The Grain and Grape

The forecast for the weekend was sunny, so we decided to take a road trip to Lake Constance. We woke up, had breakfast and coffee, packed a picnic lunch and change of clothes, and headed south.

Almost two hours from Stuttgart is the large lake in the corner of Germany that borders Austria and Switzerland. We had driven past Lake Constance in the past but never stopped, so this was our chance.

We decided to head to the thermal bath on the lake. A large indoor and outdoor pool complex overlooks Lake Constance. The sun was shining, the water was warm, and we just relaxed for a while. Never wanting to get too much sun and our hands turning a little pruney, we packed up, changed and headed for a lakeside bench to have our picnic. A post-lunch walk on a lakeside trail led us back to our car and we were off to the hotel.

We arrived at the Steigenberger Inselhotel in Constance a little too early to get in our room, so we stored our bags and headed to Old Town to see the sights. Once we had walked around a while among the scores of people going to the shops and restaurants, we found some Irish shade in The Stables Irish Pub.

Time for our room to be ready, we headed back to the hotel via a large lakeside park. Once in our hotel, it wasn’t hard to see that it had once been a Dominican Monastery. The architecture and furniture were magnificent, but when we got to our room, the view was incredible. Our hotel room opened up to a small balcony overlooking the lake. It was beautiful.

We freshened up and walked back out to Old Town to watch the sunset on the lake. Once Mother Nature’s show was over, we meandered through the streets until we walked into Old Mary’s Irish Pub. Old Mary’s is a neighborhood pub with a friendly staff and a great cheeseburger and salad. We even met the owner as he popped in and greeted each table, wishing us a pleasant evening before popping back out.

Leaving the pub, we walked around the boardwalk and looked at after-dinner menus, but nothing really caught our fancy, so we went back to the hotel and had a small dessert and a nightcap in the hotel bar to end the evening.

The next morning, we saw the sunrise from our balcony over the lake with a cup of coffee, packed and got ready for the ride home. With breakfast included, we went down to the restaurant to check out the fantastic spread.

Checking out, we decided to take the backroads home to get a little more uninterrupted time driving the country roads of Germany. A great drive with no deadline to get home, and nothing to talk about but dreams of our next trip. We do love a road trip.

Till next time.

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Watch our quick video for views of Lake Constance here:

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