Bodensee (Lake Constance) from the air with uncle Bill

The Colossus of.... Lake Constance???

You may have heard me talk about my Uncle Bill.  He's 78 and met my Aunt Gisi when he was 70, after both of them had lost their partners.  Neither of them was looking for a new partner, he was happy travelling and she was happy at home in Konstanz: now they're living happily ever after travelling the world and splitting their time between Melbourne and Switzerland.  They're also thinking of taking a bicycle tour along the Danube (a support bus takes your luggage for you).  Zwei haben sich gefunden.  I hope that I'm as happy and active as them when I'm their age.

The three of us underway

Uncle Bill has had a hip replacement and is currently staving off a second.  As you know our plane is not massive, but a little thing like that isn't going to stop an adventurer like him.  So we went for a tour of the lake.

The Rhine canal

And going inland, pretty isn't it?

Lindau in Austria is on the Eastern corner of Lake Constance and being a pretty little island with a middle-ages city centre attached by a strip of road to the mainland it is a real tourist attraction.

Overview of the island and its harbours

view from the direction of the mainand

one of the towers, look at all the tourists in mid September!

Gisi's house, very top centre, it is incredibly difficult to identify a house from above, no matter how well you know it.

Konstanz waterfront, with tourist boat.

Church in the centre of Konstanz

On the way back to Bill & Gisi's, we went to Gottlieben, where Gisi lived for many years and just so charming and beautiful that it is absolutely packed with tourists in the season.

beautiful half timbered inn

And a gratuitous shot of the Friedrichshafen blimp flying past as we get ready for takeoff