On the shores of Lake Constance
Trip Start
Jun 13, 2007
1
18
22
Trip End
Sep 23, 2007
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Hard,
Austria
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
This is what you have to expect with Ryanair - it's a country bus in the air. Seating is first in best served and do not expect any special service.
So, if Ryanair needs to drop off some spare parts for one of its plane at Frankfurt airport, do not expect to be told about it beforehand - only when you're in mid flight and unable to leave the plane.
The delay meant I missed the tail end of a wonderful balmy day on the shores of Lake Constance.
By the time we were on the autoroute, driving to my brother's place at Hard, storm clouds were gathering above and we got into the house just as the first downpour came.
Hard is a small town of about 12,000 residents on the eastern shores of Lake Constance and in Austria's westernmost province of Voralberg.
It is about a 10-minute drive from Bregenz, the capital of Voralberg, is well-know for its international festival in July and August, particularly for its opera performances on a floating stage on the lake.
Krone Gasthaus...standout building
This and last year - they put on Tosca and for the next two festivals it will be Aida. The festival program also includes another opera in the big festival hall, plays and concerts.
Hard itself is quite rural and there are still farm buildings in the middle of town. Every morning at seven you can hear cowbells when one of the farmers in town takes his cows through town to the fields nearby for grazing and at five when he brings them back, stopping all traffic.
The town is known for attractions such as its big skateboard and bicycle rink and lakeshore baths.
A small stream runs through the town and widens into a small canal at the edge of town, where there is a lock and a small pool with railings to hold on to and pebbles at the bottom said to be good for your feet to wade through.
For a small town it has a lot of pubs or 'gasthaus' as they are called here. Hard must have about 10 of them - five in the middle of town within only 100m of each other.
One of the most impressive pubs is Gasthaus Krone - probably the most standout buildings in town with a gabled roof and very colourful facade in typical Austrian style, advertising a beer garden in the back.
Yet for all is pubs the town is remarkably quiet and when I went to bed, making it an early night, there was hardly a sound to be heard. Either the pub across the street had no business or its patrons were very quiet folks.
I woke up this morning to gray skies and managed to catch the latest Olympic news on BBC One - another gold to Britain, which is in front of Australia in the medal tally. I had to go online to find out how Australia was doing.
Later Chris and I went to the market in Hard - a number of stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables in season. We bought some freshly picked raspberries and strawberries plus some newly harvested Gravenstein apples which my brother likes. At the same place they also sold home made apple juice - wonderfully fresh without any artificial sweeteners or colouring.
At another stall, selling Italian cheese and cured meat, we bought some prosciutto and a bottle of pinot grigio, which we'll try tonight.
It's my turn to cook dinner and I'll be doing my travel recipe of chicken breast with garlic and lemon rind wrapped in prosciutto.
