Where On Earth ...?

This phrase could apply to quite a few subjects and situations we found ourselves in today. For example ...

(Come on in ....)

Where on earth ... could you turn up at an enormous garage to find hundreds of bikes either being stored, awaiting servicing or ready to be collected, and still to have the young attendant find those allocated to you in seconds? 

The bikes are everything I could have dreamed of and more - the perfect size (figured out in advance from our pre-notified height), like new, with incredibly comfortable saddles, uber simple, effective gears and brakes, fitted with a mileometer, cushioned handlebars, a thing in which to tuck your map, and panniers contains a personalised first aid kit, wet weather rain cover for your saddle, digital locks and a full tool kit! This thing is better equipped than my car!

Where on earth ... could you follow the cycle path through a nature reserve onto the Reichenau peninsular only to find yourself in what can only be described as a giant allotment? HRH was in heaven. This place was a feast for all the senses. We've decided we shall add celeriac and fennel to the kitchen garden for next year, if only for the aroma. We passed greenhouses the size of small villages, a vast abundance of heavily laden fruit trees and vines, and field upon varied field of salad and vegetables. One website I landed on a few weeks ago described cycling this stage in September "like riding into a harvest festival". It wasn't wrong. We couldn't help but be thankful we were here and now, and that we hadn't visited in the spring, when the earth would have been been busy nurturing it's seeds but with them all tucked up beneath a blanket of brown! 

From Reichenau we caught our pre-booked crossing (eventually! "Where on earth is that schiffhausen?" - we almost missed the ferry, ooops) and hopped across the water to the northern shores of the lake heading west, hugging the lakeside.

(Here you can see Konstanz on the far right, the Reichenau peninsular top centre and our evening destination far left) 

(And here, HRH's contribution to the photographs, taken on board. Silly, but funny none the less).

Today was a relatively short introductory day during which we covered 31Km, stopping for a late lunch in Wangen and arriving in Stein am Rhine shortly before 4pm. We had cause to pop into a shop on arrival but in the end decided on returning in the morning. "Not in Switzerland. I'm afraid the shops close on a Monday," we were helpfully advised by the assistant. "In Switzerland?", says I, thinking where on earth ...? "Aren't we in Germany?" Nope! No one told us we'd crossed a border, requested passports, or made a fuss. Only the currency is different, and the flags. 

Stein am Rhine is utterly charming. As HRH put it, it's like walking through a Disney set. I shall leave the photographs to tell the tale. 

We dined in the town square. I got my first taste of spetzle and HRH pronounced the local rotwein more than adequate, after which we ended the evening chatting over liqueurs with another English-speaking couple from, where on earth? Australia!