Konstanz
Konstanz is on the south of Germany, close to the border with Switzerland (500 mts / 1500 ft depending on which direction you take!). I had a lot of fun there, and during my stay I also visited some Swiss towns around the lake.
The town has lots of old buildings. During the night bombing raids in WWII, pilots were not sure if what they were looking at was Germany or Switzerland, so they didn't bomb. Literally, Switzerland is right there!
Life around the lake is very relaxing and fun as well. People actually jump off the bridge in the middle of the river, where in fact there is a traffic of boats, but they do it safely. The salsa scene here is pretty good, particularly in Cuban style. Seems to be I am blending both on2 and on1 salsa styles, cause it is becoming quite confusing dancing with me. Here I met a nice group of people from Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland.
Konstanz is on the south of Germany, close to the border with Switzerland (500 mts / 1500 ft depending on which direction you take!). I had a lot of fun there, and during my stay I also visited some Swiss towns around the lake.
The town has lots of old buildings. During the night bombing raids in WWII, pilots were not sure if what they were looking at was Germany or Switzerland, so they didn't bomb. Literally, Switzerland is right there!
Life around the lake is very relaxing and fun as well. People actually jump off the bridge in the middle of the river, where in fact there is a traffic of boats, but they do it safely. The salsa scene here is pretty good, particularly in Cuban style. Seems to be I am blending both on2 and on1 salsa styles, cause it is becoming quite confusing dancing with me. Here I met a nice group of people from Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland.
Driving to the other towns around the lake area on the Swiss side was one of the best experiences I had in this trip. We went first to a chocolate factory, and guess what! I found a chocolate bar made with beans from Costa Rica! Then we continued to two other towns which names escape my mind (I owe you this one). What I can say is that there are sunflower fields and farms along the way, covering small hills and around small communities. I really liked this part.
I actually visited twice, once coming from Munich, and the other one on my way back from Zurich. Both times I felt as if this was my kind of place. I am more into small towns with history and an active community life. In a matter of days I was able to recognize streets and had an idea of where to go. The lake is beautiful, and just seating by the shore, watching the ducks, eating bread and feeling the sun through the fresh breeze is enough to satisfy the soul.
Zurich
A week after Konstanz I went to Zurich. The river and the lake are beautiful. The city is closer to the Alps, and the view of the snow covering the tips of the mountains made me speechless. Also, the seemly blue and white back ground seems to loom over the green and red communities around a lake of turquoise water and the boats.... simply impressive! The old part of the city is very nice, and one of my favorites sights are the really narrow alleys, with small cafes and wine stores.
There are also many fountains from which one can drink water. All the fountains I saw have statutes over a column. The window and roofs designs are also very nice, including the view of the buildings along the river. The party scene here is good as well. Some of the good spots are on Long Street, not too far from the main train terminal.
Zurich is in the German part of Switzerland. The Swiss understand the Germans better than the other way around. It is like the Brazilians understanding and speaking better Spanish than the other Latin American countries can do with Portuguese... simply not fair! Little by little I begun to see the difference in pronunciation, even though I am far from understanding and pronouncing German.
It was good to have seen friends both in Germany and Switzerland these past two weeks, all of whom I had met during my trip in Central America. I was also fortunate to have met really good people during my visit. We all don't leave in the same countries, but Europe is relatively small and extremely easy to travel, two huge benefits (plus in Germany there are highways with NO speed limit.. awesome!)
If and when you come around here, these links might be useful to get around
Prague to/from other European cities
Within Prague
Swiss train system
German train system
Carpooling in Europe (fairly new, very affordable)
My long trip around Europe has just started. The pictures for this posting still need descriptions, which I will work on in the following days.
Photo albums
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