Konstanz on Bodensee


It has been a while since I last posted, as some of my friends have pointed out.

For quite a few weeks I was working quietly in Darmstadt. Sooner or later I will try to post some description of what I am doing at work. Until then, ask me about it and I'd be happy to tell you something.

Last week Rob Niederriter visited me in Darmstadt and we walked 10Km to visit the nearby (relatively speaking) Frankenstein Castle. That trip was great and some pictures are on my Picasa sight.

This weekend, I met with Rob again and we went to the city of Konstanz, a German city on the border with Switzerland and next to a lake, Der Bodensee. I had a great time. We arrived a on the train a little after noon, then explored the city, seeing fancy old buildings and a great old church.


In the afternoon, we sat by lake eating a snack of bread and Nutella. I then got the idea to go swimming in the lake. The water was very clear and a little bit cold. I swam out to a post, which turned out to be the mark where boats have to go at half speed near the shore. It was a longer way than I thought. On my way out I heard a loud blast of a horn and saw an old fashioned steam ship coming right at my! I swam out of the way and the driver smiled and waved at me. When I made it back to the shore, I was cold and my arms were tired and I crawled slowly up the rocks and then on to the grass to dry off.

Before taking the train back home we were looking for a restaurant to have dinner but instead saw a grocery store with 1/4 pieces of huge watermelons on display outside. We bought that, a big round loaf of sesame seed bread, and tomatoes and cheese. We sat on a bench in town and ate this for dinner. It was the best dinner we could have had. I had too much fun cutting apart the Watermelon and then drinking the juice out of the shell.


Later, we even filled the watermelon rind up with water from a drinking fountain and drank from it again.

At this point I was giddy and ridiculous from a combination of watermelon sugar, high blood sugar, tiredness from the swim, and excitement from the beautiful city. After dinner, as we were walking to the train, I saw a hot-air balloon in the shape of a cathedral, and I jumped up and down clapping my hands and making inane happy noises.

It was a good day.

Now I am back at home, looking forward to going to bed early so I can be cheerful and productive for this week at work.