bridge. It was pretty likely we’d be staying in Lustenau this evening as the chance of wild camping looked slim on the popular edge of the Bodensee (Lake Konstanz). It was evident from the satellite maps that it was too populated and the land was too heavily managed.
We faffed a little at the hotel, it was almost a rest day but it wasn’t to be. We loaded up the porters trolley again and checked out, well before the 2pm they’d said we could. We went once more back over the cycle bridge, but taking yet another different turn to join the EV15 and began our journey around the huge body of water.
We were by the train tracks again, criss crossing them often. Infrastructure, not terrain being the source of unwanted elevation. Down and under the railway then back up repeatedly. Houses here were obviously those of the affluent Swiss.
That’s right we were in Switzerland now. Konstanz has a small part of it that is also in Switzerland but you’d never know you crossed the border. We didn’t even realise we’d entered our third country which should have been momentous. We’d cycled to Switzerland, an achievement we felt.
It was a pretty lake edge, parks and benches as well as marinas and cafes. We were, as expected, often amongst a lot of people. They looked bemused at our picnic in the park. One of the hosts who rejected us had actually said he thought it was awesome we were still cycling in the cold. It was still 10C even without the Sun, hardly cold by British standards.
We were soon among rows and rows of apple trees. I didn’t even know the Swiss grew apples. They’d mostly been harvested but we we found the most delicious Golden Delicious apples that had fallen by the wayside.
We snacked in a hide, tucked in a water based Naturshutzgebeit. It was a tower and had lots of little doors to peer out of. There were actually birds to see unlike at home. Ducks egrets and herons but also a large black and white bird we couldn’t identify.
We couldn’t go to our lodgings until 5pm. So when we arrived at Gaißau we decided we’d complete the weird little section of the route that went near the entrance of the Rhein to the lake. It was an extra 10km but better than standing around cold we thought. It looked interesting from above.
We’d been following the new Swiss signs, their route 2 rather than the German route 8. They had their own way of signing but in no way less frequent though they didn’t always have distances on them. German signs were usually accurate to 0.1km. The Swiss signs continued but suddenly every car was Austrian. We’d actually crossed into our 4th country and 3rd of the day without even knowing, again.
This tiny bit of land is still to the west of the Rhein but is Austrian. And it felt and looked like it to. There just seemed to be this vibe about it. Flat fen like lands were around us again as we rode down busy single track lanes. It was a Sunday and they’d been parked to go for a walk we discovered.
We were a little disappointed with the scenery. We couldn’t see the Rhein as there was always a bank blocking it. The light was also fading, causing an array of pinks above the jagged mountains that we could now see. The Sun sets at 5pm so we hoped to arrive by then. We were next to the now arrow straight river but back in Switzerland.
Our accommodation was in Lustenau, which is in Austria. We soon crossed over a bridge and into the town. Our lights now on. It was a longer than usual 2km to find the house down winding streets. We couldn’t help but analyse the neighbourhood. Hoping we were staying somewhere nice and not rundown.
Claudia and Martin greeted us at their house. We’d paid £50 for a room. There was an open garage in which we were soon to put our bikes. Apparently the house is harder to find if you drive, that’s pleasing we thought. They have big signs for “Fahradstrasse” on some roads meaning it’s bicycles with priority.
This room did have a kettle. A win, as we could have couscous. The bathroom was spacious and the shower hot. Claudia even encouraged us to use the washing machine and dried our clothes for us. The first time any of them had been washed properly in 3 weeks.
She was a very interesting woman who had even written a book, in German of course, about discovering her real father at the age of 28. Her husband Martin had just returned from walking to Santiago from their house. A 3000km, 100+ day pilgrimage. Claudia had great English but I wish we could have conferred in her native tongue. It sucks to only know English.
Next to our bed was a huge wall sized poster of a beach. We laid under our now expected separate blankets. They don’t share duvets in the countries where we’ve stayed. It was peaceful and quiet here. They had nets, and shutters on the windows. All very practical.
Surly They Won't Make It 