Thursday, 14 May 2015
One day around the city of Konstanz (a.k.a. Constance)
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| Sarah, Luca and me on the train. |
It was decided more than a week ago, that I was going to visit one of the more popular city in south of Germany. Konstanz, a small town very well-known for the lake which connects three different countries. I've only heard from one or two people about it and the only thing I've actually heard is "It's really great to cycle in Konstanz, especially around the lake. It's beautiful". Not sure how much of it is true since I didn't cycle there but I did find some pretty interesting tour package that includes 3-7 days of cycling around Lake Constance.
Due to my wanderlust, (and also my desire not to spend too much) I've decided to give it a go but only to walk around. I invited Sarah and Luca the day before, and they were very cool about it! So, there we were, catching a train in the morning on Ascension Day (don't know what this day is about but it's a holiday for Germany). The train journey took approximately 2.5 hours. Some how I miss driving. And I quite enjoy staring out the window, the sceneries just relaxes me.
First stop, Rosgarten Museum. 1.50 Euro per student, I'd say it's pretty cheap. But of course, don't expect too much. The articles and explanations on the wall are all in German. Only some flyers are in English. I knew this before I was there, I did some research, but I still give it a go since it was highly recommended.
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| Gotta love how much effort people put in back in the day for art. |
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| I have to admit, this is pretty cool |
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| and also, the most popular section in the museum. Nazi's histories. |
Read some pretty interesting stories too about life during the dark days. There's a guy that actually tried to assassinate Hitler while he was dining in a restaurant. He was going to bomb the whole place to oblivion with Hitler in it but it didn't succeed because H got out of the place 10 mins earlier than planned. This story was stucked in my head because Sarah found it interesting too and we were talking about it. Also, during that time, not many (inside and outside of the army) were loyal to Hitler.
The children during that time was pretty much brainwashed into thinking war is good for them. Toys that portray war was widely sold and was very popular with kids. Can you imagine? Children were raised with that idea, of being superior to others and the "insignificants" should perish?
There is also this very emotional picture of a lady whose hair were shaved publically while wearing a big sign with "
Polendirne" written on it. Translation,
Poland whore. Very upsetting really.
The
Imperia is a statue at the entrance of the harbour of
Konstanz,
Germany, commemorating the
Council of Constance that took place there between 1414 and 1418. The concrete statue is 9 metres high, weighs 18 tonnes, and stands on a pedestal that rotates around its axis once every four minutes. It was created by
Peter Lenk and clandestinely erected in 1993. The erection of the statue caused controversy, but it was on the private property of a rail company that did not object to its presence.
The Imperia shows a woman holding two men on her hands. The two men represent
Pope Martin V and Emperor
Sigismund. Martin V was elected during the Council while Sigismund was the king who called the council. Both are naked except for the
crown and
papal tiara, respectively, that they wear as symbols of their power.
The statue refers to a short story by
Balzac,
La Belle Impéria (fr). The story is a harsh satire of the Catholic clergy's morals, where Imperia seduces cardinals and princes at the Council of Constance and has power over them all. The
historical Imperia that served as the source material of Balzac's story was a well-educated Italian
courtesan who died in 1512, nearly 100 years after the council, and never visited Konstanz.
[1]
Well, that is that. Very vague story but not enough to make me more curious. Next up, strolling the Stadtgarten.
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| It's Spring, can't you tell? |
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| Light up your face with gladness, hide any trace of sadness |
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| Love is in the air |
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| Some buildings along the other side of the lake |
Next thing on my to-go list in Konstanz: Mainau Island.
We bought our tickets at the BSB ticket station near the port. Sarah and Luca bought their return ferry trip + Mainau Island entrance fee for around 23€ (student price). While me, I just bought the Mainau Entrance fee (which was 11€, student price. And yes, you can buy the entrance fee at the BSB ticket station too) and I decided to go with the bus because I want to save some money and ferry rides doesn't interest me that much. Especially when there's so many tourist around.
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| Me and my 3-year-old NB. |
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| HAH! Surprise surprise. A very Chinese-looking bus-stop. |
I don't know why I get so annoyed when I see something related to Chinese. LOL. I just don't know. I get annoyed even when a random stranger looks at me and say "Ni hao" or "Konichiwa" and just walks away. It's like I don't understand English or something and they have to say something when they see an Asian. Well, let me tell you something, when you see an Asian, don't try to guess where they are from (even I have problem doing this).
Also, if you see an Asian, it doesn't always mean they are from China or Japan. We can be from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Australia, UK, US, and apparently, anywhere in the universe. Thank you very much.
It's stupid to even get angry about it actually. From this day onward, I'm just gonna ignore all this. I have no problem when people asking me straight up about these kind of things. But a total stranger trying to be "funny" or "friendly" by saying something stupid.... just don't. Don't be an a**.
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| This is so handy. |
I love the bus system in Germany. Not only does the bus have schedules to take people around the city, almost always, they are on time. They also have this screen showing where we currently are and the next few stops of the bus. Oh, and also the time. So proper and informative. I hope Malaysia can adapt this kind of public transport system too then eradicate the traffic jam issues. Then maybe we can start to have a life. Being in a jam for an hour or two every work day is ridiculous. Come on.
Gosh, I'm ranting so much today.
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| Flower Market in Mainau Island. |
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| My dream garden? |
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| I want this in my castle |
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| I think someone just travelled to the future. |
I'm not really sure if there is a costume party or something happening there. I saw two women (the other one in black and white) actually wearing this kind of medieval fancy and puffy costume dresses walking around with their children like nobody's business. The weather was kind of warm that day, and I kind of feel sorry for them. I too, was sweating like a pig beneath my sweater.
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| Luca, Sarah, and many other tourists. |
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| Look! Ducklings made up of shrubs and flowers! |
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| Transparent being. |
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| What fruit-butterflies eat. Obviously, fruits. |
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| Through the tunnel |
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| Cocoons |
We also went inside this small Butterfly park on the island too. Sadly, I feel like there isn't that much butterflies and there's just too much humans (and apparently, a number of baby strollers too). The butterfly farm that I went in Penang has so much more varieties, so this is kind of a disappointment I guess. But still, it's really nice to see them.
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| Say hello to the Mainau Island mascot which is made with, again, shrubs and flowers. |
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| Failing so hard at getting a good shot of the bridge. |
Some of the tourists were very polite actually because they stopped behind me to let me take pictures before they can cross them. Well, not everyone did that of course because... well, it's a bridge... not a monument. Since there's constantly people walking by, this is the best picture that I took after a few attempts. Obviously, this woman just likes the attention from my camera since she looked back at me. So, fine, I'm doing her a favor. LOL.
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| Just chilling on the bridge before I cross it completely. |
There wasn't much in Mainau Island I guess. If you like flowers, probably it is the best place to go. For me, it was just mediocre. Nothing really special. Yes, I like the view. However, I didn't like walking into bugs. There's so many bugs there. Every time I see them, I feel itchy and my face would scrunch into a funny expression. And I even tried to hold my breath every time I walked through a swarm of them. And there's like a swarm of bugs at every 5m intervals! Plus, the entrance fee was kind of expensive too but luckily, they have a really huge discount for students.
I was back in town with 2 hours to spare before the last train leaves. I was waiting for Sarah and Luca too as they were taking the ferry. The ferry was delayed for half an hour, which was pretty inconvenient and unforeseen too. It's always best to space out travel trips just in case of delays. This is a really good example for doing so.
Since I had time to kill before they are back, I just went for a little walk around the town again even though the place feels so dead. All the shops were closed since it was a holiday. Only some food shops were open.
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| Rathaus mit Fresken |
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| View from the port |
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| Why does love happens everywhere? Omg, I miss my man so much. Sigh. |
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| My first chinese box. |
I told my man that I've just ate my dream food and I sent him this exact picture right after I bought them. HAHAHA! Yeah, eating chinese take-away in a box is on my bucket list. I opt for rice instead of noodles though because I loveeeeeeeeeeee rice (hey, no stereotyping even though this is very stereotypical).
I don't know why, I just felt so excited when I ordered this. After all those American dramas and movies, I just dreamt of the day I can order a chinese take-away box like they do.
One final random shot from the empty town. I just saw this really cute "I
you" light sign and I just felt like I must take a picture of it. And that's it, the end of our day trip. I love Spring in Germany. I love the fact that daytime last longer in Spring. I felt like I cheated life by having more daytime. If that makes sense.
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