Konstanz to Hünikon, 22Km
Summer arrived this morning and although the temperature only peaked at 22 degrees it felt plenty hot enough. On went the sun cream, hat and buff and I’m wondering if I should have brought my solar umbrella, given the summers in Europe.
The Konstanz Camino starts at the Cathedral as you might imagine. I wanted to start the walk at the point where the Rhine flows out of the lake so we threaded our way through the backstreets of Konstanz to observe the mighty river drifting towards the Schaffhausen Falls and on towards Rotterdam.
Konstanz, you’ll remember, is in Germany, so we stopped at a cafe for breakfast where a small bowl of porridge costs half the price of one in Switzerland and is twice as filling. In fact we couldn’t finish it, nor eat anything else all day. How do the Germans do it? Eveline, who is a local lady, said there would be no cafes today so I bought a cheese roll which went untouched.
We set off and reached the Swiss border after a few meters. There were plenty of officials targeting a family car but everyone else passed by without suspicion, even those of us carrying a UK passport.
The houses soon became Swiss with window boxes stuffed with red geraniums and occasional Swiss flags. But that soon finished and we were alone in the fields and woods. Some cows eyed us from the distance while grazing the Swiss pastures which they will convert into Swiss cheese. More about them in the days to come. We also saw a couple of donkeys and Eveline said she would order one for me from Avis in Le Puy but I think the likelihood of venturing into the Cevennes in July is increasingly slim and I can certainly rule out taking a donkey.
It was a good path today with plenty of Camino signs pointing the Way and because it’s Switzerland, all the signposts show the distance in hours and minutes rather than kilometres.
Pilgrimage 
Am surprised that, being in Germany that you didn’t order a sausage for breakfast?
I don’t know everything that was in the porridge but it probably included a sausage
I assume the Swiss signs refer to time to walk? How does your pace compare? 🏃
Normally the signs are uncannily accurate like everything else in Switzerland but I will run a test tomorrow for you
Just beautiful Tim. Thank you 😊. Though I do have one question; when the Swiss cows are converting the Swiss grass into Swiss cheese, how do they ensure that the cheese is holey?
It might be something to do with the carbon footprint or perhaps they just blow into it
Ahhh…the ol’ time vs distance signs! Once again Tim, you’ve managed to tap into one of my past walking Little Traumas; on the Tour du Mont Blanc the times were waaayyyy off…& it wasn’t just me… 😳
I’ll be interested to see how they equate on flatter ground…no chance to test them on the TMB! 😏
I’ll be using my non Swiss watch to benchmark them and will let you know. My guess is that those signs are carved in the workshop and then put in the wrong place
😆 Vicky’s post was a reminder they are present on the Swiss section of the VF too…but I must have had a convenient blind spot at the time & blanked them out… 🤭
Swiss cheese!!!
Photos are beautiful. Look forward to reading about your journey.
Hi cheezywoman, I hope for some good cheese experiences on this walk
Thinking about the holey cheese two ideas come to mind. Perhaps they gallop the cows through the milking shed so they produce milkshake froth which converts to holey cheese OR the Swiss have managed to capture the methane emitted by cows and use that to blow holes thus reducing their carbon footprint without the need to plant more trees! Just a silly train of thought which my young grandchildren encourage!
Anyway, Tim, a great read. Sorry about yesterday’s double up but the laptop informed me I hadn’t edited the first. I love the distance being timed and I made it my aim to beat every timed distance on the VF through Switzerland. On your marks… Kia kaha,
I hope it’s the methane explanation. Certainly the holes are good for managing my cholesterol
Enjoy the second leg of your journey Tim. Different terrain than Norfolk I am guessing.
Looking forward to reading your other posts.
Yes I could try Norfolk next time. Hope you have a great time on those flatlands
Tim,
wonderful to see you are back on the trail. It sounds like you are not alone on this trek and looking forward to your daily posts.
Hi David, yes I’m walking for a few days with Eveline whom I also met on the way to Rome. She lives near here. The kilometres fly by with good company