2006-09-13 - 4:01 p.m.
I got my first sight of the Alps this morning. We took a train from Friedrichshafen to Fussen, and went through all sorts of picturesque scenery. Lots of little villages dwarfed by the mountains, huddled in valleys. It actually reminded me of jigsaw puzzles that I used to do as a kid...
Freidrichschafen was awesome. It's sort of like Sylvan Lake, (in Alberta) but a lot bigger, and with Zeppelins. Anyone taking a look at Jesse's blog will realize that by this point in the trip, there is no such thing as an original thought.
All that aside, Friedrichschafen was everything that I didn't expect it to be. The reason we went there is that it has a Zeppelin museum, and was the sight of the base for most of the Zeppelin flights in the 20s and 30s. Jesse has been a little nutty about Zeppelins since high school, and he really wanted to come here. I was expecting a dusty little nowhere town, with about five people, and maybe a chicken in residence. Instead we found a bustling German resort town, on the shores of Lake Constance, with lots of people (mostly old, which made me a little homesick for Vic) and lots of touristy things.
The weather was awesome the whole time we were there, hot and sunny every day. The town itself is very pretty, and although it is pretty touristy, when you are a tourist, that's not such a bad thing.
We had a little trouble finding a place to stay. By this, I mean that I had wanted to check ahead and see what there was, before we got to the town. It's not covered by Lonely Planet, which makes a big difference. We were not sure if it even had a Youth Hostel. Jesse dismissed my concerns, and said that there would be no problem. I've got to stop listening to him.
Well, we get off the train, after a long day of travel, and just then Jesse is like "so, I wonder if there is a Youth Hostel?".
We found the info booth (closed) and managed to buy a map and accommodation guide (in German) but all the accommodation was hotels and bed and a breakfasts. The kinds of things that people who are able to spend more than the bare minimum can go to. We called a couple places (none spoke much English, and Jesse's one semester of German from UVic was sorely tried) but had little luck.
Finally we got the idea to do what most intelligent people would have done to start- we asked someone. Having determined that there was indeed a Youth Hostel, we found a phone book, and called ahead. Yep. It was full. We ended up in a cheap hotel that was nonetheless clean, and quite nice. It was a little expensive, but not unreasonable, and it was a private room!
The next day we went to the Zeppelin museum. If anyone is not sure, a Zeppelin is a ridged airship, like a blimp, only not just a balloon, it has a frame under the covering. The Hindenburg was a Zeppelin, the one that exploded in the states in 1937.
I thought that the museum would be pretty empty, just a few wild eyed nuts wandering about, but it was packed with people, old people, families, lots of kids. Apparently, Zeppelins are big business over here.
The museum was pretty good, but I think more suited to Jesse's tastes than mine. I like the human interest side of things, the artifacts, the history come to life. Jesse loves the technical side, and knowing exactly how they are built. There was a lot of technical information, more than I cared to take in, although I did get an idea of the complexity of these things. One of the cool things that they had was a reconstruction of part of the cabin of the Hindenburg, that you could go up into, just like you were going to take a flight. I liked that. They had a couple good displays as well, and some old films of Zeppelins flying that I really liked. Cool artifacts included spoons made from the aluminium of crashed Zeppelins, and the uniform jacket of the wireless operator of the Hindenburg (who was killed in the crash). You could still see the bits of melted aluminium all over it.
The top floor of the museum took me by surprise. You walk up the stairs, wondering eagerly what you will learn next about Zeppelins, and you come out into an art museum. That was a little weird. From early 20th century airships, to medieval art. I think it was because there used to be a museum of artist from the Lake Constance area, but it was bombed in the war, and this is what's left, so they combined the museums. Something like that, but it was sure incongruous with the rest of the museum.
The rest of the day was spent unsuccessfully looking for a laundromat.
We woke late the next day, and leisurely strolled out to find a laundromat. With uncharacteristic forward thinkingness, we went first to the tourism info booth, and asked if they could tell us where one was. Not only did they know, but it was close to the hostel! Joyfully, we headed back to do some long overdue laundry.
The laundromat was pretty straightforward, except that they had separate machines for the spin cycle. We didn't realize this till too late, and so it took a good two hours to dry the clothes, resulting in the most expensive laundry day to date, even topping the shambles that was the Bayeux laundry day (and that one was pretty bad). The upside was that we met a really nice English couple, who had motorcycled down from the coast to see the Zeppelin museum. This guy, like Jesse was crazy about Zeppelins, and they chatted happily about Zeppelins for hours while we waited for our clothes to dry.
Our last day in Freidrichschafen we had little to do, but Jesse had heard that you can take a tour of the hanger where they store the new Zeppelin. This is a Zeppelin, and they take people up for rides, at very high prices. I think that it's some thing like two hundred euro for a half hour. Anyway, you can tour the hanger for just eight euro.
Like the museum, I expected this to be pretty small, and for us to be the only people. I also expected it to be in English, as that is what Jesse had told me. Turns out, I was wrong on both accounts.
There were at least forty people there, enough that they had to do two groups. And, far from being in English as I had been led to believe, it was all in German, except that a couple of the placards the guide showed us had been translated. So we paid eight euro each to be lectured in German for an hour and a quarter. I was unimpressed, but we did get to see the Zeppelin land twice, which was cool. Not worth eight euro, but cool.
We had booked our tickets to Fussen that day, because Fussen is the place you stay if you want to see Neuschwanstein, that famous castle built by King Ludwig of Bavaria, who was half mad, loved swans and Wagner, and had an unlimited budget. Anyway, our train left at five past eight, and we managed to sleep in, and be leaving the hotel at five to eight. In Germany, trains run on time, and we had to jog to catch ours, reminding me once again that when the Good Lord put together this frame of mine, he didn't intend it for much running. Especially with forty pounds on my back. We made the train though, and the scenery was awesome, so very very much what I came to Europe to see, the high tree covered hills, the tiny villages, the rails on narrow little outcroppings.
We made it to Fussen, and actually found the Youth Hostel, because (bless them) they have it signposted from the train station. We've spent the afternoon exploring the town, which looks just like a town in the alps should look, and sitting by the river. Really, I think this has to be the nicest place that we've been.
