Lindau - a day trip to Germany

Lindau is a popular resort town on a small island in the Bodensee in Germany. The Bodensee is bordered by three countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it is known as Lake Constance. It took us about two hours by train each way, although the morning trip seemed longer due to the noisy company we had in our carriage which included a large group of excited girls and at least two groups of young men who brought their weekend beer supplies with them.

In Lindau our first stop was an ATM to get some Euros (since we only had Swiss francs). Next we visited the market which is held twice a week and was very busy with stalls from local suppliers of fruit, cheese (a huge variety), fish, plants, honey, etc. We bought an icecream there and then popped in to the two churches which border the market place.

The first church was Munster 'Unserer Lieben Frau' and it was rebuilt in a lavish baroque style after the fire that destroyed much of the Old Town in 1728.

The second church, St Stephan's became a Protestant church in 1528, survived the fire and has a much more austere style with modern stained glass windows.

We wandered leisurely through the town, admiring the beautiful frescoed facades on the Cavazzen House (now the city museum) and the Old Town Hall in particular.

Lake cruises are very popular in Lindau and we decided to take the one-hour cruise around the Bay of Bregenz. On a clear day the view of the snow covered peaks in the distance must be magical - but, although sunny today, it was too hazy to see them clearly.

We sat on some chairs on the promenade to eat our lunch - I enjoyed a roll with smoked herring and onion which I bought at the market - then we walked out along the harbour wall to the new lighthouse which was built in 1856. While I climbed the old wooden circular staircase inside the lighthouse and enjoyed the view from the top, Ian took photos of the large statue of the Bavarian Lion which stands guard over the harbour.

Then it was time to catch the train back to Zurich where we had a dinner booking.

We enjoyed a special dinner at Le Dezaley, a restaurant in Romergasse, just a couple of blocks from our apartment. Ian had a pork schnitzel with cheese gratin, mushroom and bacon, with duchess potatoes, followed by apple fritters and vanilla sauce. Robyn had trout with a lemon sauce, rice and mixed vegetables, followed by chocolate cake, strawberries and icecream. It was a lovely evening in an interesting restaurant where the speciality seemed to be various types of fondue.