Today we traveled to Germany to the very pretty town of Konstanz. Konstanz is situated on the western end of Lake Constance, at the very southwest tip of Germany, on the border to Switzerland. It is known as a university town and is evidently smaller than Winterthur (just 80,000 residents) but seemed a lot bigger to me today. Perhaps that is because on any given Saturday its population likely doubles because of the visitors. Germany is cheaper than Switzerland. Much, much cheaper, as we experienced today. So hoards of people come there to go shopping and I can understand why. At 20CHF for the train ride, it still may be cheaper to come do a big grocery shop there every now and then.  

That said, today I failed at grocery shopping. Saturday is an important grocery day because of the total shut down of all shops on Sunday. You need to ensure that you’re set right through to Monday after breakfast when you shop on Saturday. Heading to Germany today I knew it would be a great place to get groceries so I didn’t bother with a shop here before we left. But once I got into the grocery store, sort of like a Costco, lots of random things, not a full selection but what they do have is pretty exciting, I quickly got distracted by all the fun and cheap things they had  that I completely lost my sense of what was actually necessary. It was the peanut butter that threw me off. But it was PEANUT BUTTER!!! And dirt cheap too. So a couple jars of that, a few packages of chia seeds, some roasted beets, grapes, essentially fun things I haven’t seen, or been able to consider buying, since we got here. And so that’s what I bought…nothing for dinner, nothing for all day Sunday. Just peanut butter and other random bits. Whoops. Tomorrow’s meals will be…creative.

I loved Konstanz and can’t wait to go back. The kids on the other hand have become desensitized to the whole touring-gorgeous-old-European-cities thing. Pretty sure to them they’ve all blended together. Wow, another huge, old, smelly cathedral, look another big square with a fountain in the middle, oh great, Mom’s taking pictures, AGAIN… Having kids in tow really keeps your feet planted firmly  on the ground though. Helps to remind you that what you are seeing is not real life but rather just a page out of a tourist brochure. Shopping at pretty boutiques and dining at lake-side patios is not for you. One sudden spilled glass of milk, a tipped over sidewalk display or being yelled at by a really angry cyclist because your children are standing smack in the middle of the bike lane and you are back into the reality of life. Move along people, nothing to see here…

All in all it was a great day exploring a really pretty, old town on a lake. We saw ruins that date back to between the years 300 & 400. That is mind boggling…

The other thing that is mind boggling…blimps! Seriously, how long has it been since you’ve seen one in the air? Was pretty sure that our kids’ generation would have only ever seen them in photos. But nope, “hey kids, look, there’s a blimp.” just happened.

For a mere 40 minute train ride away, this is a pretty spectacular world to be able to visit. And the kids were thrilled to add another country to the list of those they’ve visited.