CITY WITH AN ISLAND HEART

The position of my 'you-are-here´ dot is still a long distance from home on the map of the world and still in Germany. However, it is not moving anymore. I found myself stacked in a city called Landsberg am Lech. Nice one. Quite big, historical and cosy all at the same time.  I am not really into settling down though. It was a hard to leave my backpack in a corner and accept the everyday reality of a working person. I am not that sure if I already got used to it. I check the map every night. To find a nice places nearby. Close enough so I could visit them when I have a day off. I had one of these days recently. So I made myself a little hitch-hiking trip. I thought that maybe Lindau is worth of visiting.

I remember we learned about Lindau in school once. At least our German teacher mentioned it, talking about Lake Constance. Don’t you know which one is that?

 The Lake Constance lays on a borders of three countries. Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It’s not a big one. Actually, there are parts from which you are able to see the opposite shore. Nice view. It is a marvellous feeling to stand in Germany, looking across the water to Austria. I really like these border-things.

In this lake lays Lindau. Not whole city, only its historic centre. The oldest part of Lindau is an island.  The new part spreads itself on a land. I managed to get only to its edge by hitch-hiking. From there, I had to walk. I was told it would be approximately 3 miles.  I didn’t know how beautiful walk it is at that time.

I found first magic place before I even crossed the bridge and entered its centre. Beach. Or more likely - a resort. Unfortunately closed. No problem, I was always good at climbing. Anyway, this skill wouldn’t be that necessary, if I was thinking before taking action sometimes. There were other people walking the pier, and they were quite old so I suppose they didn’t climb the fence. There is an open path from the other side. It’s a completely legal way how to get in there, so if you ever stop by, I recommend rather using that one.

„Lindau. If I didn’t have to go to work I would go as well. There is a Cafeteria called 37°. Visit it! There is a great view. You’ll find it on a parade in a harbour, near a train station. Right on the corner. If nice weather holds, you can sit outside. I think you are lucky. It should be nice today.“

I found it. There are cafeterias standing one next to another along that parade, so it wasn’t that complicated. 37°is on its end, in a corner, exactly like the man told me.  Unarguably, there are some restaurants with a better position and with a better view as well. Except that, 37° it’s basically next to the railway. That can make your coffee jump in a cup with every coming train. Fortunately, trains are not that frequented. More often you can see a leaving ship. That is a nice look.

Despite my worries about the location of this café and my unwillingness to move away from centre of the harbour, where was one man just playing a guitar (I am really into street artists), I decided to do what this man in a car told me and visited 37°.

It’s a hipster place. Every chair has a different colour and shape and menu is written directly on a wooden wall. Yes and they have a vegan cake. If you like places like that, I recommend. If you know me, you know I do like them.

The buildings lean one to another in the streets.  They stay so tight together that you can recognize ones end only according to its colour. Due to the fact that they are not really straight, the whole street seems to be dancing. Each house has its personality, but together they make a big impressive whole. Here and there you would find a plant. Tree or a flower, hard to say. They are growing there unorganized, but fitting together somehow. I had an urge to sit down and draw, unfortunately, the only paper I possessed was my hitch-hikers notebook. (Really overused already) Well the photograph must be enough. I moved to see another parts. 

I found a tower with a roof made out of colourful stones, old city hall used as a library museum these days, square with a markets going on and a plenty of fountains.

There are only two ways how to get out of a Lindau. Using a bridge or a boat. I came by walking and leave exactly that way, but if I had had a more time, I would undoubtedly take one of the fairies leaving through narrow entrance in harbour. I spent few hours there, only watching. The entrance is guarded by two towers. One of them is a light house. On the second one sits sculpture. Bavarian Lion.  With its face turned to a lake and its back to a dock, it looks like protecting the city from the open water space. In a coat of arms of Lindau you can see a tree. Lime tree. In German called Lind. That’s how the city got its name. Although, this lion became an unofficial symbol for me. It seems as respectful and proud as a stone lion could. It’s a first thing you notice when coming through there. And the last one.  I could see its silhouette sitting there in motionless power when I turned around one more time before leaving.