Day 10 - Austria

I realize that it’s been three days since posting and I left the last post by saying that we were sleeping in a parking lot…so just for the record (Mom) we’re ok. We’ve just been without wifi for a few days and while that’s been weird, it’s also been kinda nice to be without! Especially nice for the boys to be disconnected. They’ve had their devices for the car rides but have been learning how to entertain themselves with very little. Thus the newly found hobby of whittling sticks! And learning how to play together, what a crazy concept! A big thanks to Uncle Byron for the hacky sacks and yo-yo, they’re a life saver! I have written blog posts every day, just been delayed in posting them. So here’s the one from Day 10, Wednesday June 15th:

After sleeping not-so-great in our parking lot campsite, we got our coffee and Swiss baked treats and hit the road fairly early. Today’s destination — 45 minutes away to Lake Constance, specifically the Austrian city of Bregenz in the southeast corner of the lake. 

We had another pretty drive but today it was fast. I’m not sure what we were expecting in getting to Bregenz, but we definitely weren’t expecting a busy urban city. It was hard to find parking, especially parking that both fit our giant vehicle and also felt safe to leave all day. So after a quick stop at the tourism office, we drove around the narrow streets and accidentally found ourselves in the medieval old town of Bregenz. It was gorgeous and like being transported back in time. We walked through a gate in the old stone wall that led to courtyards and narrow passageways between colorful homes. It was much quieter in this area so we parked the van in the historic square and set out on foot to explore. 

Our first stop was a beautiful church that was inviting us to come in with the sound of the organ. It was the Herz-Jesu-Kirche that was built in neo-Gothic style from 1905 to 1908. Inside someone was playing the pipe organ and it filled the giant room beautifully. 

In my research I discovered that this region offers a pass that you buy once and allows you to use public transit as well as get free admission to multiple attractions. That’s what we bought from the tourism office and is why we new about the Pfänder cable car to the top of Mount Pfänder behind Bregenz. The cable car was not crowded and led to a beautiful area where you could see most of the Alps in the distance. The area also has a nature reserve for native animals to the region. A thirty minute walk around provided a nice look at native plants and animals, and a very fast surprise slide down a hill that was epic (Elijah’s words). After our walk we had ice cream and headed back down on the cable car. 

Our trek back through the old town was again our favorite part. We love the old architecture that has been different in every country so far. These medieval Austrian buildings have many stories to tell, it is definitely something I want to learn more about. 

At this point we needed to find a campground and secure our space. There was one area with three big campgrounds so we headed in that direction. They were busy and the first place was full. The second was packed too but said there were spots still available. Turns out the rest of the week is a holiday for Germany and Austria so that’s why the area was so busy. But this was a huge campground and the way Europeans do camping meant there was always more room. We were able to find a spot at the far end with no one in our view so we felt lucky. We parked the van and took a walk around the campgrounds to check it out. They have a beach on the lake with rocky or grassy areas that were full of sunbathers. They also had a restaurant where we got ice cream and cold drinks. (German beer for David and Laura!) One drastic change to our surroundings is the temperature swing from chilly in the mountains to very hot here. Vanlife will be very interesting as the weather gets hotter! ☀️ David walked to the grocery store and then we cooked local sausages and enjoyed pretzels from the campsite bakery. Finally we settled in for a low key evening that felt good after how busy our days have been. Tomorrow we’ll hang around the lake and find more fun things to do I’m sure!