Sunday, April 12, 2015

Rainy Mainau Island in Lake Konstanz

Unfortunately, on day 2 we did not have the same luck as the previous... it rained ALL day without stopping for a second. Despite the weather, we didn't want to change our plans: We got up early, had breakfast in the hotel (charging energies to keep active all morning long) and next we drove to the city of Konstanz. Trusting on GPS was a little bit risky... it indicated us to cross the lake, and there wasn't a bridge! it was funny when we noticed that it made us take a ferry to the other side, with the car also on board. Once arrived to the city of Konstanz there was a lot of traffic and (due to the rain) all the centric parkings were already full. So, taking into account that we could do nothing but being in a shopping centre, we decided to jump to the following plan: Mainau Island.
Mainau is a island full of nature, from deitailed gardens repleted of colorful flowers to a butterfly conservatory. This last place really took my attention (you'll se it by the amount of photos I took from butterflies) but, in fact, I was not the only one who was fascinated by the place. It was so humid, that the camera's objective got scrim as it happened also with people's glasses. It amazed me the nice reproduction of a tropical place and the variety of animals and plants. Butterflies were not afraid of people at all!




















Another interesting garden that was inside a greenhouse was the one that contained thousands of orchids. Sincerelly, I confess that the best remember I have about that point is the cafeteria that was surrounded by all that flowers and, specially, the cakes that they offered there. Absolutely delicious.




On our way to my boyfriend's german home we made a stop to see the Rhine Whaterfalls, in Haute Rhine, the biggest waterfalls in Europe with a width of 150 meters long.




And finally, before the end of our Easter adventure, we stopped along the way to try the typical apple strudel or better said Apfelstrudel.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Fairy Neuschwanstein

Incredibly sunny, bright green fields, flat, warm, funny. And there, at the limit, the high mountains of the Alps, imponent, majestic, brushed with clear white snow, even elegant. To represent you how it was like, I can only think about the Heidi place, jumping and running happily across that surrounding product of nature.
Mostly known as the Crazy King, Ludwig II ordered to build that castle. The Castle. Visited every year by more than one million of tourists, it is said to be the most famous castle in the world and the inspiration source of Disney. Hardly pronounced by non-german speakers, Neuschwanstain Schloss pays tribute to its name, it is an enormus architecture challenge in the middle of the steep rocky surface. And then you are there, listening the silence of the nature, imagining the great Wagner playing freely between that walls, feeling the cold soft wind touching your face, you find yourself living in a fairy tale, forgetting that this sensation could have an end.
Last Easter I visited New York, and the most breathtaking feeling from the American Capital that I lived was the moment at the Top of The Rock, observing the views of Manhattan from the Observation Deck. Now, this year, I have been to a much different scenario but, I promise, the feeling is the same.

Having my boyfriend's car in Germany was an advantage to get to Füssen, in the region of Baviera, the nearest village to the Castle. I flight to Basel, then we drove through southern Germany charming roads and we stopped at Uberlingen (near Lake Konstanz) to sleep at a Landhotel that was perfectly adapted to our conditions: cheap and nice. The following day, we led ourselves to Neuschwanstein, giving uncountable thanks to the weather that the morning offered that day.