Will try to post pictures separately, since we had no wifi last night and wifi here at the hostel in Lindau is super slow.
Sunday was the mellowist day we’ve spent in a long time, even with the morning spent booking the overnights for the next week or so. In the afternoon, our big adventures were a trip to the grocery store at the train station, and a trip to the birthday party for a friend of Carrie and Brent’s. The grocery store was a 10-minute walk and was the only thing open nearby (almost everything is closed on Sundays except for some grocery stores, and, apparently, Starbucks). It was nuts despite the limited offerings and we were glad to find the staples we were picking up for Carrie, some treats for ourselves, and get out of there as fast as we could.
Sadly the trip to the birthday party was quite brief, since poor young Alasdair (Carrie’s youngest) was fighting a bug and wanted to go home not long after we arrived. We did at least manage to down a glass of prosecco each and meet some pleasant folks (mainly ex-pats).
The best part of the day was another great evening and tasty home-cooked dinner of a spectacular pasta dish provided by Brent and Carrie, along with some very good wine of course.
It was good that Sunday was mellow because Monday was HARD, including saying goodbye to our fantastic hosts and their lovely children. The weekend had been a total tonic for us and I don’t know if we could have been more rested for Monday.
Every time we estimate 50km of riding based on maps/Google, it’s longer. Monday was 45 miles (73 km) with 1,960 feet or so feet of climbing. On the up side, it was probably as beautiful as any day we’ve had. Switzerland is spectacular, particularly when it’s almost 80 degrees out. Our favorite spot was the village of Bachs and the area around it. We kept saying “ooh” and “aah” and “look at that” to each other. If it hadn’t been for the hills (one sign helpfully warned us we had 110 meters of climbing over the next 4 kilometers) it would have been perfect. It was a struggle, including a section that reminded Angie and I of Lookout Mountain in our very own Colorado, but at least there were a couple of bathrooms on the route and some cool downhills. I actually preferred the gravel trails to the hills on this day.
We were concerned after all that climbing (and we didn’t actually know how much until after we finished riding), that since we were staying in a castle, we’d have some horrid, steep climb up from the town to the castle, but it was just mainly a slog at that point and before we knew it, we were there. It wasn’t possible to see the castle from the distance but it was quite a pleasant structure, if not spectacular.
Our accommodation for the night was within an older part of the castle and was pretty primitive (and of course on the top floor). We were in a hostel that had co-ed dorms for the first time and it was a bit peculiar but ok. The showers and toilet were outside the room and pretty decrepit but at least we found the shower to be refreshing. All the doors and floors of the building creaked and it didn’t seem like maintenance or upgrading were much of a priority.
Some of the hostels we’ve stayed at offer dinner for a little bit extra but Angie declined on behalf of both of us after hearing the menu, which was pasta, and the only meat on offer was bacon, which neither of us eats. After Sunday night’s great pasta dinner, we couldn’t imagine being other than disappointed. Angie had scoped out the menu at the restaurant next door, which was our only option other than a picnic with our own food or going back into the town of Dachsen to find something. Since there were things on the menu at the restaurant that each of us could eat, we decided to say the heck with the expense and just eat there. It was actually pretty good and probably not much more expensive than a restaurant anywhere else in Europe, especially given the quality of the food. It was great to be able to eat out and have some great vegetables with our proteins and to down a couple of bottles of mineral water to help rehydrate ourselves. There were hardly any other diners there, maybe because it caters more to a lunch crowd of the tourists visiting the castle. We weren’t sure why it stays open for dinner, but were quite thankful that it does.
A tough day, but we finished it well, other than the sleeping in a room full of strangers bit. We’ve been fairly lucky with the dorms we’ve been assigned on the whole, and I think this felt like one of the least private we’ve been in.