One of my first weekends here – after I started to get the hang of driving a stick shift – I took a day trip down to Bregenz, Austria, with the car.
This small town sits right at the bottom of the Bodensee/Lake Constance.
I figured, if I want to do any hiking around here during my time at the lake, I had better do it soon, as it has been getting colder each day!
Although the weather was terribly foggy in the morning, it cleared out to be a spectacular day to hike up the Pfänder/Pfaender, which is Bregenz’s “mountain”.
So, it’s technically called a mountain, but I don’t think it can quite qualify as that, so I’ll just call it a big, tall hill…
I could have taken the Pfänderbahn up, but it really wasn’t too difficult of a hike…apart from the fact that it was straight up going up (that also means straight down, making the return journey all the easier!).
Given how gorgeous of a day it was, and that the views from the trail were spectacular all the way up, I’m certainly glad I stuck with my original plan! (Although I had a really difficult time figuring out where the trail started at the bottom, so I almost didn’t do the hike up!!)
It took about an hour and a half to climb up, but I did stop halfway through in a field for lunch, because…how could you not with a view like this for lunch??
As I neared the top, I ran into a bunch of cows grazing in the field. Random fact, but cows moo with accents just as people talk with accents! I just feel like everyone needs to know that! 😉
Then, I reached the top!!
To the back, you see the beginning of the Alps, which is amazing.
And then to the front – what you have been lucky to be seeing throughout your hike so far, is the Bodensee and 3 different countries.
The closest is obviously Austria. Then basically everything on your left-hand side is Switzerland and everything on your right-hand side is Germany.
There really isn’t a lot to say, because the views speak for themselves!
As I made it down rather quickly, I walked through town a bit and stopped for a moment at the lakefront to enjoy the view before heading back up the German side.
Into Uncertainty 