Lindau & Bregenz 🇩🇪🇦🇹

We got a little muesli and stayed at the Hostelling International Jugendherberge Lindau for three nights. It took me back to residence life, with bunk beds, a shared bathroom, and a solid cafeteria. There was a lot of common space, with a courtyard pub, playrooms, reading rooms, and a big games room where we wiled out on slacklines, played pool, ping pong 🏓 and pinball. 🤩 

We walked to the Bodensee (Lake Constance) and took a swim. I was delighted when a blimp flew by. I had forgotten they were real. They look pretty whimsical. 🎈 The landscapes, trees, bike paths, architecture were stunning. We rented bikes and made our way to the picturesque island where the cobblestone streets led to the landmark lion & lighthouse, ornate churches, restaurants, museums, botanical gardens, and finally a huge lido with a cafe/pub. We swam in the choppy lake and sat in the sun with hundreds of people having fun. It was beautiful. 🌞

Dinner was a bit of a Bavarian bust. We went to a German restaurant and ended up with pretty pricy plates of pork, kraut, and potato dumplings. It was okay. 🐖 😬

The next day we took a 10-min train to Bregenz, Austria. We walked through their iconic opera, where stadium seats look out to the stage built on the lake. The set was a half sunken creepy moonlit village. Five minutes later we arrived at the Strandbad swimming complex with huge stainless steel pools! They were gorgeous. I splurged on a new swim mask and the water was so clear it was like they were prescription lenses. The water glimmered on the pool surface, and felt fresh and clean. 🧼 

That night, I ordered pizza and salad in German. 🍕🥗The waitress was so tickled that she gave us a tiramisu. My 200 days of learning German on Duo Lingo paid off. 🦉