Konstanz, Germany
10 September 2017, continued
Konstanz was added to the trip on a whim, basically as a place halfway along our drive that we could stop to stretch and maybe grab something to eat. We weren't really sure what to expect, but wound up very happy that we made this stop. Konstanz was a beautiful city! Immediately upon parking the car we found ourselves surrounded by impressive architecture, a wide and populated walking street lined with colorful shops and restaurants, and warm sunny weather to top it off. We stopped a bit at the Kaiserbrunnen – the Emperor's Fountain – and looked up at the Maypole standing high beside it (but in September???). We wandered down the stately looking streets, stopping to admire the ornate doors and décor on the buildings. Back towards the sea there stood a tower, and with its sharp fantastical spires it looked like you would expect to find Saruman casting spells from within. We went toward the tower, then down under the tracks to the bustling waterfront. There were a lot of people out enjoying the weather as crowds moved along the waterfront and musicians played along the promenade. It was actually pretty warm, especially for us coming from the mountains! We unzipped and opened our jackets as we followed the path down by the lake, then to the water's edge, then out on to the pier.
And there she was!
Standing out on the water was Imperia. She was such a beautiful statue, standing about thirty feet tall as she rotated on her pedestal. She rotated! Apparently, she was designed to commemorate the Council of Constance, which ended the Western Schism (where three different people claimed to be pope) and unified the Catholic Church back in the 1400s. The statue is much more recent. Imperia depicts a rather curvaceous courtesan in a very revealing outfit, holding a mini version of a naked pope in one hand and a naked emperor in the other. Said to be a satirical criticism of the strict morals the church imposes and the disregard for those same morals by the clergy, the courtesan literally holds these powerful men in the palms of her hands. Coming from a Catholic background I've long since abandoned, I love the symbolism in this art piece, seeing it go even deeper than just the church specifically referenced. To me, religions in general have strived to oppress the sexual freedom of the people. Yet here I see a confident and powerful woman holding her head high as she opens her body to the world, unashamed of herself or her sexuality. Her confidence shines through as she stands self-empowered, revealing her supposedly superior oppressors as small and insignificant. Intended or not, I look at this statue and see my own beliefs of sexual freedom, and the overcoming of social suppression of those freedoms in women. She is so powerful. And as for the physical statue itself, let's be honest – this is my type of lady! I do love those curves. All in all, she's absolutely beautiful!
We gazed up at Imperia, got our collection of pictures, then went around to the base of the statue. From there we looked out over the Bodensee. The blue water stretched out before us, the horizon dotted with sailboats catching the wind on this beautiful day. A blimp was flying around overhead as a ferry departed from the Konstanz harbor, cutting between Imperia a small lighthouse across the harbor. I was really drawn to that little building, quaint and nautical, its own beauty likely overshadowed by the busty statue. I snapped up a few pictures of the lighthouse and the harbor. We then walked back the pier to the docks. Rows of sailboats sat in the harbor, rocking in their slips as their masts waved high overhead. I couldn't help but dream of taking one of them out onto the lake, to cruise past Imperia and that little lighthouse, catch the wind, and sail all the way to Austria. I'm only one class away from being able to charter, I can't wait! I think that maybe I'll have to look into sailing here one day, it's so pretty...
We grabbed a small soft serve ice cream from a street vendor on the way back to town, which really hit the spot on this warm day. We crossed the tracks back towards the car, but wanted to stroll through the town once more. We wandered though the stone streets, looking at all the colorful buildings, admiring the little details found in almost every corner. In planning the trip, Konstanz was a small stop off point where we could stretch our legs walking by the water and check out the Imperia, but we had no idea how amazing this city would be. Had we known, we certainly would have planned more time here. Well, another place to look forward to see in the future!
This is our biggest frustration with American living. There are many, but this is definitely one of the biggest. We are so far from everything, and we are allotted only a very limited time by work to take for our adventures. We truly do work ourselves to death here. We live for work instead of working so we could live. We really need to resolve that. All the amazing things we found around Konstanz is only the tip of the iceberg. Did you know across the Bodensee you can take blimp rides over the water? When do we find the time to see and do these amazing things in only one week per year? We really need to rethink what is most important to us, and what we want to do in the limited time we have in this life. We need to make our goals a real priority. Otherwise, all these things we could explore just fall victim to lack of time.
Maybe all we have to do is relocate to Europe, and all these places we say we have to go back to will be right on our doorstep!
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