Konstanz, Germany

Our plan was to travel mostly by train throughout Europe, apart from a few flights and the cycle leg in the Netherlands.

After a few nights in Frankfurt, we trained down to southwest Germany to the city of Konstanz, set on the shores of the lake of the same name (Constance in English, Bodensee in German). Konstanz is a university city, and also a popular summer holiday destination, but was still fairly quiet so early in the season.

Because it almost lies within Switzerland, directly adjacent to the Swiss border, Konstanz was not bombed by the Allied Forces during World War II. The city left all its lights on at night, and thus fooled the bombers into thinking it was actually part of Switzerland. Therefore, its Old Town remains intact and is quite extensive. Our Airbnb was on the edge of the Old Town and we loved exploring the narrow cobbled streets. The ancient history blows us

away, we can't get enough of it.

There are some cool statues in Konstanz, including 'Imperia' at the entrance to the harbour.

Lake Constance is 63 km long and situated where Germany, Switzerland and Austria meet, and the Rhine River flows through it.

Konstanz was the birthplace of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, constructor of the famous Zeppelin airships. We took the ferry across the lake to Friedrichshafen, which became known as the home to the Zeppelin Airship Company. In the fascinating museum there, you could enter a replica of the passenger area of an airship (dirigible) and, of course, there was extensive information about the history and development of airships and their eventual demise, including the famous Hindenburg disaster, which crashed and burned in a New Jersey field in 1937.

Another day we hired bikes and cycled via a causeway and beautiful avenue of

poplar trees onto and around Reichenau Island. The island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where there are traces of the Benedictine monastery founded in 724! The island is also known as the 'vegetable island' of Germany, for its abundant fruit, vegetable and flower production. The first vineyards were planted there in the 800s.

From our arrival in Europe, the weather was cooler than expected for late spring with temperatures still mostly 15' - 20' and only the occasional day over 20'. Actually these were quite ideal conditions for travelling but sure enough, this changed as summer set in and, before we knew it, we were complaining about the heat!

In Konstanz and in many other locations, we frequently came across brass plaques set into the cobbles outside houses. Their German name is Stolperstein, which means 'stumbling stone' and metaphorically 'stumbling

block', a project initiated by a German artist.

Translated, they say: "Lived Here", then the name of the person, their year of birth, when they were forcibly taken from their homes and where they were transported to (which concentration camp), what year they were murdered/died, or if they survived and/or escaped and fled to Switzerland, Palestine, Uruguay, the United States or other.

Obviously these were mostly Jews, but one day a man came out of his house as I was reading the plaque and told me that person had been a communist. These people were all German citizens murdered by their own Nazi regime. However, it is gratifying to note that Germany does not shy away from its horrific past, and the museums depict all the graphic details, unbearable as they are. It was ANZAC Day in New Zealand at the time, so our thoughts were with New Zealanders commemorating ANZAC Day back home. LEST WE FORGET