Day 13 – Sun 22 Jun 14, Konstanz (Germany) to Schaffhausen (Switzerland)
Forecast: 11-27 deg C; Listed Distance: 50km; Actual distance:
53km; Cumulative distance: 415km; Konstanz am: 15 deg C; Schaffhausen: 24 deg C;
Wind: NE 5-7 km/h; Av speed: 16.4 km/h; Ride time: 3h02m
After waking we packed up and headed up the road to Maccas for breakfast, and had
to wait about 15 min for it to open at 8am. We had bacon and eggs and a coffee
each and were on the bikes and on the road by 8:45am. As it was only a short ride today, the late
start was not a problem.
After only 2km we were back into Switzerland and onto another great Swiss bike path. The scenery on the ride today was wonderful, the best thus far. It started with perfectly maintained market gardens, then progressed through orchards and farmlands of all type and sizes, even an Asian buffalo farm. We saw a lot of grain (wheat & barley mainly) fields which had bumper crops nearly ready for harvest. We also rode through some quaint Swiss towns. One in particular Stein am Rhein is a big tourist attraction with its very old painted buildings, cobbled streets and cafe setting. Lucky we were there early as the tourists converge on the place in droves later. After securing the bikes we wandered through the mall found a coffee shop and bought one to go and sat on the banks of the Rhine and drank our coffee and ate our buns Greg bought from the bakery. We didn’t stop for too long, but as it was only another 18km to Schaffhausen from Stein am Rhine, we took it a bit more slowly but still arrived just after 12:30pm which was much too early to check in. So, after securing the bikes in the hotel garage and the bags in the luggage room we went for a wander, found a Maccas and had lunch.
We lingered for a bit in Maccas updating out blogs and notes and by the time we got back to the hotel it was 2:30pm and our room was ready - number 203 at Hotel Kronenhof. We squeezed ourselves and our panniers into the tiny lift and went upstairs. The room is large enough for a queen bed, a desk and closet, but the bathroom is really tiny. Wendy didn't know such tiny bathrooms existed and could even be functional. Whilst it is functional, you have to sit almost sideways on the loo to do your business. And, there didn’t seem to be any extractor fans!! Our room just happens to overlook a church with a bell tower that sounds every 15 minutes. We’ll let you know in the morning how much sleep we got. The room also overlooks the smoking part of the hotel restaurant. So, whilst we are not allowed to smoke in our room, the diners can smoke and it can waft upwards into the room - that's ok?? There was no aircon in this hotel, so closing the window was not really an option either.
The city of Schaffhausen came into being at the location where trading ships had to set anchor because the Rhine Falls made it impossible to travel further. And the city's landmark, the Munot Fortress, built in the 16th century, (which we can see from our window), towers high above the town. The ring-shaped fortress was built in the 16th century. So after settling in and doing some washing, we went for a slow wander to Fortress and climbed the 291 steps to the entrance and then the circular ramp to the top where we were treated to a spectacular view of Schaffhausen. After the fortress, we wandered along the Rhine paths back to the hotel.Dinner was originally going to be Italian, but ended up being Chinese, and it was good.
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