Before Mikey went on holidays – and we left Germany to tour Europe – we spent our last weekend in Tübingen (29-30 March), the little town we called home for two months. I picked up a ‘historic tour of Tübingen’ map from the Visitor’s Information Centre and roughly translated it into English using Google translate and a couple of Tübingen websites. So, on Saturday, I decided to take Mikey on a historic tour of Tübingen.
The weather was good, and Mikey was pretty forgiving all the times I realised I had not been looking at the map and we had missed the next turn. Many of the sights we had already seen, but it was nice to see them while learning a bit about their history ie. the City Hall, the Collegiate church and Tübingen’s castle.
Tübingen’s Rathaus (City Hall)
Mikey also took some nice photos of Tubingen in black and white and posted them on our site.
Tübingen in black and white
About 6km out of Tübingen is the Bebenhausen Monastry, so we drove out there after we had finished our historic tour. The former Cisterian monastery was one of the richest monasteries in Württemberg between the 13th and 15th century. The cloisters were cold and eery, but looked really great. I could imagine a monk sitting on a bench reading quietly.
Bebenhausen Monastry cloisters
On Sunday (29 March), some friends from Tübingen went with us to see Lake Constance (Konstanz). It was about a 150km drive south to the town of Constance that sits on the Swiss border. We met up with some friends who had driven up from Zurich and toured the town, taking some great pictures from the top of the Gothic cathedral and by the lake.
Lake Constance/Constance
It was a lovely sunny day, perfect for walking around and then settling in the sun for a chat and a beer. After a relaxing afternoon, our friends from Zurich headed home (which was a bit sad because it will be a while before we see them again) and we took the ferry across the lake to the town of Meersberg.
Meersberg is a much smaller town than Constance, but makes up for it with charm. The lakeside promenade, with its colourful flower beds and sparkling water view, was the perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon… in fact most afternoons would be well spent here. It had a real Mediterranean feel, which was unexpected (although not really well reflected in the photos). We walked the cobblestoned streets to the Altes Schloss, an 11th Century castle that is said to be the oldest structurally intact castle in Germany. As the sun started to set, we felt the tiredness in our legs and decided to head back to Tubingen.
Meersberg
So that was our last weekend in Tübingen. Mikey and I are thoroughly appreciative to all the people who made our time there special. Particular thanks to our flatmates, Ines and Sebastian, and Mikey’s colleagues at work who made such an effort to welcome us and help us out. Thanks all!