I am a beach girl at
heart. However, it is not always possible to have the water at my finger tips.
That is when I escape to the mountains and find a lake to dive into. The rolling landscape, the mild climate and a
plethora of life contained within the Lake Constance in Germany immedietly took
my breathe away when I visited my friend this past summer in the hot month of
August.
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What seems like a never ending
vastness of water, Lake Constance is the second largest lake in Central Europe.
Not only serving as a
breathtaking scene for tourists and citizens alike, it is the main source of
drinking water for over four million people. As my friends and I
decided to take a swim early one morning, we passed by numerous boats cruising
by with onlooking tourists. What I did not realize at first was that the lake
acts as a boundary crosser, which made it that much more enticing to delve into.
On the Swiss, south-western side of the lake, you can literally swim up to the delightful
old towns, as well as picturesque townships on the lower side of the lake, like
Gottlieben. A famous river cruise starts off at Kreuzlingen, leads through the
Untersee to Stein, and then continues along the Rhine to Schaffhausen. At the
other end of the lake, boats cast off to connect to the Old Rhine river. Of
course we did not swim this course, but took our canoe out later to travel most
of the length of the river. Over forty miles long, we decided to travel the
length of it over a two days span, waking up on the third day with tremendously
sore arms.
An interesting fact that I did not know about this
lake is that the water around the edge of is quite shallow and features some
marshes which are home to approximately 250,000 different kinds of birds. Some
merely nest there during their winter migration while others take up residence
throughout the year. The birds feed on shellfish, plants, and some venture out
into the middle of the lake to find larger fish. I was lucky enough to see the
live action of what looked like a sparrow scooping up a fish double its size.
This sounds so pretty! I think its interesting that you can just cross the lake into another country. Does it matter if you have a passport then?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you thought it was cool to see that bird dive for the fish, but at Raystown Lake, in Huntingdon, Pa, I always see bald eagles hunting. I think it is so weird, yet awesome to see them dive and then bring up a carp or other fish just as big as they are! Nature is so interesting to witness!
I've never actually swam in a lake before, and I can't imagine what this experience must have been like for you in this grand and very popular lake. It would be interesting to hear about your feelings and emotions as you swam the lake. Then maybe one day when I finally get to swim in one (and hopefully a famous one), I can get a grasp of your own experience.
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