Yesterday the rain and wind didn’t abate till the afternoon but we did venture out in the morning to catch a few more of the sights on Lindau Island . A tiny old church dating back from 900s was finally open, it was full of memorials to local soldiers from world war 1 and 2 . Those who had been members of the SS had the nazi iron cross  next to their names, not sure how future family members would feel about that being advertised. Paintings in the church were also attributed to Hans Holbein, famous for us English types for painting Henry VIIIth. As the weather improved the lighthouse stairs were also tackled, great views and plenty of interesting facts ; some winters the Bodensee freezes over so you can iceskate on it, other winters a fog hangs around for months and the lake depth varies during the year,deepest in May to July.

The hairdressers in the afternoon was an interesting experience, very nice massage chair whilst having my hair washed. I couldnt translate texturing which is what they do in Perth so Ive ended up with the dreaded bob cut.I was quite happy to go wild and woolly with grey flecks and becoming a real grey nomad but hubby wasnt so keen on the look. At least they dont charge Perth prices. I avoided the hairdressers with the sit under hat type dryers from the 1950s, so no purple perm.

Today the sun came out again so it was a day out to Bregenz 8kms away in Austria.First stop was a coffee shop to try a famed Austrian Sachertorte, first produced by chef Franz Sacher for Prince Wenzel in the 1800s. Very nice, the few crumbs I was allowed when hubby remembered what sharing entails.A trip up and down  in the cable car up the Pfander mountain, yes I think the Sachertorte was weighing heavily so not too much of a walk at the top but very scenic and fantastic views of Lindau island and the full length of the Bodensee.

We wandered around modern Bregenz and settled on a Greek Restaurant for lunch they were so happy to hear we were from Australia as I think half of Greece lives in Australia. Before we ordered our food 2 ouzos appeared on our table, well hubby is not allowed to drink so I had to help out with both of them.My capacity for alcoholic consumption has deteriorated with age so the afternoon turned into a very relaxed affair. We did summon up the energy to walk up to the old town after the most delicious lunch.

We hadn’t actually checked out anything about Bregenz so surreptiously followed someone who had a guide into the old town so we saw all the main sights. There was still the large house with bars at all the windows where 6000 local jews had been kept before being sent to concentration camps, now used as an administration building.Very sad.

All this effort walking up to the old town meant more tea and cake was required I blame it on the ouzo, I am not a cake person but we tried a nut gateaux very light, fluffy and yummy. Walking around Bregenz we noticed signs for Animal Psychologists , now we know the  Austrians are famous for the likes of Freud and von Glasersfeld for people but animals…

We wandered into the museum but decided not to venture further after seeing the main display was chairs all dressed up, some with knit ware, others in leather, felt , braid…..

A pleasant cycle back quite a few people swimming in the Bodensee still felt pretty chilly today so still haven’t partaken of the waters..only 1 more day before we have to spring into action again…eek I’m enjoying my sleep ins..