Day 6 Mist opportunities at Rhine Falls

Published on 8 June 2024 at 23:40

Konstanz to Rhine Falls 37 miles

Sore muscles and sore bums, required a bit more summoning of energy to get moving this morning. Perhaps in my jubilation, I have failed to mention here that the route has by no means been easy. Even the little rises over overpasses are taxing on the legs when carrying such a load. Today's route mostly along Lake Untersee undulated between the shore and the hills above so our legs were feeling tired quickly. At the head of the lake is Stein am Rein, a well preserved medieval town who's bustling Saturday market in the town square added to the allure and sense of what life must have been like in the days of peasants and craftsman pedaling their wares. Even amidst so many people, there is this overarching theme everywhere we've been of this quiet, this stillness and simplicity we just don't experience in the US. Even the trains are eerily quiet. Only the lovely cow bells and church in bells stand out. We lazily made our way down another section of river passing more medieval in villages with covered bridges and Saturday bathers lying in the grass. Our goal for the day was to see the mighty Rhine Falls. While not so impressive from a height standpoint, the sheer volume of water moving over and around stone Islands was something to behold. We felt lucky to perfectly time a boat ride which gave us a little history of the falls & twice took us up close into the Mist. The spray was rather refreshing and fun to hear Chinese tourists on the boat giggling at the experience. Just as we departed the rain it started to pour and we headed for a hotel for shelter. Winding through a forest for a few miles, with our GPS stating it was only 3 minutes away, we wondered if this hotel even existed but sure enough the next thing we knew a little village and our hotel sprung into view gave us shelter from the storm. Check out our gallery for lots of pictures we don't post on the blog!