Berg

Driving the car to the Swiss border again, we hopped over into Konstanz, Germany to meet Brent. Denise had an early start at work, so we decided to spend the day with Brent and meet Denise for a swim in the lake a bit later. After searching out coffee and food at a cute wee restaurant with beanbags in the windows, and very ‘zen’ toilets, surrounding you with the sounds of chirping birds. We had a look through the old town, church and crypt (following a Napoleon Dynamitesque tourist, with great short denim cutoffs, and those glasses…), and then decided to drive out to the Rhinefall, the biggest waterfall in Europe.

Taking Brent along for the ride, which wasn’t a quiet trip, as he’s such a loud and energetic guy! Starting sentences then trailing off, keeping us entertained… We made a random stop in Steine am Rhine, after Brent thought that was where the waterfall was, but it ended up being a beautiful walk through a town square on a riverside, filled with immaculately detailed murals on the building exteriors.

Arriving at the waterfall, and paying a small entrance fee, we walked down a path until you’re right next to the falls, and it was incredible to see the volume of water passing by that closely. We didn’t take a boat ride out to them, but watched groups of people catching them out until they disappeared behind the cloudy mist of the water. A much-needed iceblock to cool off afterwards, and we were back in the car to go for a swim in the lake. We met Denise at the border and drove to a grassy area on the Swiss side of the lake. The water had cooled a bit, and the weather was starting to cloud over, but we all dove in, and headed home afterwards for a meal at Denise’s.

We made Denise some ANZAC biscuits (much to Brent’s approval as well…), while Denise set a pot boiling with the hugest amount of melted cheese, garlic and wine I have seen. We did the traditional thing of having tea on the side, and dipped in our breads and potatoes until we couldn’t fit any more in. Not the most summery of meals! But very tasty… Except for the piece we tried with the traditional addition of kirsch liqueur which you soak the bread in before dunking it. We didn’t quite understand you merely dip it, not drown it, and were left with very strong alcohol encased in cheese, which I couldn’t even finish a mouthful of, maybe I could wash it down with more cheese… uggghhhh… Apparently the rule is also that if you drop your bread in the fondue cheese you have to run naked around the outside of the house. Andy lost his cheese, but not his clothes, as he salvaged it – not quite legally I’m sure…

We had also made apple crumble for our hosts, but by the time it was finished, we were all shattered and had kept Denise up far too late before her early start in the morning, so we left it for them to heat up the next day, said our farewells as we were leaving the next morning, and headed off to bed.