There is no noticeable difference between the two regions in the title, it's just that the latter is closest to Austria and Switzerland. So both are in the foothills of the Alps. We zigzagged back and forth between the two the last two days, seeing some amazing sights.
Yesterday we started at Steinhausen, a lovely baroque church in a tiny town. It is currently under restoration. (The kids always said you could recognize a church by the scaffolding around it.) This Sunday they will dedicate the cross and orb which will be lifted to the top of the spire in the next few weeks. Fabulous painting, carvings and free standing figures. Take a look:
In the afternoon, we ventured to the Federsee, site of a primitive settlement in the area of 5000 years ago. The lake that they settled around has diminished considerably and today it is little more than a 1 meter deep pond, but home to dozens of swans and families of ducks. The walk to the lake is a 1.5 km boardwalk with marsh plants encroaching more and more into the lake. It was amazing that the original settlers here lived in teepees and log houses so similar to the North American natives.
Today we had a totally different (delicious) focus: A cheese fest in Lindenberg. Almost all the cheeses were of the area, but the variety of flavours and textures was amazing. Kids even took a ride in a goat-pulled wagon.
We needed to go for a walk after all that cheese sampling and there is no better place than along the water, so it was back to Lake Constance at Langenargen. OK, we couldn't pass up the elderberry ice cream, or the extra black!
The Lake Constance area is a major fruit growing part of Germany. It's mostly apples, some pears and hops. The trees are dwarfed, and grown under fine netting to protect them from birds and hail.
We have put many kilometers on Johanna's car in the past two days, but always enjoyed the ride together. And then there are the meals --oh my!
Elderberry ice cream, cool
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