Panoramic view of the City of Bregenz, Austria from one of the many hiking trails leading to the summit of The Pfaender.

Lake Constance

Region Blends Together German, Swiss, Austrian Ways of Life

Come hell or high water, nothing was going to keep me from reaching the summit of The Pfaender. I could easily handle the sweat trickling off my nose and neck. The hot August sun beating down on my head? So what. It's hotter and more humid in Chicago. The incline? That was the toughest. But with a twist here and a shuffle there, we managed to navigate the rocky terrain for 2-1/2 hours reaching an elevation of 3,500 feet.

Our reward for the sore joints and muscles was spectacular. Spread out before us like a great Michaelangelo landscape were the dark blue waters of Lake Constance. Tiny white sailboats slowly skipped along the water heading west beyond the horizon. Below us was the lively Austrian city of Bregenz. To the left and beyond, Switzerland. To the right, Germany and the city of Lindau. It was Sunday morning. At precisely 10 o'clock, church bells resonated with a symphony of sound calling people to worship. Were they Austrian, Swiss or German church bells? It didn't matter. We were experiencing our little piece of heaven.

The Lake Constance region of Europe is a recipe of cultures that blend the three countries and its people and history. The common link is the Lake that rests at the northeast tip of Switzerland. It's a pristine body of water that measures roughly 50 miles long and 10 miles wide. We were told that the water is so pure, you could drink it. I wasn't tempted.

All along the thousands of miles of bike trails in the Lake Constance region are helpful directional signs.

With Germany to the east and Austria to the south, Lake Constance is an important component of the Rhine River which begins high in the Swiss Alps, continues via the Lake and past the city of Konstanz north through the Netherlands and into the North Sea.

All around the Lake are large and small cities bearing their own trademark of charm and vitality. With Lake Constance as the backdrop, festivals, recreational activities, and cultural venues and events are everywhere. Viewers of the History Channel would have a field day here immersing themselves in everything from 1,400-year-old monk manuscripts to the engineering methods used by Germany's master of the airship, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin.

The journey began where all our adventures shove off: Chicago's O'Hare Airport where we boarded Swiss International Airlines for our nine hour flight to Zurich. While our stay in the Swiss financial capital city was short, it was exciting as we danced around the slow, methodical moving public trams carrying people who all seemed to know exactly where they were going. Our guide, Evelyne Marti, a life-long student of Zurich, explained that the city is really two towns molded into one. There's the modern day Zurich with its tall buildings, superb inner city tram system, and countless banks and hotels. The other Zurich, across the Limat River, is the community's center of history and fun with its beautiful, ancient churches that reach toward the clouds, and museums, restaurants and bars. The people on the "Right Bank" tend to let their hair down compared to those on the "Left Bank". Jeans and T-shirts are commonplace on the "Right". Business attire the order of dress on the "Left".

In Switzerland, the purchase of a Swiss Pass to get anywhere in the country is a must. An eight-day adult pass costs $235 and for children up to the age of 16 there is no charge. The pass is an all-in-one ticket which allows users to not only get from place to place via rail, boat and bus but into 400 museums, many mountaintop excursions and cable cars.

To reach our first stop out of Zurich, the town of Schaffhausen, all we had to do was flash the Swiss Pass to the train conductor. The ride north was smooth and quiet and the train cars clean as a whistle. We left and arrived about 45 minutes later right on time. And why not? We were in Switzerland after all.

Schaffhausen is a small, quaint village that includes a historic Oldtown, wineries and even a casino. The main attraction is the Falls of the Rhine, a glorious spectacle of swirling water on the Rhine River that rushes its way over, under and around beautiful rock formations and cliffs. Viewing spots and stairways protected by black iron railings allow visitors to walk right up to the crashing sounds of the speedy water to sense its fury and majesty. Within short walking distance of the Falls is a restaurant and promenade where the natural wonder can be enjoyed even more from a different angle.

From Schaffhausen, we made our way by ferry boat on the Rhine to the delightful village of Stein am Rhein, just a short distance away. Approximately 3,200 people live in the village that features the beautiful well-preserved thousand year old St. George Monastery. It casts a reflective gleam on the famed River. Like many European villages, Stein am Rhein has a small square where townspeople frequently congregate. Surrounding parts of the square are houses some dating back to the 14th century.

At Stein am Rhein, we boarded a three-level excursion boat, one of many on the Rhine and Lake Constance, for a slow, gentle two-hour flow south to Kreuzlingen. All along the way, we spotted other boats‹‹large and small‹tiny villages along the Lake's shoreline, and in the distance the peaks of the mighty Alps. Upon our arrival, we scurried to the train station for a swift rail journey through the vineyards and orchards along the Lake's western edge to the village of Arbon. Here, our overnight accommodations were superb as we stayed at the Four Star Hotel Metropol in the Canton of Thurgau. The next morning we were on our way again by train for a 15 minute ride south to Ramanshorn where we were about to embark on an invigorating day of bike riding through fields filled with cows, sheep, and apple trees. For about 30 Swiss francs ($25), you can rent a multi-speed bicycle for the day and go anywhere you want. There are bike trails all over the Lake Constance region, some are paved, some are not. Most have directional signs so your chances of getting lost are practically nil. If you get lost, just ask someone for directions. As Evelyne told us back in Zurich, the Swiss people are friendly, but reserved. If you look lost, they tend not to volunteer assistance. But if you ask, you'll get help with a smile.

Our 90 minute bike ride took us to a working Swiss farm with live horses, cows, sheep, goats, a dog named "Berri" and geese named "Hansel" and Gretel" who weren't at all shy about honking. Nowadays, more and more Swiss are foregoing the traditional holiday to European beaches for the experience of living on a farm. More than 250 farms open their doors every year to visitors who want to mingle with the animals, stroll through the hilly countryside, and work as little as or as much as they want. "Swiss Holiday Farms" are situated in some of the most beautiful parts of this tiny, neutral nation. A week's stay, that includes meals, costs around $300 per person. Placed on the table is real farm food. A typical lunch includes au gratin potatoes, salad, and veal. Visitors can sleep in the hay if they want, in a bunk house, or in a nice cozy, private room. Not far away from the bunk house and hay are the milk cows lined up alongside pails on the floor. There's no stopping an occasional "mooooo".

A visit to the Lake Constance region must include a trip to the wonderful city of St. Gallen. This area is called the "Einstein Region" that in summer is a magnet for hikers and bikers and in winter for skiers. Culture is king in St. Gallen which 70,000 people call home. Situated near the southwest corner of Lake Constance its known history dates back to the year 612 when Gallus, an Irish monk, arrived with a companion and built a hut in the forest. Legend has it that they had the help of a bear. Bear or not, the hut evolved into a Benedictine monastery and eventually a town. Gallus brought education and culture to this rough, untamed region. The inspiring Baroque-style Cathedral of St. Gallen rose from the ground around 1530. Its 16 confessionals are carved wooden masterpieces. Atop the cathedral is the Bell of Gallus, the oldest church bell in Europe. Even in the drizzling rain that greeted us upon our arrival, the monastery was awesome.

St. Gallen's jewel‹and perhaps one of the world's greatest public rooms‹is the Stiftsbibliothek‹or Abbey Library. It's simply breathtaking and something everyone should see if the chance arises. To enter, special slippers must be worn to protect the flooring. Above the entranceway scribbled in Greek lettering is the slogan "Pharmacy of the Soul". Inside this still working library that's been open for the last 1,400 years, are ceiling-high shelves full of ancient books. More than 100,000 volumes are available for anyone to look at and another 2,000 illuminated and protected manuscripts from the Middle Ages. The room is awe-inspiring with its dark, brown, hand carved wood and large, tall windows that allow light to glow inside. For centuries, monks studied here, producing hand-written books, long before movable type was invented. Several display cases unveil parchment manuscripts all written in Latin and some as old as 1,200 years. Most can still be read. What chemicals were used to make the ink back then remains a mystery to this day. What did the monks write about? Everything, from music to mathematics to theology. They also wrote about each other and about themselves. One monk asked whoever may be reading his manuscript to pray for his soul.

From St. Gallen, we made our way east into Austria and the city of Bregenz. Before entering the country, we changed trains at the border town of St. Margrethen making sure we had our passports in hand. Our first night there, we dined at the Burgrestaurant Gebhardsberg, a restaurant inside an old castle high above the city. This popular spot not only offers delicious food in a most unusual setting, but a spectacular view of Lake Constance, the Swiss Alps and the Rhine Valley below. After dinner, we made our way to the Lake where the opera "Tosca" was staged on a large moveable stage. The musical performance before a packed outdoor audience of 8,650 began as the glowing orange sun was setting in the distance over the Lake. The lights along the shore some 15 miles away were twinkling.

Early the next morning, we gathered our belongings and courage for the hike up The Pfaender. After lunch and a rest, we all decided to take the cable car down the mountain and back to Bregenz. The next day, it was off to Lindau and into Germany by bicycle about an hour away. A paved trail made the ride along the shore of Lake Constance easy-going. Surprisingly, as we crossed from Austria into Germany, there was no check point or requirement to stop. We just kept on pedaling as if nothing had changed.

Lindau, a town of 65,000, is located at the southern tip of Bavaria. Its beginnings date back to the eighth century and the original old wall that surrounds and protected the city is still in place. The Town Hall, still used as the city's meeting place, is 600-years-old.

After pedaling back to Bregenz, our next stop was the city of Kostanz in Germany. It's nestled on a peninsula across the Rhine from Switzerland on the northwest edge of the Lake. Konstanz is the biggest and most exciting city on the Lake with a population of 80,000. It was founded 2,000 years ago and to this day is filled with dozens of half-timbered houses built in the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. On a walking tour, you can see the oldest continuous theater in Germany, the "Stadttheater", which was founded four centuries ago. Not far away, two youngsters fish along the banks of the Rhine. Nearby are preserved underground Roman ruins left here by Legions around the time of Christ. Nearly every turn in Konstanz provides exciting and unusual discoveries. Along one street, the exterior of an ancient building is adorned with a beautiful Renaissance painting. A half-block away, a Woolworth's department store serves locals in search of life's necessities.

A short boat ride from Konstanz lies the island of Mainau, one of the region's most popular tourist attractions featuring hundreds of thousands of lush and colorful plants, flowers and trees. Wide walkways provide couples and families plenty of space to explore and enjoy this island whose mission is to protect the global environment. A staff of 22 guides who speak various languages, accommodate 1.2 million visitors a year from all over the world. Thirty-five gardeners work year-round maintaining the 210-acres. For those who aren't keen about walking, horse carriage rides are available as well as four restaurants on the island. Among the plants cared for on Mainau are 16 Sequoia trees, a Fusia plant that first blossomed in 1864, tulips, rhododendrons, roses, dahlias and orchids.

Our final destination on this most unusual trip was to the grand village of Meersburg. With the sun setting in the west over the Lake, we took one of the 60 passenger ferry boats from Mainau. Meersburg is located across Lake Constance. Normally the trip would take less than an hour to complete. This time, however, the captain decided to drop off passengers, three or four at a time, at many of the tiny hamlets that dot the shoreline. Finally, with the sun having disappeared and the lights of Meersburg aglitter, our boat docked and the low rumble of its engines fell quiet. Meersburg is one of the region's true gems having gone untouched by bombing raids during World War II. It's a dreamy little town that's a favorite for day trips much like Mackinaw Island is to midwesteners.

Meersburg is divided into two popular areas: lower town and uppertown. They're both reserved for pedestrian traffic. During the day, there's lots to see including a wine museum and many cozy shops. What's especially eye-catching is a sign above the museum's front door that says in German: "Life is too short to drink bad wine."

The best stop is the tour of the Meersburg Castle. A family actually lives in the famous "house" which began being built in the year 628. There are more than 100 rooms inside including a dungeon, a dark, dreary looking place where prisoners‹some guilty, some not‹were lowered by rope into a place never to be seen again. The Castle is divided into sections signifying periods when it was built. The residential area where the family lives is for the most part off-limits.

At night, Meersburg comes alive with dancing, eating and drinking especially in lowertown which is not far from the water. Shops and restaurants remain open until about 11 p.m. and there are plenty of cozy bars where good German beer and friendly conversation are served.

We decided to stop in one of the watering holes to reflect, talk and toast to our good fortune.