Over the Easter long weekend I went with some friends to Bodensee, otherwise known as Lake Constance. It is located on the border between Germany, Switzerland and Austria, several hours by train away from Munich. After the train trip to Lindau we took a ferry across the lake to the town Konstanz.
The scenery was fantastic - for an Aussie like me it is an awesome sight to be on a ferry on a warm(ish) day while looking at snow capped mountains in the background, although many Europeans are accustomed to the concept of going snowboarding and surfing on the same day. We had some seagulls flying next to the ferry at the same speed, so it was perfect for a bit of photography practice.
The fun started once we arrived in Konstanz, when the hostel said that they didn't receive our booking. We ended up heading across the border to a hostel in Switzerland, in Kreuzling. Late at night, when we walked across the border from Germany back into Switzerland, I was just about to comment on the ease with which we could cross the seemingly unmanned pedestrian border, when a couple of officers sprung out in the dark from behind a car to check our passports!
The next day, some of us decided to take a train to Liechtenstein. It"s a tiny principlity which borders Switzerland and Austria, with a population of less than 40,000 people. A chat with the locals (when we got lost) revealed that they are a quite a relaxed bunch of people who doesn't get taxed much. The place is tiny - a train or bus ride from one end to the other takes around 20 minutes, and in the other direction it's all mountains. The views there are unbelievable - while the height of the surrounding mountains is not that high, their proximity makes them very imposing.
We took a short hike into the mountains from the town Nendeln. It was not a particularly steep track, but we arrived at a fence in the track after about an hour. We saw some huts, a couple of Lamas running around, a sign that indicated an electric fence, and a ladder that straddled the fence. So, we turned back. Of course, when we arrive at the bottom a man told us that we were supposed to climb the ladder over the fence ...
Over the Easter long weekend I went with some friends to Bodensee, otherwise known as Lake Constance. It is located on the border between Germany, Switzerland and Austria, several hours by train away from Munich. After the train trip to Lindau we took a ferry across the lake to the town Konstanz. 
The scenery was fantastic - for an Aussie like me it is an awesome sight to be on a ferry on a warm(ish) day while looking at snow capped mountains in the background, although many Europeans are accustomed to the concept of going snowboarding and surfing on the same day. We had some seagulls flying next to the ferry at the same speed, so it was perfect for a bit of photography practice.
The fun started once we arrived in Konstanz, when the hostel said that they didn't receive our booking. We ended up heading across the border to a hostel in Switzerland, in Kreuzling. Late at night, when we walked across the border from Germany back into Switzerland, I was just about to comment on the ease with which we could cross the seemingly unmanned pedestrian border, when a couple of officers sprung out in the dark from behind a car to check our passports!
The next day, some of us decided to take a train to Liechtenstein. It"s a tiny principlity which borders Switzerland and Austria, with a population of less than 40,000 people. A chat with the locals (when we got lost) revealed that they are a quite a relaxed bunch of people who doesn't get taxed much. The place is tiny - a train or bus ride from one end to the other takes around 20 minutes, and in the other direction it's all mountains. The views there are unbelievable - while the height of the surrounding mountains is not that high, their proximity makes them very imposing.
We took a short hike into the mountains from the town Nendeln. It was not a particularly steep track, but we arrived at a fence in the track after about an hour. We saw some huts, a couple of Lamas running around, a sign that indicated an electric fence, and a ladder that straddled the fence. So, we turned back. Of course, when we arrive at the bottom a man told us that we were supposed to climb the ladder over the fence ...
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