Hotel Helvetia Lindau

Das Abreisedatum rückt näher - noch 7 Wochen und dann geht es los.
Einmal um die Welt - oft darüber gesprochen, viel davon geträumt - bald wird es Realität.

Die Reisevorbereitungen werden intensiver, langsam macht man sich Gedanken, was man alles einpacken wird - nur nicht zu viel! Mal sehen ob das mit dem Vorsatz klappt :)
Vandans, Vorarlberg, Austria auszeit2010

... Velo auf die Meiersalp gefahren und habe dort gecampt. Die Nacht war Sternenklar und die Temperaturen auch noch relativ hoch (ca. 5 Grad Celsius). Es wird deshalb bestimmt nicht meine letzte Testfahrt gewesen sein.

Hier noch ein paar Bilder...

We were planning to go to Liechtenstein but thought we may as well as it was sort of on our way. It's the worlds 6 smallest country so it would have been rude not to go..haha.

We didn't drive to the main town but to another.. where really there wasn't anything. I did get a photo with the tourist sign though. Had to somehow prove I'd been there!

... main city) and the surrounding area, and then walked around the town.

The next day we went into St Gallen with Elsa. We walked around the old city, and visited their beautiful church and main shopping centres. In the eve Heinz cooked my favorite dinner ever – Roesti!! And we watched 'Inspector Rex'.

On Friday Elsa took us to a mountain up a gondola, and we went for a walk. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best – very ...

Departed Munich by train shortly after noon and arrived in Lindau at about 3 PM. Walked the 3 miles from the station to the hotel following some print-out maps. By the time I arrived I could only think about one thing and that was the weight of the two packs when zipped together. Believe me the vast majoeity of the gear will stay in the hotel for all future day trips and I will carry only what is essential ...

Our third stop of the day was our first in Austria. Now I was entering undiscovered lands! Feldkirch is right on the Switzerland border. The old town centre is surrounded by towers, and a castle sits on a hill above.

We explored Feldkirch and a few of its towers. The old town is quite charming with its colorful buildings, trickling fountains, and small shops. When we tried to ...

... can't take photos in the library and I can describe in words the beauty of the library sufficiently. Let's just say if you have the chance, go take a look.

It was time for food so we found a little cafe and had a bite to eat before tracking down my parents again. They were hungry because they had been waiting for us before they ate (oops!) so we returned to the same cafe and they had a quick meal before we returned to the car. Next stop: Austria!

Work has been quite slow lately so since I had nothing better to do today, I took a train to Sargans, Switzerland, and then waited for a bus to Vaduz, Liechtenstein. I missed the bus that left 4 minutes after I arrived. By missed, I mean I couldn't find it until I saw it driving past me. And there are only two or three bus stands in Sargans at the train station, so it was completely due to a lack of intelligence on my part.

Once I ...

... Frederick Schafferstrasse (street),,,looked very similar to the name Frederick Shaffner!! Layton had found me a cloth map earlier in the day that had both Bern and Basel towns where we know Heinrich Schaffner went! We asked at our hotel about a restaurant and walked to a great Mexican Restaurant 20 minutes away...delicious food!! The sun is out today and Jim saw apples being harvested really close on his walk...

... We came back to Lindau to eat and find a place to watch the Russia-Netherlands soccer game. To our general surprise, Russia won. I still find it strange that I actively avoid watching sports games in America but somehow mildly enjoy the European Championship games here. Part of it is probably that my host family watches the games a lot, but still. Sunday we spent the day swimming in the Bodensee, and although the weather was hot and the water cold, it was ...