Dettingen, Stein am Rhein and the Rheinfalls

On Wednesday, 18 July, we drove south from Stuttgart for about 2 hours to visit our exchange student Simone and her husband Alex.  It was an uneventful, but scenic, trip with a stop for a nice lunch on a lovely sunny deck with a great view of Lake Constance in the distance.

View of the Hegau and Lake Konstanz

We have visited them many times in the past, however this time is special because they are expecting their first child on August 30.  They are now running the family Restaurant and Hotel and work long days from around 8:30 in the morning to around 11:00 in the evening after the dinner crowd has left.  After catching up, we drove into Konstanz and walked around a bit, had an ice cream and drove to Reichenau which is a small island, a world heritage site, and premier vegetable growing area where we had a nice dinner by the lake.

Simone and Alex in the breakfast room

After a good night's sleep and a wonderful German Breakfast on the Restaurant terrace, we piled into their Volkswagen van and headed to Klosters, in the Swiss Alps, about two hours away near Davos.  Alex took his mountain bike; if there is a mountain near, the mountain bike goes, like Alex Sutton takes the kayak if there is water near.  We took the Gondola up to the top of the mountain where Denise, Gary and Simone took a short hike while Alex went down on his bike and rode the Gondola back up several times.  There was a nice restaurant at the top where we had lunch before we headed back down.

On the Gondola with the village of Klosters in Background

Denise, Simone and ?

Windy, but not raining - yet!

Lunch

The Biker and Simone

On the Way Down

Typical Swiss Building in Klosters

The next day, Alex and Simone had work to do at the restaurant, so we took off for Stein am Rhein and the Rheinfalls.  We had visited Stein am Rhein before, but the stores were closed, and the weather was poor.  Today the stores were open and the weather was overcast but not raining.  Stein am Rhein is a picturesque medieval walled city that has a pedestrian zone surrounded by many old dwellings located on the Rhein River.

Stein Am Rhein

The Pedestrian Area

The Waterfront on the South Side

Built in 1688

A Nice Example of Lüftlmalerei Painting

We then drove on to the Rheinfalls, about twenty miles west of Stein am Rhein.  We have visited several times in the past, and it is always spectacular.  At this time 540 cubic meters of water per second were flowing over the falls.

When we came back to Dettingen, after a wonderful day on the Rhein, we had a traditional dinner with Simone in their restaurant, prepared by Alex and his staff.   We returned to Munich on Saturday, knowing that we would return after baby Rommel is born.