Reichenau Island

In the 9th century the first monastery was built on the island which quickly became the center of religion, culture and science. In the next two centuries two more churches were added. In 2000 Reichenau was declared a UNESCO world heritage site.

We encountered quite stormy weather, but at least it was dry most of the time.

St. Georg

Abbey Reichenau

St. Peter and Paul

A trip to Lake Constance

Lake Constance is the 2nd largest (by volume) freshwater lake in Central and Western Europe, and usually a very crowded and touristy area. So, the best time for a visit is pre-season, and before Easter holidays begin.

We set up "camp" in a modern hotel within walking distance of the old city of Konstanz, which is situated at the lake and its name giver. During our sojourn we spent our time marvelling at the medieval  buildings. The tell tale is that city was spared the bombing during WWII because it was feared to hit the adjacent city of Kreuzlingen in Switzerland. Hence, buildings from several eras have survived and were nicely restored and modernised.

    

Konstanz also has a very nice selection of restaurants, and our choices were Indian and Japanese cuisine.

Playing tour guide for friends and some autumn colours

As if there wasn't anything else on the menu all our visitors have only one request: Let's go see Heidelberg. The weather played along nicely, and we complied... it is a lovely city after all.

We noticed lots of folks celebrating German Unity Day... or maybe they were here for the wine fest? Anyway, the pedestrian zone had been packed with people.

        

     

It's about time to consider mulled wine the billboard is suggesting.

After crossing the restored old bridge with the old towers over the river Neckar we had to visit the main attraction Heidelberg castle, which is almost fully restored now. We noticed a single scaffolding left around one of the towers. Great work!

An evening walk led to hunting for some fall foliage. We do not get the spectacular colours you might see in the US or Canada but our trees are doing a pretty good job this year.