One lake, three countries

There were many holidays in Germany in May, so I traveled a bit. I have heard about a beautiful island in Germany on a lake close to the Austrian border. The photos from the Internet pleasantly impressed me, and the presence of water (in this case, a lake) motivated me to pack a suitcase and get ready for a journey of almost eight hours. I had six trains. There was another global collapse and every train was late, so I ran to the next train and jumped on the train at the last minute. When I arrived in the penultimate city, my train was so late that I didn't catch it. I waited thirty minutes for the next one, got to it, and finally relaxed after the tiring "trip", and then the announcement was made that this train was broken and it would not go, so I had to wait another thirty minutes for the next train. When I approached Lindau Insel, I was tired and completely exhausted, but after seeing it (Lake Constance, Bodensee) I felt much better as if I had received a new charge of strength, energy, and cheerfulness. Any water heals me. This is my element. This is my universe that restores and inspires me.

LINDAU, Germany

Lindau is an island city located in Germany, Bavaria, on Lake Constance. The uniqueness of this lake is that it has access to three countries: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. I have never been to Lake Como in Italy, but judging by the pictures on the Internet, I would call Lake Constance the younger sister of Italy's Como.

Honestly, I couldn't even believe that I was in Germany, I had a stable feeling that I was in Italy. Indeed, the Italian influence was very noticeable: a lake that looked more like the sea, Italian ice cream at every corner, a lot of Italian language mixed with German, a completely different style of clothing, and of course warm, sunny, and very resort-like style….

The island resembles the cover of a travel magazine, it is beautiful from every angle. A lake that, depending on the time of the day, changes with different colors and textures. Mountains are visible on the other side of the lake. Boats and yachts, swans and seagulls. In the evenings, the entire embankment turns into a movie theater for watching the sunset. And a little later salsa is turned on and people dance. And then everything and everyone quickly disappears somewhere and the island sleeps, preparing for the next morning.

What was pleasantly and unexpectedly impressive in Lindau:

1. A large number of bookstores. And people read, they just sit, lie down, stand somewhere on the embankment, and read.

2. A large number of galleries and even the presence of an auction house. I did not understand this phenomenon, why exactly here, but I liked it.

3. The whole island is colorful and puppet. On every street, you will find beautiful old houses with paintings, quaint balconies, and colorful shutters. You can just walk without a map and enjoy yourself, you will never get lost.

4. Several cafes, restaurants, and Bäckerei. There are many of them, for different "wallets and tastes" and with a variety of choices. They open even at eight in the morning and even on Sunday, which is rare for Germany, because even in Munich it is difficult to find a coffee bar or a cafe that is open already at eight on Sunday and where you can buy something not very typical German. Almost everywhere in Germany, cakes, pies, and any kind of baked goods are the same. And Lindau was really impressed with its variety.

5. The main entertainment is, of course, seeing the lake and walking along it or taking a ferry to other cities.

BREGENZ, Austria

After enjoying Lindau enough, I took the ferry to Bregenz.

It's fantastic - twenty minutes on the ferry and I'm already in another country and I don't have to prepare any documents and papers and waste a lot of precious time. The ability to travel without restrictions and a visa should become a reality for all of humanity, not just for those who live in a certain territory and with a certain passport. If we are talking about true equality, then everyone should have the same rights, including the ability to freely travel and move around the world. But I am sure that in the future we will have it.

Bregenz is a city in Austria on the shores of turquoise Lake Constance and at the foot of the Pfander Mountains. For me, Bregenz is more about the mountains than the lake. The old town is very small and, to be honest, there is nothing to see there, so it is better to immediately go to the lift and climb the mountain. From the mountain, the view of the whole city is stunning, of course with a view of the endless lake. There is also a panoramic restaurant and many fast foods, observation decks, and a mini zoo. I decided to go down on foot, although I was not prepared, neither shoes nor clothes, but the mountains and the forest were calling me. And it was the right decision: fantastic birdsong, thousand-year-old trees of various shapes and types, pure Austrian air that you wanted to swallow and spread on bread, and, as always in Austria, benches that are placed in the right places so that you can not only sit on them and relax, but also to admire the landscape.

Returning to Lindau, in the evening I met a strange man aged 30-35, he ran after me to say that I reminded him of his friend. She worked in the creative field, so he wanted to ask who I was because my style of clothing was based on the American style of the 2000s and he suggested that I was somehow related to creativity by working as a graphic designer, a fashion designer, or a film director. I can't say anything about the style, I associate it with American sports style, although I don't know, maybe no one in America dresses like that anymore, but in terms of creativity, it's 100% and I'm already waiting for a new project in which I'm involved and which is directly related to the film industry.

June 6, 2023.