It was a sunny day, so I went for a cycle.
I came across this fun picture of the bike up the pole! I kid you not, a bike up the pole. -If you look carefully, you too can see the bike up the pole.
I enjoyed looking at frescoes such as those below, of which there are many in these regions.
Then I had a fun hour or so checking out a local second hand store for things I´d love to buy but don´t need, nor do I have room for.
Over 2000 years ago, Socrates is quoted as saying
"I love to go (
to the market) and see all the things I am happy without
´´. On this point Socrates and I concur!
But, a great bargain is a bargain even if you don´t bring it home. - Some tingling examples: This extending dinner table, dark pine, in good condition, €126.00. In the background a cherry-wood cabinet for €75.00 in very good condition. Ooohh that one was particularly painful´
not to need, nor to have room for´!
A woman of ´a certain age´, but dressed as if she were ´a tad younger´ came from shopping in the second hand shop and drove away in this sports car.
As my mother said ´no one ever got rich spending a lot of money.´ So what ever one might have said of the sports car driver´s dress sense, her money sense was spot on!
Then just tra la tra cycling through the city of Konstanz...
Even more than the frescoes, there many beautifully painted houses in this region. This house in Konstanz is one of my favorite.
Followed by lunch on the Rhine with
Imperia. - The statue in the middle distance is a rather voluptuous interpretation of
Imperia who was ´active´, shall we say, in the Vatican in the late 15th century.
Look carefully to the right of the picture below and you might see the Alps - which are a good 50 miles away.
Then tra la tra la over to Switzerland. - Having grown up in Ireland I never stop enjoying going abroad -
on my bike.
.......Stepped into this bucolic moment in the park in Kreuzlingen...
Looking back towards Konstanz below one can see the park in Konstanz where I had just had lunch with Imperia.....
I lay on a bench and enjoyed the leaves of this tree above me blowing in the breeze.
All this peaceful tra la tra la was only about 70 meters or so from a
bustling trade show on the Swiss - German border that same time. I could see the
participants in the not too far distance
And the tra la tra la continues......
So all this tra la tra la and happy and stuff, fits in with the advice offered by baby brother W.C. :
The Secret to a Happy Life - in less than 100 words. - Which of course all avid ISFTS blog readers will know was discussed in the blog posting of April 29th last. Summed up in even less than 100 words W.C.´s advice is: 1) Accept your mistakes or problems and take appropriate action. 2) Enjoy the small pleasures of life.
Well this day in the sun was no problem or mistake at all. But it was a
day bursting out all over with ´small pleasures` for which I spent a
total of €1.50. For a bun.
The flask of hot tea and cheese sandwich I
brought from home. (One could add another €8.40 for three wine
glasses and two butter dishes in the second hand store, but am I being
too specific here?)
It was only when I clicked on the camera to take this picture at the end of my magical day of small pleasures in the sun, that the enormity of the meaning of the day that was in it clicked with me. This day which I enjoyed in good health, freedom, with the choice with the means and with the zeal to get out and enjoy was Friday 8th of May 2015.
It may not immediately occur to you, but Friday 8th of May 2015 was the 70th anniversary of the end of World War ll. There is nothing more I can say after that. Only to be even more grateful for the life I can enjoy.
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Things are certainly not perfect in Europe, but they are, in my opinion, great. I am sure no one could have imagined some seventy years ago how good it would be here now. - And in no small part because Germany today accepts the truth of the war and their responsibility for it. For which Germany has earned my great respect. (I know, my respect or the lack thereof is not going to worry Germany one way or the other, but they have it anyway!)
P.S. If a visual reminder would be needed on how it looked in this region, as
in many other parts of Europe, seventy years ago today, click on the
link below.
http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://static4.suedkurier.de/storage/pic/region/bodenseekreis-oberschwaben/friedrichshafen/2014/friedrichshafen_zweiter-weltkrieg/8580893_3_FN-Altstadt_nach_dem_Krieg.jpg%3Fversion%3D1398419135&imgrefurl=http://www.suedkurier.de/galerie/bildergalerien/Friedrichshafen-in-Schutt-und-Asche;cme1316119,8580893&h=431&w=700&tbnid=tUnlWNafIiWlqM:&zoom=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=193&usg=__Cp-fBU0O2j8yI7yQVjAvOqNSA1E=&docid=nQ119lJ4OY2CDM
(These photos above are of the nearby town of Friedrichshafen. Konstanz and its inhabitants did suffer greatly during the war. But the residents of Konstanz, which lies on the border with Switzerland, were smart enough to leave the lights on at night so the Allies thought it was part of Switzerland. This resulted in Konstanz rarely being bombed during the war.)
The picture on the left is a representation of an Alet being caught in a
fishing net. Allensbach comes from the name of the fish Alet and the German word for a stream Bach. Thus you have Allensbach. 
Winding down my morning walk after the rain; that little blob of red in the background is my bicycle bag on my bike. Will be cycling home soon to start the ´day job`. 
