See below pictures from our walk, where you can see the Bodensee, (Bodensee is the name of the section of Lake Konstanz near Allensbach) and environs looking very nice indeed.
And, from this blog writer´s persestive at least, some of ´ the views´ had legs on them.
That little tip of a building which you can see right in the centre of this picture is Schloss Freudental. Which literally means ´joyful valley castle´ A beautiful name that truly befits this fine building. Over the years the building had fallen into disrepair. Some years ago it was purchased by a Swiss man ´of means´ who put a lot of time, love AND money into renovating the castle.
And God bless him for it. Becasue, as you can see he did a great job too. See more in the link below.
https://www.schloss-freudental.de/hotel
So at the end of the week, I went for a cycle starting in a small town of Engen. Below is the view I enjoyed with my pre-cycle sandwich.
Engen is not an unpleasant place to live. As the little town is not on the lake, it is much quieter than if it was.
Truly one could say it has ´a view to die for´! Which is a nice segway to the grave stone for a noble pair which I saw in the little church.
... So on with my cycle, which was truly ´tra la tra la´all the way; with only occasional cyclists or walkers passing, I more or less had the road, and the view to myself.
When I arrived on this little stretch of the road below, I just had to pause and be in awe for a moment...
Alas my attempts to take a set of photos of the view do not do it justice. But do take note of this last photo in particular. I will come back to it in a moment.
It was only after my tea and (second) pause that I noticed this sweet little statue of holy Mary in a little alcove beside the bench. I felt she deserved inclusion!
And the sign on the right is also of interest; I passed a working farm, no bother there. But this poster explained that in the 1650´s roof tiles were produced in the same building. I marvel at how much has survived here through the ages.
So cycled on beside the river Aach which flows into the Bodensee
Coming nearer to Radolfzell. Can you see in the photo below several white dots in the field...
An amazing example of that philosophy in action can been seen with this Schwanenpaar nesting on the lake AT THE LOCAL CAMPSITE. Yes, the local campsite. Can you credit that!
And a few more pictures near where the swans were nesting ... well just because the scenes were beautiful.
So, back to my cycle.
Coming back to Allensbach, the area was experiencing a Föhn. That is a weather phenomenon that I won´t attempt to explain. But you can read more about Föhne here on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foehn_wind
One characteristic of a Föhn is that the sky is very clear, there are few clouds and you can see for miles...
Look carefully on the picture on the right: There is a pale shadow on the horizon, you can see....
The Santis mountain, a part of the Alpine Mountain Range....
Thanks to the Föhn even with my little pocket camera I can zoom in and you can see the Santis as clear as daylight, and that even though the mountain range is well over 50 miles away!
So! Although this blog was at first about pretty pictures in this pretty area, a perfectly good theme for a blog posting. However, when I was compiling and sorting the photos to prepare the posting I had a ´ goose pimple maximus´ moment. `And why?` dear reader you ask in puzzlement... Well....
Walking and cycling in an area with a diameter of about 40 kilometers - to those that haven´t yet converted - that is 24.854848 Miles to you! I witnessed three dramatic geological phenomena:
Glacial: The Bodensee
The Bodensee is a glacial lake created during which ever ice age, when the stenght and force of the ice alone pulled rocks from the earth carving out a lake 73 km long, as wide as 20 km and as deep as 350 meters in some places.
Volcanic:
Dead volcanoes - very dead, so no worries. The viewer can see the evidence of the volcanic eruptions in the photos I took near Engen - one photo plus up from holy Mary above.
The Alps: As seen in the later photos, thanks to the Föhn.
As the wise and well read readership of this blog know; the area where the Alps are now situated was once under the sea.
Back in the Oigocene and Miocene epochs, the continent of Africa moved northwards, (VERY slowly. Slower even than my bicyling!) The African landmass crashed into and pushed against the the Eurasian tectonic plates. Forcing the seabed in between upwards; And ta tah there you have the Alps!
Now for the one or two readers who may have missed the geography class on tectonic plates, you can go once again to the wonderful wikiepedia for a link on same.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Alps
Now think about this for a moment. All those geological phenomena in such close proximity to one another. Add to that the other natural, if not so dramatic, phenomena I past by on my walk and cycle: forests, rivers, and the wonder of the nesting birds. - YEP putting this little blog posting together did indeed cause goose pimples maximus.You know, thinking about the wonder of it all would make you want to make a big strong cup of tea.
´Oh yes, and what about the snow flakes mentioned in the title? ´ I hear you all cry:
Well on the Wednesday in between our walk on the Monday, and my cycle on the Saturday - we had SNOW.
Can you credit! Snow, in Allensbach in the last week of April. When I came to this region in 2008, we had 33 °C or 91.4 °F which ever you prefer in April.
This week April 2017, I had to go and unpack my warm boots already put away for the winter. This at the end of April. Can you credit that!
