Adventures in Deutschland: Day 10

This afternoon we went with a group from the CDC to visit the large neighboring city of Konstanz (Constance). Therese was VERY excited about going on the "choo choo train" and could talk of nothing else all morning, except to add that Big Bird would be coming on the choo choo train with us. Puzzled by this addition, I put a Big Bird diaper on her and hoped that would suffice. It did. On the way down to the CDC, Reese pointed to a city bus and said, "Choo choo train." I told her that it was actually a bus, but I reminded her that we would be riding on a choo choo train shortly. She thought about this for a second and then exclaimed, "Like people!"

Konstanz is an amazing city. It is located where the Rhine becomes Lake Constance so that you have this beautiful blue river running through the middle of the city and then all of a sudden a large expanse of blue as far as you could see. Today, we could see as far as the Swiss Alps. Amazing. Konstanz is very much divided by the Rhine so that one side is very old (inhabited since the Stone Age, built to a large city by the Romans by the 300s) and a quite modern university town on the other. Apparently the citizens of Konstanz who lived on the south side of the Rhine left their lights on during air raids during WWII in order to trick the bombers into thinking they were a part of Switzerland. It worked.

In Konstanz we visited the main church (the Cathedral of Our Lady in Constance) which was HUGE. They aren't sure when it was founded, but the first historical mention of it was in 615. Inside the church was a crypt where we were able to visit the tomb of St. Pelagius (not THAT Pelagius) which was brought to the church in the year 900. We were also able to enter an older part of the current church which was said to have been "extended" in 900, meaning it dates before that. I marveled at the statues that had half of a face or wore so worn down that you couldn't tell what they were, just trying to imagine how many people in how many eras had passed before them. And there they were, just standing in a little church hall, out in the open with spider webs clinging to them.

Outside of the cathedral is a small excavation site which shows a wall built by the Romans between 300 and 400. Overall, the city is amazing. There are magnificent buildings, very tall, lining the winding streets that were desinged centuries ago. Plus there is all of that beautiful blue water. Now I understand why people keep telling those of us in Radolfzell that we HAVE to go Konstanz. Of course, we only spent a few hours in Konstanz and didn't even make it to the biggest theological landmark - the one that put Konstanz on the map: the place where they held the Council of Constance. I guess we'll have to go back and visit another time!