Germany Trip Day 11: A Visit with Conny in Nonnenhorn

At 6:30am, the church bells woke us up by their incessant ringing. I groaned in annoyance and tried to go back to sleep before the kids woke up. It worked for a short while, but, due to the other street noise, we didn't sleep much past seven. We got up and got ready for the day, we made our way to the restaurant across the street for breakfast. On such a pleasant morning, we sat outside in the fresh air. The birds were also looking for breakfast, and the kids enjoyed watching them hop curiously toward us, looking for any crumbs that may have fallen from our table.

After we finished eating and packing, Timo attempted to check out, learning that they would not accept our credit card. He then walked around, looking for an ATM while I waited with the kids in the small play area by the restaurant.

View from our window. That is the restaurant on the left.

Our hotel. Our window is the one on the third floor, left side. Both windows were ours, but the one that is open was the one to the main room.

After Timo paid the bill, we decided to walk around the town for a little bit. First, we headed to the lake. The portion of the lake we were by wasn't really good for swimming, but it didn't matter since AJ couldn't get his head wet due to the glue. Then, we explored the streets of the town.

Most of our family by Lake Constance


A cute half-timber house with some cute boys in front.

I saw this church as we were walking around, and I decided to go in.

Inside the church

In front of the church.

It was getting close to the time when Conny's train would arrive, so we ambled in the general direction of the train station to wait. Kristen, especially, was excited about her impending arrival.

Waiting for Conny to arrive at the train station

Conny's train coming into the station

A happy reunion

Before we did anything else, we used our new-found translator to help us buy some anti-histamine medicine for Kristen. Her allergies had been bothering her, and I was dangerously low on Benedryl. Conny was a good sport, translating to the lady at the pharmacy, and we came out of there with a bottle of medicine that later came in handy.

After leaving the pharmacy, we decided to find a restaurant. Our first stop was a pizza place, but it was closed for lunch, so we moved on. I decided that we should probably find a place to eat by the water, since we were by the lake and all. We therefore retraced some of our earlier steps and stopped at a restaurant with seating overlooking Lake Constance. As we looked through the items on the menu, I decided to just ask Conny what I should order. I wanted German food, but I didn't want to end up making a similar mistake as Timo had the night before. She did a great job. My meal was delicious.

Waiting for our food at the restaurant

My appetizer

My lunch: Schwäbischer Zwiebelrostbraten

After we had finished eating, we walked down to the shore to put our feet in the water. The sky was hazy, and the water had lost its blue luster from the day before, but it was still fun to just be there with Conny.

Conny with K and AJ starting to wade in the water

H found this shovel in a play area by the restaurant

Wading

H tasting rocks. He does this quite often.

Some tiny shells we found in the rocks. We put them in Conny's shoe for the picture.


Enjoying the water and each other.

Best friends?

Family picture

The Zeppelin Museum is located in nearby Friedrichshafen, and there are regular tours over the lake for anyone willing to pay a hefty fee. We saw this one as we were standing by the shore.

We still had to drive to our hotel in Hohenschwangau, so we decided it was time to say goodbye to Conny. We walked her to the train station, and I waited with her while Timo went to the grocery store to buy a new toothbrush (he thought he had forgotten his old on in Maulberg). She checked the schedule, and found the next train to Friedrichshafen, but, shortly after we arrived, a train to Stutgartt (close to where she lives) arrived, so she took that instead. I am so glad she had a much shorter and more direct train ride home. It was such a blessing to see her again.

Nonnenhorn didn't impress me that much as a town. If I could do it over, I would probably have booked a hotel in Meersburg, but this worked for our time there.

Germany Trip Day 10: Maulberg to Stein am Rhein to Nonnenhorn

The morning was spent packing up and getting ready to leave. Karen helped us make an appointment with a doctor in the town we would visit in a few days to follow up on AJ's head. We traded pictures from our stay, and she shared with us a fun town to visit on our way to our next hotel.

We finally left around 11 o'clock, heading south towards Switzerland. Even though Switzerland is not part of the EU, we did not have to show our passports when crossing the border. We only had to stop to buy a sticker for our car that would give us permission to drive on the Swiss autobahn.

The Swiss countryside was beautiful. The road also included some of the longest tunnels I have ever driven in. We drove down, around Zurich, and then set our sights on Stein am Rhein, a little jewel-of-a-town that sits next to the Swiss portion of the Rhine.

A castle and vineyard in Switzerland.

Stein am Rhein is a town full of painted half-timber buildings that line the main street. I am not sure what all there is to do there for an extended stay, but it was great for a day-trip. When we got there, we stepped into this building to get out of the sun for a moment, and we discovered it to hold a few displays of historical scenes from the town.

Inside a little mini-museum in Stein am Rhein

Once outside again, we enjoyed the artistic talent displayed on virtually every building in sight.

One of these buildings holds a grocery store in the bottom.

I love so much about this building -- the roof-line, the half-timber upper half, the painted lower portion, and the arched doorways.

After walking around the streets a little, we stopped at a crepe restaurant for lunch. We didn't realize what kind of restaurant it was when we sat down, but it worked well for us. Even H enjoyed some of the kids' crepes -- when he was sitting still. They had no high chair for him (which we experienced a lot), and he kept wanting to wander down the street. We all took turns chasing him.

Waiting for crepes

K and AJ eating their ham and cheese crepes

Timo's crepe

K and H by a fountain near the restaurant

After lunch, we continued down the road...

Walking down the street in Stein am Rhein

... and discovered a store that specializes in Swiss chocolate. I was in heaven. Too bad it was so hot outside. I just didn't have any place to keep the chocolate from melting, so I settled for a few bites of chocolate for the kids and one bar for myself -- a chocolate rasberry bar from Lindt.

One of the shelves of chocolate

The presentation of some of the chocolate was so creative. You can't see it, but on the bottom is Swiss Army chocolate.

I should have bought this bar instead of just taking a picture of it.

From the chocolate store, we turned down one of the side streets and made our way to the Rhine

Timo by an interesting ivy-covered tower

AJ by the Rhine. It's hard to see, but that is a Swiss chocolate smile.

It was getting late, so we decided to head back to the car, snapping a few last pictures on the way.

1688 -- This building is older than the United States


Signs like these were everywhere in Stein am Rhein, and I later noticed them many places in Germany, too. So artistic!

This was just fun


A castle on the hill by Stein am Rhine

To get to Nonnenhorn, we took the scenic route along Lake Constance. The views of the vineyards and pear orchards that lined the lake were breathtaking, but it was almost impossible to find a good spot to take a picture. I had no idea that this was a big pear area, but we saw orchard after orchard as we drove along. The sparkling water reflected the clear blue sky perfectly, and I was in awe of the beauty of God's creation more than once along this route.

One of the many views of the pear orchards along Lake Constance. This picture doesn't do justice to the beauty of the area.

Our route took us through a small portion of Austria before reaching Germany. On one road, we saw a TV camera crew, which took a shot of us driving by. I have no idea what the story was about, but I told Timo that we would be on the Austrian news that night. ;)

I think this was a house in Austria. I thought it was interesting, and I needed to take a picture of something during our short drive through Austria.

Once we were back in Germany, it was only a short distance to our hotel -- short distance, but long drive. We were driving on a road that threaded through the numerous lakeside towns along the way, and the amount of traffic on such a minor road seemed disproportional.

We finally arrived at our hotel, and Timo went to check in while I helped the kids out so they could stretch their legs and run around a little. When he returned with the key, we loaded up with bags and headed to the room. The kids enjoyed playing in the room, finding new places to play hide-and-seek in the various nooks and crannies.

Timo's and my room

The kids' adjoining room.

After the kids had gotten some of their wiggles out, we decided to visit the hotel restaurant across the street. I took a jar of baby food for H, confident that I would be able to refrigerate it when we returned to our room (Although it turned out that the fridge was broken.), and we sat down to enjoy a genuine German meal. I ordered fish, since it seemed to be fitting, given we were by the water. Timo ordered what he thought was veal. He was wrong. He had ordered liver, and not just liver. Liver surrounded by mushrooms. This was actually quite humorous given that Timo shuns mushrooms whenever possible. I have to give him credit. He ate the liver (not the mushrooms). I tried it, and, although it was well-seasoned, it was disgusting. The kids ate their usual fare of spaghetti.

While we were eating, a storm blew in. The wind had kicked up, cooling off the area. This was a much-needed blessing since the hotel lacked air conditioning, and we were concerned about the sweat causing his wound to open up. H got antsy, as usual during dinner, and it was refreshing to walk outside with him towards the water. I stood watching the fierce wind rock the boats like toys, feeling almost cold for the first time since we set foot in Germany.

That night, the wind caused our shutters to bang a little, and it made me nervous because I kept thinking someone had (or would) fall out of bed. Given the status of AJ's head, I didn't sleep until Timo finally secured the guilty shutters, allowing us to relax and nod off.