Spring 2012, Europe, Part 3 of 4

May 22-24


Our friendly Italian host in Konstanz greeted us at our B&B Wiesentäler Hof Hotel garni, a corner building at the meeting pint of two cobble stone lanes. We couldn’t wait to get into our room and freshen up. What a day it had been! The room was comfy with a large floor-to-ceiling window facing a residential building and on the third floor. After unpacking quickly and freshening up, we came down and decided to dine right at the B&B’s La Cucina restaurant.

The co-owner who spoke very little English just like his greeting brother earlier, who spoke even less English, somehow understood our vegetarian needs and explained in many different ways in Italian mainly the special dinner he could whip up for us for just 15 euros apiece, which was 20 euros off the regular price because “I slept with him,” he said. I think B was scandalized. What the brother meant was we were guests at his B&B. Noodle was mentioned and so we assumed that we’d get some nice noodle pasta. How could one go wrong with this offering? When he mentioned pepperoni, I vehemently objected to it to which he responded, “No pepperoni?’ It occurred to me he meant pepper and I was right.

We took seats at a table on the sidewalk outside La Cucina and tokk in the street scene, which consisted of a few slow moving cars, a few people walking their dogs, and a fashionably dressed strolling couple. It was a quiet corner with just the two of us diners. Soon after the wine we had ordered arrived, the first course, a nice salad with sauted mushrooms, peeled onion marinated in vinegar, roasted strips of yellow pepper and some fresh grapes was served. It was truly delicious. Konstanz is famous for its produce due to its excellent climate.

I expected the main dish to be even tastier. My hope was dashed. No noodle showed up but in its place a bowl of sticky gooey cocoon-like “pasta.” No, it was not shell pasta. Had we chosen to finish the entire bowl of this sticky dish we’d still be in Konstanz. B and I ate as much as we could it in total silence. Every time, the greeter brother showed up to check, I nodded my head pleasantly, flashed a smile even as my eyeballs were sinking in their sockets, and said, “Bellassimo!’ He was delighted to hear this, and in turn flashing a broad smile of his own, revealed through hand gestures that it was his mama’s recipe from yore. I don’t know what I’d have done to his mother had I met her. We left quite a bit of the cocoons in the bowl—I rarely waste--and waited for the dessert (I knew dessert was included). It was a mango sauce topped custard, classy-looking and only mildly sweet, which normally is not to my taste. As we began our dessert it began to drizzle mildly. We took our dessert inside, finished it and then went for a stroll. The mall security (the shops were closed) managed to direct us to the church (Konstanz Munster) I had heard so much about. Along the way, were many restaurants including an American restaurant and an Irish Pub with menus in English. In the last few days, the value of English had gone up for me multi-fold.

The streets were quiet, traffic was sparse, the night was young, and the light on-off unobtrusive drizzle made it all very romantic. I checked the prices of items in the shop windows and found some fashion sandals reasonably priced. I planned on shopping the next morning but this didn’t happen as our train was at 9:03 to Zurich. We took a leisurely stroll toward the church. A couple of ice cream places (gelatarias) were open for business and a few stragglers straggled in.

The 7th century Konstanz Munster (Cathedral) looked serene and regal. In the lit glass case on its outside wall were a number of announcements and flyers in German. Only next day it would have been possible to climb to the top to take in a view which apparently on a clear day stretched for miles which in our case was not to be as we had to catch our train to Zurich. Interesting fact: 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.

May 23

Bright and early, we got ready by 7 a.m., packed our stuff, and went for a stroll toward the Bodensee (Lake Constance) passing by the train station. The lake was massive and at the end of the pier was the ever so slowly rotating massive statue of Imperia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperia_(statue). The previous day, had we taken the katamaran from Friedrichstein or a boat from Meersburg from the northern side of the lake this is the harbor where we would have docked. We saw a few early commuters headed toward to the tethered boats. Soon we returned to our hotel, had a hearty breakfast topped by freshly brewed coffee, freshly squeezed OJ, etc., collected our luggage and headed toward the station. I made sure to use the conveyor belts for luggage.

Once we were on the train, within seconds we were in Switzerland. Looking at the emerald green pastures, the first words out of B’s mouth were: The Swiss got very lucky!

After about an hour and 20minutes of rolling hills and not particularly attractive residential buildings, we reached Zurich. There was a treat for us at the massive station though the first thing that hit me the moment I hit the platform was the annoying cigarette smoke. This forced me to quicken my steps. The treat was the food market open only on Wednesdays just being set up as we arrived at the main level. The first thing we did was to deposit our luggage in the appropriate sized 6 franc locker after changing our euros to Swiss francs, we headed to the Tourist Office. We got a map and some info on the riverboat. We were told that because of the shallow water level in River Limmet, riverboats were not plying that day but the tours of Lake Zurich were still on. We decided to walk up to the dock located at the end of Bahnstrasse. It was pouring outside. Though we had our raincoats on, we decided not step out yet but instead went to a McDonald’s inside the station and got some coffee and used their restroom and then strolled through the wonderful market sampling some fabulous chocolate concoctions. We planned on having lunch here later, which we did. Soon, the rain let up and with map in our hand we began our stroll. There were watch stores galore with many overly ostentatious watches gracing the showcases. The prices were equally ugly. We didn’t go inside any of them but still surprised to see not a single cuckoo clock in sight anywhere. Only at the station, in one ordinary souvenir shop I spotted one single garish-looking one. I felt lucky that I had bought mine in Fuessen. Even this was serendipity! While having lunch, had I not heard the cuckoo sound, I wouldn’t have known about the store attached to the restaurant selling cuckoo clocks. This incident confirmed my belief that no matter what the circumstances, what is yours somehow finds you.

At the dock, we found out that indeed there were no riverboats that day. So, we decided to walk along the river covered with covered boats and floating by swans. A more spectacular river front view would be unimaginable. Oh, what a glorious skyline and walk it was! Couldn’t have asked for better weather either. Though sunlight was sweeping over the vast vista, the streets were still rain-soaked and my red color on canvas shoes began to run leaving my feet stained for the next couple of days. My feet looked sexy as if they were henna-ed. After lunch, we covered the old town, the roof top-sized Linderhof Park where the three oversized chess boards one of which was being used by two older men (http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMAAP7_Linderhof_Park_Chess_Zurich_Switzerland). A younger spectator offered us the second board. We were not in the mood nor had the time. A massive chest held the oversized chess pieces. I had expected a giant chess board but never mind. The grand rooftop-view of Zurich from the park more than made up for this minor disappointment. A must read: http://www.expert-chess-strategies.com/who-invented-chess.html.

Our plan was to pick up some sandwiches for dinner on the train to Paris from the Coop near the station. So we got down the sloping medieval steps of Linderhof Park, resumed our walking through Old Town and along and across the bridges and rested our feet on a bench at the triangular corner, an excellent viewing spot to absorb the fascinating, multi vehicle (cars, buses, bikes, trams), ridden multi-signpost roads. Then we went over to the Coop and bought ourselves a couple of sandwiches, yogurts, some mini muffins, and fruits (in all the places we had gone so far, we had easy access to fruits, which was a blessing) for our journey in the next hour.

Once we got into our first-class compartment, we were informed by the extremely friendly chef that we’d be served dinner. It seemed like only some folks had earned this privilege. In our case, maybe because we were pass holders? Anyway, as the train rolled by through luscious countryside, we were wined and dined. Hmmm, some good karma I thought. We ate our own sandwiches the next day in Paris in our apartment.

Yep, Zurich is a place I wouldn’t mind returning to. Though we spent just about six hours, they were six memorable. B tried recalling his time in Zurich as a youngster that he spent along with his parents.

Ciao!