They had availability and I rented a double room with a little sitting room off the bedroom. It was on the front of the hotel with a nice view of the Zum Bären and the quaint little streets. I paid about $65 a night for the room, once again more than I wanted to, but within an amount I could afford. Since I had known before leaving the States where I wanted to visit, I could have saved a lot of money by making reservations ahead of time. As it was, I would get tired of hunting places and would take the first thing that looked nice. Not a good idea for the budget minded.

I asked at the hotel desk if it would be better to go to Mainau that afternoon, or wait until the following morning. I was quickly told to wait until the next morning because the island gets very crowded in the afternoon. Therefore, I went off to explore the town and walk along the lake.

I stopped at the boat ticket office to get a schedule for the boats out to Mainau. There was an 8:30 boat and a 10:10 boat. That first boat is awfully early when you're on vacation, but thought maybe it would a good one to take.

That evening I went to the restaurant at the Zum Bären and ordered my usual white fish sauteed in butter and cooked with almonds (nectar of the gods).

A few minutes after being seated, the hostess asked if it would be OK for some other people to join me at my table. Of course, I said OK. It turned out to be a young lady and her mother, who is approximately in her late 50's or early 60's. The daughter didn't speak much English, or was just very quiet. The mother was a wonderful person. While we talked, they explained they had been to Mainau that afternoon and were disappointed. It seems there were not as many flowers as usual. It was just past the spring flowers and they were only then planting the summer flowers. With that, I decided to take the 10:10 boat the following morning. Being the big party person that I am I went back to the hotel after dinner and read before going to sleep. I decided to leave the next day and head to the Black Forest after visiting Mainau.

I woke the following morning at about 5:30, so decided since I was already awake, I might as well get dressed and take the earliest boat over to Mainau. I loaded up the car, had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. I arrived at the dock around 8:15 and in a few minutes the boat arrived. I can't begin to tell you what a wonderful morning it was. There were only about 12 people on the boat. I sat on top in the back and enjoyed the cool breeze blowing on me. The sun was warm, but not hot, and I could not have asked for anything more relaxing.

This isn't to say the island isn't terrific, but having been there in the fall and seeing the dahlias in bloom, this was nothing to compare with it.

I took the 12:10 boat back to Meersburg, and saw what the lady at the hotel had meant about the crowds in the afternoon. It took 10 full minutes for everyone to get off the boat when it had arrived. Once again, the boat was almost empty on the way back and I sat outside enjoying the fresh air. I wanted to get a ticket and just ride around the lake but the next boat that would allow anything close to that didn't leave until after 2:00. I wanted to make Urach that night (about 2 to 2½ hours drive) and didn't want to be that late leaving since I was by myself....