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Konstanz (Germany) – Kreuzlingen (Switzerland)

a foot demonstration
clean and colorful, typical Swiss train

Konstanz, Germany is on a beautiful touristy lake on the border with Switzerland. We found it cheaper to stay across the border 50 meters than to have a hotel near Konstanz station. The Swiss town is Kreuzlingen and as typical with Switzerland everything but the hotel was more expensive than in Germany, double in many instances. We found Konstanz to be a much more beautiful environment as well. A thing to remember is the currency difference. Euros are not used in Switzerland or Liechenstein. They use Swiss Francs. Now the US Dollar, Euro and Swiss Franc are about equal, give or take a few pennies so it’s pretty easy for merchants to accept the neighbor’s currency and make the calculations. Another thing to note is prepaid phone sim cards don’t cross this border without subscribing to some special, and expensive, roaming service. So I just bought a Swiss sim and switched back when back in an EU country. The signal disappears 5 meters from the border. Those phone companies surely are jealous about a few pennies.

ST. Stephan has some old murals. Note that many of the 17th century churches were built on top of or to expand 13th century churches.
german sausages
Munster Unserer Lieben Frau is built on old tunnels designed for pilgrims.
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Entering Italy, finally

with nice buffalo in the middle. We also had ravioletti ricotta

Jumping ahead on the posts to where we are today. A great relaxed feeling stepping off the train from Switzerland, finally on Italy. I just feel so “at home” here; the people, the food, the noise, the excitement and the beauty.

our restaurant recommended for the best pizza
coffee on our balcony
our water fountain
very old buildings
the municipal theater
a nice building
the local church dedicated to a miracle, it snowed near Rome one year
Each kid had their own pizza while we were full splitting one
our apartment upstairs
of course you go to a Gelateria for gelato
When “telecommunications” was new
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Liechtenstein

Vaduz castle

I just had to visit Liechtenstein. So we took the bus from Feldkirch and after 45 minutes we arrived in a modern, semi industrial country. The old town was a few “oldish” buildings but obviously this was a Swiss Franc tourist haven for what I am not sure. This country is pretty much protected from it’s long forgotten foes by huge mountains and I am guessing the countryside and especially the mountain areas are the attraction, not forgetting some wannabe millionaires deciding to stash some gold away from their government’s prying tax offices. It seems one main attraction is the 3 Euro passport stamp you can get at some of the tourist shops. Newbie tourists to Europe seem to need that. As for me, my passport fills up soon enough with one page visas Lao, Vietnam and Cambodian governments want to burden you with.

important information
Hawaii, Japan and Thailand food all in one place. Poke is now a worldwide phenomenon. Hawaiian imperialists are taking over the world! Soon we will all be required to wear zoris and aloha shirts.
make sure you have a Gute Fahrt!
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Feldkirch-near Liechtenstein

Staying near Liechtenstein, in Austria, is much cheaper so we stayed in Feldkirch and took a 45 minute ride to Vaduz in Liechtenstein. Feldkirch is a cute city and the decision to stay here was a good one. I will explain more in the Liechtenstein post.

somewhat of a tourist destination
Someone’s breakfast? Now it is “for the birds”.
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Innsbruck Alpine Zoo

Is it real?

These are all alpine animals

How long it takes for each animal to get to the Zoo station, humans included
Look at the tail, hind and front feet for clues to reality
Ever seen this bird? Well, maybe, if you have seen 10 different birds
He came to greet us, or maybe to assert his dominance?
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Innsbruck, Austria

Innsbruck is a nice city to visit, many large buildings, a very long history, and some extremely beautiful views.

Beautiful farmland
Supporting humane treatment of animals for slaughter
Traditional Austrian food, roasted pork with dumpling with a nice salad, and the Austrian version of macaroni and cheese
This traditional setting doesn’t exactly match hard rock café style
We took a break from Austrian food at some cheap Chinese restaurant
The beach in Innsbruck is really just some place to sit by the river
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Fairytale castle – Neuschwanstein – Crazy Ludwig’s (II) castle

a photoshop version

There are 2 castles close together. Hohenschwangau was built on top of a 13th century castle ruin by Ludwig II’s father and the fairytale castle (Neuschwanstein) was built by Ludwig II, also known as “crazy Ludwig” (found insane after bankrupting the family and then mysteriously died). This castle here is probably the most famous icon of Germany and is really amazing to see, though both castles are expensive to enter. Best to book Neuschwanstein a month in advance so you get a good visit time. With both castles you only get a 45 or so minute tour so it isn’t really anything close to the in depth tour of the Munich Residence.

as seen from Hohenschwangau
as seen from the bridge
long way down on the bridge
totally crowded
views from the castle
Hohenschwangau as seen from Ludwig’s castle