Today we cycled 102 km from Rafz in Switzerland to Tuttlingen in Germany. After more meandering between Switzerland and Germany, we are now finished with Switzerland and will be in Germany for the next few days. (It just struck me afterwards – because Switzerland as well as France and Germany, are part of Schengen, there is no passport check.)

 Whatever about the distance we cycled today, it was the elevation gain – 1,453 metres that made it stand out!

Thus it was another day of Carrrauntoohil and some more – it was even more hilly than yesterday. We expected it so we were prepared. The hill at the end was severe but overall I found it easier than yesterday. (Denis never complains – he takes it all in his stride!)

The top of the hill even had a marking for its 862 metres and had a mast! Not only that, but a sign for a ski lift!

We were delighted to reach Tuttlingen and felt a sense of accomplishment after the day. The forecast wasn’t good for the evening – this was the sky that greeted us as we arrived, in fact the rain was just starting. Though it looked very forboding, it soon cleared. There was rain during the night and more forecast for tomorrow morning!

Anyway more about the day!

Our first stop was to see Rhein Falls – supposedly the biggest waterfall in Europe, located beside Schaffhausen in Switzerland. 

They really were spectacular and well worth a small detour. The flow rate yesterday was 405 cubic metres/sec compared with the summer average of 600.

It was then back to our bikes.

In the morning we passed the pretty town of Gailingen am Hochrhein in Germany. I looked up this town in wikipedia afterwards as it had a very interesting bridge, (sorry the photo is quite dark).

However when I looked up about it, I learned Beginning in the mid-17th century, Gailingen became the home of several Jewish families and gradually became one of the largest Jewish communities in the south of Germany. They built a synagogue, school, hospital and old people’s home, and their population reached a number almost as high as that of the non-Jewish population. In 1870, the town elected its first Jewish mayor. Seven years later, both Jewish and non-Jewish children were attending the same school. Members of both faiths were living together peacefully until Hitler’s rise to power. In October 1940, over 200 Jews from Gailingen were rounded up from their homes to be deported to France.

I had been thinking as we have passed railways over the past few days, if those railways could talk …

We stumbled upon Stein am Rhein a small town in Switzerland known for its preserved, half-timbered medieval houses with painted facades, clustered around Rathausplatz in the old town.
We had lunch looking out on Lake Constance

There wasn’t much photographing in the afternoon as there was too much serious hill climbing to be done!

Tuttingen was where we met the blue Danube and yes it was blue last night!

Denis records each day’s cycle on Strava. I have only started tuning into the daily Strava record to check our elevation gain. I noticed that Strava recorded 2,300 calories worth of cycling yesterday.

Like every night, we ate and slept well in Tuttlingen last night!