We when got off the train at the harbor in Bregenz it was cold (50s) and rainy. This gave us the perfect excuse to try a real Austrian coffee shop (Vienna's coffee shops are praised here as the best in the world). We went to this little lakeside restaurant/cafe unable to find a plain coffee shop. Todd LOVED the coffee which was really strong. I had hot chocolate. All three of us had bread. They served the bread with a variety of different toppings (butter, honey, jams, Nutella-type spread). We tried the black currant jam - my first introduction to black currant - and it was delicious, very tart and sweet at the same time. While we lounged around in the cafe the rain cleared up. We walked along the water on the "sea promenade." Everywhere I looked there was beautiful vegetation and flowers planted in a gorgeous combination of colors.
Along the promenade we saw dozens of paddle boats tied up. On a clear day the lake must be full of them judging by how many they were renting out. We eventually came to a site that Bregenz is very famous for - the "floating" opera stage. Every summer they celebrate the arts in this city by constructing a stage in the lake on which they hold an opera. I thought this would be some small little stage floating but connected by ramps to the shore. It wasn't. It was huge and stuck out of the lake a good 40 feet from the shore. You would have to take a boat to get there, which many people did in order to help with the ongoing construction. The stands look like a baseball stadium's seats rising right out of the water.
After seeing the stage we wandered up to the old city, a mostly medieval part of town. As we walked along the steep winding streets we caught glimpses of the valley below us and the town's fortifications that still stand directly across from us. It was so beautiful I can't quite think of how to describe it. The city wall and gate are still in use. The palace, according to the sign, houses a rotary club and a Lion's club. There was a clothesline hanging from the third story windows on part of the wall.
At the top of the hill we visited a church that was founded by St. Colombanus and St. Gallus in the early 600s. There was a memorial for World War I outside the church and many graves of people from World War II. It's weird to think of this solemn place honoring soldiers who fought against ours. After we visited the church we went down the valley next to it and climbed the long steep stairway up to the city wall and gate. We were able to walk around the palace and adjacent areas. There were random staircases that dropped very sharply deep into the ground below the palace and the city walls into ominous blackness - passages right out of a fairy tale into the dungeons.
We ended our time in Bregenz with lunch on one of the main thoroughfares. I was nervous that it would be overly expensive, especially given our experiences in Switzerland. I had noting to be worried about. The food was incredibly well-priced (aka cheap). After some chicken nuggets, chicken wings, fries and an Austrian-style cheeseburger, we headed to part 2 of our trip - the island of Lindau.
The view of Lindau from Bregenz (you can see the two lighthouses)
Walking along the "sea promenade"
The floating stage and seats
Therese picking flowers on our way through the medieval streets
View of the valley and the old city wall from the church
The stairs leading to the city wall and gate (yes, we carried Therese up these in her stroller...)
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