.. exploring beautiful places at home, in the Alps or far away
The weather forecast for south Germany was very bad, but for the the sea it was looking good! So we decided quickly to book the next train to Sylt and spend some days there. We stayed in a nice hotel in Westerland. Just walking along the beach and feeling the warm sunshine on the skin was very nice. One day we rented bikes and cycled to the North of the island along the so called Ellenbogen.
A big storm was announced by the weather forecast for the evening. Tonight we tested our new Fujifilm XT-1 camera and recorded some lightning in the sky from our home terrace. So far we think the results are looking quite the promising 🙂
In addition we tried to capture the arriving storm with a few time-lapse recordings.
On a hot sunny Sunday we decided to cycle to Stuttgart airport. There is a very cool place right in front of the runway (see google maps) where the airplanes come in for landing and leave for take off - right over your heads. This is definitely nothing for everyday but worth to see once 🙂 The videos have been recorded with a Fujifilm XT-1 camera. Post processing was done with openshot.
This weekend the weather was said to be nice. For some time we already wanted to see another side of Lake Constance. So we decided to pack our bags, take our bikes and jump into the local train to Ravensburg. Our plan was to cycle from here to Konstanz and the next day from Konstanz to Singen. From there we wanted to take the local train back.
Actually Ravensburg was a quite ok place. Just today it was very crowded and quite a lot of car traffic was going round and round. After leaving the center of the city it became more quiet and it partly looked very nice. We cycled to Tettnang which is a small town about 10 kilometers away from Lake Constance. We were expecting to have a great view on the lake but actually 10 kilometers still is a bit of a distance. We continued cycling to Friedrichshafen - one of the major cities directly located at Lake Constance. Personally our first impression of the city was not that nice. One of the main roads more or less goes along the bank. Of course there are quiet places as well but somehow it is different compared to Konstanz. Furthermore most of the old buildings were destroyed in World War II. Hence many parts of the historic center were destroyed as well.
We continued cycling from Friedrichshafen to Hagnau and then to Meersburg. Finally - after about 15km - the main road left the cycle track and we arrived at Hagnau. From this point the cycling path and the landscape became very beautiful. When we arrived at Meersburg we took the ferry to Konstanz Staad (about 15 minutes). Including a bike we paid about 6€ per person.
After a good night in Konstanz we continued our tour to Radolfzell. From here we started a short excursion to the small peninsula Mettnau which holds a great nature-sanctuary. From here we continued our tour along the bank heading towards Stein am Rhein. Stein am Rhein is a small town in Switzerland where the Rhine flows into the Lake Constance. Stein has many nice medieval buildings which are painted with beautiful frescoes.
From Stein am Rhein we further cycled to the north-west and finally arrived in Singen. Overall it was a great tour - especially the part between Hagnau and Stein am Rhein 🙂
Spontaneously we decided to stay one more day in Oberstdorf than we have actually planned. The weather forecast was quite good and so we decided to go for another hike. Beside hiking we wanted to try some of the things we have learned in the photography lesson with Heinz Zak the day before. We decided to hike from Oberstdorf to the Fiderepass Hut, have a drink and then hike back to Oberstdorf. We took the "Panorama Path" up to the Fidere-Scharte and from there down to the Fiderepass Hut. The path from the Fidere-Scharte to the Fiderepass Hut was still full with snow. Especially the upper part was quite steep and not so nice. However, we finally arrived at the hut and ordered something to drink. It was so nice to sit up here in the sun watching all the mountains aground and enjoying a cold beer. This is always the moment when you can forget the hurting feet 😉 From the Fiderepass Hut we walked down to the Fellhornbahn Talstation (about 3:15). From here we took the bus back to Oberstdorf.
All in all it was a nice trip with great weather and some nice photo spots. Just around the Fidere-Scharte there was a little more snow than expected. We are already looking forward to be back in the mountains.
