If you are following my journey on Steemit for a while you may know that I live in Schaffhausen (Switzerland). Canton Schaffhausen shares its borders with Germany and it takes us around ten minutes to get there.
We tend to travel around in Switzerland during the weekends and this weekend wasn't an exception. As it was so hot we wanted to spend our day somewhere at the lake. As you may know Switzerland doesn't have any sea but it has plenty of lakes with blue/greenish water offering huge variety of water sports.
Lake Constance
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We didn't want to travel far away hence we were looking for a nice location nearby Schaffhausen. We've been living here for almost eight years and we've never been to Bodensee so we thought let's do it!
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Bodensee also known as lake Constance in English is split between Switzerland, Germany and Austria. It is the third biggest lake in Europe. It is the easiest for us to reach it through Konstanz (city in Germany) so technically we have broken our tradition of traveling in Switzerland and we went to Germany instead. Konstanz is a shopping destination for people from Switzerland and usually it's difficult to find a parking place there but we were lucky and it didn't take us long to be able to enjoy the beauty of the lake.
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The old bridge in Konstanz was destroyed in 1856 and the new bridge was built a few years later. There were supposed to be four statues on the bridge. After long discussions and several disagreements it was decided that four men embodied in the statues will be Leopold Grand Duke of Baden, bishop Gebhard II, Berthold I Duke of Carinthia and bishop Conrad.
The statues were placed on the new bridge. The two rulers faced each other, as did the ecclesiastical figures. They remained in their place for about eighty years until broadening of the bridge became necessary. It would have been very expensive to create suitable pedestals so the question at that time was where these statues should be located. It was decided to place them for the time being on the Rheinsteig, that is located between the two towers. This temporary solution became permanent over time and the statues are still placed there.
The city of Konstanz
After we enjoyed the views of the lake we were looking for a shelter as it was very hot. There is a Herosé park close to the lake and we went there for a walk in the shadow of the trees. It is a big green area and I could spend there hours just walking around. There were many cyclists, joggers, people having picnics or just walking around like we did.
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Afterwards we started to explore the city. As usually we went to a Cathedral too! I have never been to a Cathedral with so many different chapels open to public for free! We spent there almost two hours and we didn't even see everything as one part of the church is under reconstruction. You can get to the tower for EUR 2 but as I am a bit claustrophobic we skipped this part.
The Konstanz Minster (or Konstanz Cathedral) is devoted to Virgin Mary and the first mention about it was in the year 615.
It offers fascinating stained glass windows (this one is for you @leeart), stone sculptures, a crypt behind the main altar and more private rooms of paintings and carvings. There are also some stunning frescoes that you can see.
There are many benches in all chapels so you can sit down, rest and enjoy the beauty around you.
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Are you ready to go back to the city? We definitely are! Konstanz looks a bit like a Swiss city with its painted houses. There are a few of them that I have found really stunning. I am not sure if painted houses are typical for Germany too or if it's because of the Swiss influence in this city.
I particularly liked the Town hall decoration showing us paintings of the city's history.
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This is Haus Zum Hohen Hafen located on Konstanzer Obermarkt - the upper market. The house was build in 1420. The paintings date back to around 1900. The author is Max Rahn. The paintings show scenes from the Middle Ages.
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Can you see what I see? 😊 The yellow house on the left side is not built straight!!
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We have also seen a few graffiti paintings and these two were my favorites!
This one says something like: Monotone environments tempt you to make them more complex with subtitles.
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Both of them are created by German-based artist Tuk, who focuses on stenciling and site-specific paste-ups.
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And now it's time to drink a glass of wine. Cheers to the weekends like this!
I hope you have enjoyed a day with me and my husband in Konstanz. We absolutely loved the lake and the city! There is still a lot to explore in that area and we will be back soon to share more with you!
Thank you for reading!
Cheers!
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