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Room Service We had breakfast with Erwin, Traudy and Ronnie, savoring our luxurious surroundings and sit down meal. From Lochau we followed the flat Rhine River bike path along Lake Constance. Sherry stuck her hand in, but I didn't see her dipping in for a swim. We rode along the Bodensee until we reached the mouth of the Rhine River emptying into the lake. Cows with extra-fuzzy ears, big liquidy brown eyes, and large golden bells cavorted in the fields together. We ate along the river beside rapids. Several people passed by on bikes. As we prepared to leave, two people who had been to Canada stopped to talk about Jasper and Banff and the great time they had had in Western Canada. The ride up the Rhine was pleasant with the exception of one navigation miscalculation. Sharon suddenly realized we were following a river much too small to be the Rhine. Sure enough, we had erroneously followed the Ill River when it branched from the Rhine. Fortunately, a short backtrack put us on our correct route. Our detour did provide me with the opportunity to encounter and photograph three nuns out collecting branches and dried flowers for a church celebration. They even blessed me! Guess they knew I needed all the help I could get. We also met an old man on a bike who didn't speak English but instructed us to follow him. He was going to show us the route to Liechtenstein. I balked. "Not another of those 'Follow me' trips," I protested. We let the old man pedal off as we checked our maps. It turned out the old man was correct. Once we got back on track we found our way into Liechtenstein without further problems. The only surprise was the manned border crossing where the guard asked to see our passports. Sherry was happy. She wanted to get a stamp for her passport book. The Rhine river divided Switzerland and Liechtenstein-so we decided to cross the river into Switzerland for the night. Who knew what the Liechtenstein policy was on wild camping. And that would give Sherry four different countries in one twentyfour hour period. As the sun ducked behind the range, a long burst of rays exploded from the peaks, sending out trails of sunlight and shadow. We rode off the bike path toward the town of Severin. I stopped at a farm before the town and asked for water. Dogs barked ferociously. They definitely had a universal language. It wasn't too difficult to sort out friendly yips from aggressive yaps. The odor or pig manure was strong. We went down another country lane and stopped at a house where the dogs were friendly. I knocked on the door and asked the woman if we could set our tent up on her lawn for the night. She didn't speak English, but through sign language and a couple of German words we were able to communicate our intentions. Luckily, we had had all that practice in Italy. We set the tent up and got inside it to make supper. The lady of the house came out partway through and asked if we would like tea. We happily accepted and said we would be in as soon as we finished eating. A few minutes later she delivered tea on a silver tray complete with china cups and heaps of warm hazelnut cake. Talk about luxury. That was a first for service. Wunderbar! |
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