21 August 2006
Today is Monday and we are in Konstanz. It is now ten am and the bells are signaling that hour for all the residents of this town. We are staying at a pension called Gastenhaus Holzer…and it is clear that Gabi and Josepf personally picked out this room. It looks to the east and the morning sun on the lake was so beautiful…it took me by surprise when I arose at 7…
We were a little late arriving in Konstanz since the traffic was bad…but once we made our way to the ferry, it was easy…Gabi told us how Heidi had taken Wil and Marcia to the ferry and then because of the fireworks celebration, Heidi could not cross…so she called Gabi and Ursula and Peter were waiting on the other side to pick them up.
It has been unseasonably cool here so many people have left this resort…which is fine with us! I love the cooler weather after so many hot days on our trip. When we arrived, Gabi’s table was set with her beautiful blue and white Meissen china and she served us tea with a traditional summer cake with whole cherries. Josef also gave us the biggest hugs to welcome us. When we were eating our cake, Christian arrived and told us of his adventures with his college buddies in the west side of Constance. We got the maps out and he took us through his trip and then we showed them how close we were to them last Thursday night…as well as how off track we got. Josef was a geography professor so he loved the discussion as well…
Josef told us of his travels…this year, he and Gabi went to Ireland and Croatia…they have been all over the world. It is so interesting to me how much people travel here and how extensively. We in the United States are so insular….although it is true that generally they have many more vacation days that we earn…
We then left to check in at our hotel…there was some confusion when I was emailing Peter…so I regret that we did not pay for our own place ahead of time….normally you reserve it and leave no deposit….you just pay at the end… It probably would not have made any difference since we were told that although we made reservations for Crailsheim for this Thursday, that Ruth has already been there to “confirm it…” Ruth’s daughter’s and grandchildren laughed…and I anticipate that this will be a struggle to pay there as well....
Nevertheless, I spoke to Gabi about it and she made it very clear that there was no discussion and that we are her guests. When we went down for the breakfast here at the Pensione, the young woman laughed and said, it is all taken care of…there are not two bills…only one and it is done!
We have the best view in the Gastenhaus Holzer pensione, of course, as I am sure Gabi and Josef hand picked it. We think also that Josef called before we came and arranged for a personal priority parking space…we are not sure, but after we parked they pulled this little chain around our car….We feel a little like crown prince and princesses returned to the homeland after a long exile in the United States…
Last night we had a dinner of sausages and potato salad, “mouth pockets” (somewhat similar a firm ravioli) that Gabi remembered we loved last visit, and somehow I cannot remember what a low carb diet is…somehow it will come back to me…We then took a long walk along the seashore and saw the fishermen pretending to catch fish, while a rainbow graced the sky. I thanked Gabi for arranging that as well and she thought it was so funny ;-) !
Christian gave us a little history lesson while we walked and then we stopped at a biergarten where Amy and I shared a dark beer, while Gabi and Christan enjoyed theirs. Jeff had sparkling water…Everyone thinks it funny that Jeff does not drink beer…and of course, it does not phase him in the least….
As I sit here looking out at the Bodensee (only English call it Lake Constance, since it is not Konstanz’s lake alone but also shares it with the Swiss and Austrians). I feel the cool breeze…and the warmth that family connections bring. All is good…
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