Unity Day Long Weekend

3rd of October was a public holiday in Germany, and when a holiday falls on a Thursday it often occurs that companies shut down for a long weekend. So it happened that I was merely two days into my new employment, and already got to take a day off.

Although we had to expect a mixed bag of weather we decided to travel to Lake Constance, to visit Roland's family.

When we began our journey southeast, the temperatures barely made it to two digits (Celsius), it had 8C (or 46F), and we made frequent stops to warm up, here at a McDonalds.

Fall has begun. The trees were changing their colours albeit it wasn't as spectacular as found in other places. Usually the leaves just turn brown and fall off.

After roughly 150km the sun made an appearance and and brightened up the scenery.

It was amazing that there were wildflowers still to be found this time of the year, sprinkled all over the meadows.

Lake Constance visible in the background. The area is also well known for their vineyards. Harvest season had just begun.

What appear to be clouds in the far of this picture are actually silhouettes of the Alps. If we had had more time we would have surrounded the lake to get there... maybe next year.

The baroque basilica of Birnau was built in the mid 18th century on a hill overlooking the lake. It serves as pilgrimage church and attracts thousands of worshippers from all over the world.

The sun's appearance chased the storm clouds away (at least for a while) and we enjoyed the beauty of nature.

Alonzo fits in well with the pumpkins on display. While we found that in Canada the appearance of pumpkins foreshadows the celebration of Halloween, the ritual of pumpkin carving doesn't really exist in Germany. Neither does Halloween. Although it has gained increased popularity with the younger generation it is highly unlikely for kids to go haunting neighbours for trick-or-treating.

That's Germany: Dedicated parking spots for two-wheelers. Parking for motorcycles is free of charge while cagers have to pay. That's the way we like it!

We strolled along the pier in Meersburg. In the background the buildings of the Staatsweingut. Historic documents tell that vineyards have been cultivated in this area since the 13th century.

We didn't have plans for Friday, slept in and had breakfast at noon before we set off to explore the area.  It drizzled but the clouds broke up later the day and it warmed up to 14C (57F).

Situated on the lake is an archaeological open air museum and UNESCO world heritage. Those pile dwellings from the Bronze Age were replicated after artifacts found during excavations in the area. We had visited the museum before so we were content sitting on a bench at the lake and enjoying the view.

Shortly after we had continued our little jaunt, Roland's Vespa Bella (nicknamed The Diva for a reason) developed some issues. It started with the lights flickering, and after a gas stop she refused to fire up again. We assumed an empty battery and called the ADAC (equivalent to AAA or CAA). Not even 45 minutes later, we barely got to finish our afternoon snack in a cafe across the street, a "Yellow Angel" as we Germans affectionately call those roadside assistants, showed up, and found the culprit: a lose ground cable. He fixed it within minutes, re-checked the battery and then the scooter was good to go again. The ADAC insurance is inexpensive and mighty reliable. Their personnel is extremely skilled, and their vehicles carry an abundance of tools for emergency repairs. For mechanically challenged like us this insurance is a must.

Saturday had something special in store for us. The weather was mixed again, so we decided to visit the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen.

Bad weather coming in.

Despite the heavy rain clouds it was mild and we used the dry spell to stroll along the lake.

The Zeppelin museum is directly located at the harbour.

The entrance hall has a Maybach on display. This 1938 luxury car sports a 12 cylinder V-motor with 200 hp. The vehicle is in meticulous condition and the license plate indicates that it is kept in driving condition.

A Zeppelin is a rigid airship pioneered in the early days of the last century by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. They had been used for commercial air travel and transport since 1910 and also were used for air raids in WWI.

The museum houses a replicated section of the airship LZ129 Hindenburg. The structural framework was made out of aluminum alloy, and encased by coated linen. Windows were made out of a special plastic. The motor was from Maybach. In the early days they used flammable (!!!) hydrogen in order to make it fly, since helium gas was scarce back in the days.

Today smaller versions of zeppelins are still in use for promotional purposes and regional tourism, but its commercial use as means of transportation has been long abandoned.

Sunday morning we said our goodbyes to the family and took the exact route we came due to bad weather forecast. The trip back was uneventful, and it didn't rain as hard as we expected. Temperatures were around 12C (54F) and the wind was bearable. 

In total we rode about 430km, and except for Bella's 'dizzy spell' we were quite happy with the scooters' performances.

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Langes Wochenende

Mit dem Tag der Einheit wurde auch das Wochenende eingeläutet. Gerade erst angefangen zu arbeiten, "musste" ich mir den Freitag schon wieder frei nehmen, da die Firma wegen eines Brückentages geschlossen hatte. Wir entschieden uns, trotz ungünstiger Wetterbedingungen an den Bodensee zu fahren, um Roland's Familie zu besuchen. Die Temperaturen bewegten sich im einstelligen Bereich, so dass wir uns in regelmäßigen Abständen (u.a. bei McDonalds) aufwärmen mussten. Am Bodensee kam dann die Sonne 'raus und wir besichtigten die Wallfahrtskirche Birnau. Inmitten von Weinbergen thront es auf einem Hügel. Von dort hat man einen tollen Blick über den See. Die Erntezeit hat begonnen und überall gibt es Kürbisse zu kaufen. In Kanada würden uns jetzt von Terrassen und Gärten diverse geschnitzte Kürbisfratzen entgegen grinsen, welche unweigerlich Halloween ankündigen. Hier ist es mit dem Brauch wohl noch nicht so weit her, aber es würde nicht verwundern, wenn dieses kommerzielle nordamerikanische Ritual es auch über den Teich zu uns schafft. 

Am Freitag schliefen wir lang und frühstückten ausgiebig, so dass wir erst um die Mittagszeit los kamen. Es nieselte, aber lichtete sich später. Wir machten einen Stopp in Unteruhldingen am Pfahlbau-Museum, aber da wir dieses schon kannten, genossen wir lediglich die Aussicht am See und fuhren dann weiter. Immer wieder freuten wir uns über die kostenlosen Motorradparkplätze an den Touristenattraktionen. Natürlich war es Bella, Rolands Vespa, nicht umsonst haben wir sie "Diva" getauft, die mal wieder herum spinnen musste. Erst flackerten die Lampen, und nach dem Auftanken ging gar nichts mehr. Wir vermuteten, dass die Batterie platt war und riefen die Gelben Engel, denn schließlich ist man ja ADAC Mitglied. Während wir noch einen Snack zu uns nahmen, kam bereits der Wagen. Sofort schritt der gute Mann zur Tat und fand ein loses Massekabel. Er klemmte es wieder an, testete noch die Batterie und schickte uns dann wieder auf den Weg. Toller Service, besonders wenn man technisch so begrenzt talentiert ist wie wir.

Samstag besichtigten wir das Zeppelin-Museum in Friedrichshafen. Dort war ein Maybach Wagen mit V-12 Motor ausgestellt, der durchaus noch fahrbereit schien, er trug zumindest gültige Nummernschilder. Im Museum ist ein Teilnachbau der Hindenburg LZ129 ausgestellt. Man hat einen Blick auf das Innenleben aus Aluminium. Die Dimensionen dieser Konstruktion sind gewaltig. Unglaublich, dass dieses Fluggerät mit brennbaren Wasserstoff flog, aber Helium war damals nicht zu bekommen. Wir sahen auch einen 'echten' Zeppelin. Heute werden diese nur noch zu Werbezwecken oder für Touristenfahrten verwendet.

Am Sonntag hieß es Abschied nehmen von der Familie und sich auf den dreistündigen Heimweg machen. Zwischendurch regnete es, aber wenigstens waren die Temperaturen erträglich. Insgesamt waren wir etwa 430km unterwegs. Nicht schlecht für ein Herbstwochenende.