Argitaratu: 16.08.2020
Saturday morning, 7:00 a.m. After a hard week at the building authority, the alarm clock rings way too early. Why on earth do we have to get up so early on the weekend?
The reason for this and basically the reason for my new blog is a trip to Konstanz. There, we met up with friends for sailing. Respectable and righteous people, all of them.
In any case, it was time to peel ourselves out of the sheets, grab our backpacks, pack up Fabo and head to the S-Bahn. The cooler could have let us know that it was still in the kitchen. Luckily, we weren't responsible for the beer.
The first surprise of the day was the RE train from Karlsruhe to Konstanz, also known as the Schwarzwaldbahn, which was almost full so early in the morning and at its starting station. According to Corona guidelines, of course. Fabi and I just managed to find a seat in the small area with the folding seats next to the stairs.
Across from us sat a woman who clearly hadn't had breakfast. The guy next to us was listening to Britney Spears or Kesha with his headphones, and he also thought of Fabi and me, so he turned up the volume extra loud. In front of us stood a group of 10 guys in the aisle and on the stairs, who looked like half of Voxxclub and the other half had escaped from the trade inspection office. Down in the bicycle parking area, a cyclist and another gentleman were arguing about whether one bicycle had more right to be there than the other. The last resort of settling the matter with a fight in the field seemed to be getting closer and closer. In the back left stood a conductor who was already off duty and therefore tried to remain as invisible as possible. And as a highlight, the train conductor made announcements that indicated that he himself didn't know exactly where we were actually going. Three hours with masks in a stuffy space have their own effect.
In the midst of it all sits Fabo, looking like he just came from a tanning bed, with a tan that's almost audacious, and next to him, there's me.
So, let the wild train ride through the Black Forest begin. It's almost too beautiful here.
We pass through dense fir forests that defy the tracks, golden fields with hay bales, and the obligatory cow pastures. Clouds tower above them in an azure blue sky. But I won't hide the fact that I slept through half of the journey. It's not like it's my first time in the Black Forest.
We arrived in Konstanz relatively smoothly. Currently, Konstanz is a tourist hotspot with everything a Chinese person could want from a South German lake. But there are hardly any Chinese people here at the moment.😄
But Fabi and I felt comfortable and were able to arrive at the meeting point at Sealife on time. Sascha picked us up there, whom we met at our former university. We already got along well in Kehl, and there were still some common topics afterwards, so the contact has been maintained. We're buddies now, I think. If he says something different, then he doesn't mean it.😄
It wasn't very clever of me to become friends with Sascha only after we finished studying. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten a horrible grade in commercial law from my buddy Sascha, like from my professor Dr. Sascha Kiefer. Although our exams unfortunately don't have names on them, and Sascha would never do that anyway.
Alongside Fabi, Dennis, Steffen, and Kim (♀) followed our invitation, and they fortunately arrived soon with the beer. After a short drink at the Molehaus, we set sail on Sascha's single-masted sailboat, Cheyenne*, into the wild waters of Lake Constance. Tomorrow, the people of Konstanz will surely whisper that the new sheriffs are in town. Because as soon as we couldn't do any more damage, I was allowed to take the helm, and we could set the sails or reef them, perform maneuvers, and climb into the rigging. And utter wise sailing sayings.
I always thought that sailing was a hobby for wealthier people and couldn't really appreciate it. But going out onto the water, choosing the direction freely, and only being underway with the help of the wind (if there's wind), is pretty cool. Setting or reefing the sails is also pleasant because it gives you something to do. It was also great to escape the tourist crowds with crowded beaches and be able to swim wherever we wanted. Just stop and float around.
Sitting on a sailboat in the sun and telling anecdotes from Kehl was also nice. After four hours, several beers, and a few sunburns (not me), Sascha was able to dock the Cheyenne* well in the harbor with a slightly better trained crew.
After we had to say goodbye to Sascha, we were able to explore Konstanz a bit and try a trick against wasps: spread a few coins on the table while eating. Apparently, the insects hate the smell. But in practice, it's more like so-so.😄
In the evening, Fabi and I took the train back to the capital of Baden, a three-hour journey. Along the way, we just encountered the idiots of the day, who walk through the train without masks, grinning. Each of them has an open Corona beer in hand. It's antisocial in so many ways. Others are showing solidarity and trying to protect the idiots by wearing masks, but they're too cool to do the same. It's almost sad that they're also too dumb to understand that. And the ironic act of drinking Corona beer hasn't been funny since March. Oh well, it doesn't do any good...
Now I'm sitting on the train near Villingen, summarizing this quickly. And following the motto that all cats are gray at night, in theory, we could also be driving through the Scottish Highlands, they would be just as black. Or through Glock's living room.
That's why I'll end it here, because hopefully nothing noteworthy will happen anymore.
In this sense, a heartfelt Servus (or whatever they say at Lake Constance) from me. Oh, and Sascha, please take good care of our boat.
PS: Of course, Sascha's boat is not called Cheyenne. But since I didn't remember the correct name, I could choose this name as a suitable one for me.
PPS: You can also rename a boat, Sascha.