Border Town

TAKING advantage of the first really decent day of weather, I headed round the lake (called Lake Constance in English, after the town of Konstanz, but Bodensee in German, after the town of Bodman), across the border into Bavaria, and on to Lindau island.

Most of Lindau is now on the mainland, but the historic core is on the island, which in term housed a Roman settlement, a nunnery, a monastery, before becoming an Imperial Free City.

The island is in the distance, connected to the mainland by a causeway and a bridge

The walk should have been just over six miles, but it was more like seven, or more, as I hugged the shore and twice found the path fenced off without warning. This necessitated retracting my steps, which added to  the distance, but not the enjoyment.

Looking back to Bregenz, with what I am fairly sure are the Swiss Alps in the background

Most of the time I was walking either on a paved footpath beside a cycle lane, or on a narrow dirt track that weaved through trees.

Unusual mural on what turned out to be an art gallery

There were several possible stops on the way for refreshment, but I did not use them (it was a different story walking back in the full heat of the afternoon).

Closer view of Lindau island

This is Ascension weekend in Austria, which means Thursday was a public holiday (even supermarkets closed), and many people take Friday off as well to create a long weekend.

Even so the island was not overly busy, apart from the most popular cafes and restaurants.

Naturally there are plenty of buildings with murals

Some more elaborate than others

The entrance to the old harbour is flanked by Bavaria's only lighthouse and by a depiction of a lion from the Bavarian coat of arms

Close-up of the lighthouse

The lion viewed from the lighthouse

This 'fairytale castle' was built in the late-1300s for defence, but became the town prison

Bregenz War Memorials

The inscription across the top reads: in memory of the fallen of the upper town, and lists those "fallen" and those "missing" in 1914-1918 and 1939-1945

This plaque in the lower town roughly translates as: in honoured remembrance of our fallen comrades of the two world wars 1914-18 and 1939-45 Bregenz Volunteer Fire Department

Wall Stories

BREGENZ has some interesting murals, known in Austria and Bavaria as Lüftlmalerei.

This depicts the Battle of Bregenz in January 1408 when an alliance led by Habsburg nobles defeated a besieging Swiss army that was probably not expecting to be attacked in winter

An image of George and the Dragon, apparently (first) painted almost 500 years ago, shortly after the town was bought by the Habsburgs

I am on less-sure ground here, but this series of  murals seems to be highlighting that the Han von Bleydegg and von Heerliberg families, prominent in Bregenz in the 1500s and 1600s, "praised Jesus Christ" while also taking up arms 

Another view

The figure on the far left is St Christopher with the Christ Child, and next to him may be St Gall, who lived in the area as a hermit after accompanying St Columbanus to Bregenz in 611 - presumably the kneeling figure represents the citizens of the town, some of whose coats of arms are depicted, praying for divine help

This mural on the Kinz wine bar in the lower town was painted in 1897 and depicts Apollo driving the chariot of the sun

I suspect this mural, promoting a repair workshop in the lower town, is also relatively modern

Bregenz Upper Town

THE main entrance to Bregenz upper town is through the old gateway, overlooking the modern town and lake.

It is also possible to skirt round to the rear, enjoying impressive views on the way

Path through old vineyards

Closing in on a side entrance

Sections of medieval walls are soon glimpsed 

Old and new

St Martin's Tower began in about 1250 as a warehouse, becoming the upper town's main lookout point around 1600

Upper Bregenz

THE Celtic town of Brigantion, as Bregenz was then known, was conquered by Rome in 15 BC, becoming the headquarters of the Roman fleet on the lake.

It was destroyed by the Alemanni in AD 260, later becoming home to the counts of Bregenz.

The old town, also known as the upper town, was founded in about 1170, gaining an impressive gateway made from local stone about 80 years later.

Approaching the gate from above

Close-up of the gate

The view after passing through

Lakeside

AM visiting Bregenz, an Austrian town on the shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee in German), sandwiched between Switzerland and Germany.

Bregenz was settled by the Celtic Brigantii 3,500 years ago, and today is regarded as the capital of west Austria, although having a population under 30,000.

Since 1946 it has hosted an annual music festival that includes opera performed on the world's largest 'floating' opera stage. 

This year's performance is of Der Freischütz (The Marksman).

The stage under construction

Latest Midianite Camelry Painted

10mm figures from Newline Designs

Battersea Memorial Garden

KILLING time recently by wandering through the streets of Battersea, southwest London, I came across an attractive display of roses that turned out to be part of a memorial garden for locals who were killed in WW2.

The area was originally an "outdoors drawing-room," an idea I had never heard of, complementing next-door Christ Church.

Roses, with a shelter in the background

The shelter has a commemorative plaque

Top Read

I WAS, to say the least, effusive in my praise of E F Knight's Where Three Empires Meet, which I only bought after seeing it mentioned favourably in Peter Fleming's News From Tartary.

But having devoured it I was keen to read other works by him, including his first book, Albania: A Narrative Of Recent Travel.

It tells of barrister-turned-journalist Knight's travels through the mountainous Balkan country in 1878 - a journey that nearly led to him being killed as a spy.

Colourful cover - no illustrations inside, but plenty of vivid writing

While perhaps not quite matching the very high standards of his later work, Albania is nevertheless a great book.

Travel Classic

ROBERT Byron's The Road To Oxiana has everything that I usually do not like.

It is described on the back cover as "poetic," which often is another way of saying flowery and overblown, it was written architecture of the areas he passed through at the forefront, and the author had questionable morals (but then don't most of us?).

Nevertheless it is hard to turn down the chance to read a travel book that has been so highly praised, and I am glad I bought it.

Oxiana is Byron's name for the region, better known, at least to me, as ancient Bactria, around what is now called the Amu Darya river but was earlier known as the Oxus.

He spent 10 months in 1933-4 traversing the area and further afield, with the names of the places he visited having great historic and romantic appeal, including Jerusalem, Damascus, Baghdad and Persepolis.

I can do no better than to quote from the reviews of other travel writers: "beyond criticism," "humour spans every genre," "most learned and most entertaining," "written with such charm and gaiety."

A classic, but I have to confess the striking photo on the Penguin paperback helped convince me to make the purchase - for once, at least, it was possible to judge a book by its cover

Effort-less

IT may not seem that way, but I have been keeping up with my reading - it is my reviewing that has fallen behind.

Accordingly I intend to catch up with some short reviews of recently read books.

First up is military historian Sotirios Drokalos's The Wars Between The Greeks & The Carthaginians.

The book is published by Pen & Sword, and comes with all the usual faults of that publisher, namely using spellcheckers instead of competent proofreaders, and more-or-less dispensing with any attempt at editing.

But the company has come up with a new - at least to me - faux pas in apparently dispensing with a translator and instead using an early version of Google Translate.

All these add up to a frustrating read, for example on page four:

Carthage established its presence first in the Balearic Islands and specifically in Ebusus (present-day Ibiza), which it has since been used as a Carthaginian base

On page 82:

An important role in those successes of Dionysius played his alliance with the Gauls

On page 95:

However, on reaching Carthage, he was severely blamed, and was driven to suicide, according to Carthaginian morals. Moreover, his fellow citizens were so enraged with him for the fact that, as they believed, he had missed an excellent opportunity to subdue Syracuse that after executing him, they also beheaded his corpse.

On page 126:

Nevertheless, Agathocles had to attack, as his supplies were running out, and his troops suffered from a lack of supplies.

Three defences are said to be "impregnable" and another "unassailable," we learn of the work of "gunsmiths," are told of an "oil tree" and meet Carthage's "Holy Company" (Sacred Band is meant).

Enough of the irritating negatives - what about the positives?

There are plenty, and not surprisingly as the west Mediterranean before the dominant rise of Rome has an exciting history.

If you have read the ancient sources, Drokalos is not really telling anything new, but he tells it in a fast-paced and gripping way that helped me easily speed through the book.

I would like to have seen fuller descriptions and discussions of the major battles (and especially a map or two), but there is only so much that can be included in this type of general study.

It makes a pleasing addition to my library, especially as I received a discount (I cannot recall how much) by pfre-ordering the £22 hardback.

Recommended ... with reservations

Villa War Memorial

BETWEEN the former village of Solcio and the centre of Lesa is Villa, which, even more so than Solcio, is now very much part of the commune of Lesa.

It has a war memorial depicting Prometheus Breaking The Chains, a reference to the Greek myth of the Titan who stole fire from the Olympian gods and gave it to mankind.

A striking sculpture by the Milan-born Achille Alberti

It was erected in 1923 with the inscription: "To your generous sons who fell for their country 1915-1918," to which has been added "1940-1945."

Lesa War Memorial

THE war memorial in the centre of Lesa is also quite interesting, apparently functioning as a lighthouse, or at least a guiding beacon, for the town harbour.

The main plaque is headed: "Lesa - to its fallen in the Great War 1915-1918," with a second plaque underneath for "The War 1940-1945"

Solcio War Memorial

The main plaque is captioned: "To the fallen soldiers of the war 1915-1918"

Lower down a second, smaller plaque has been added for "the war 1940-1945."

Medieval Feel

THE church of San Rocco was partly built to give the villagers of Solcio, now part of the commune of the town of Lesa, an alternative to their 13th-century hilltop church.

Looking up to Chiesa do Sant'Antonio, ie Church of Saint Anthony

The climb does not look much, but the route turned out to be quite steep, and had a medieval air to it.

The Saint Anthony the church is dedicated to is almost certainly a Portuguese nobleman's son, christened Fernando Martins de Bulhões, who won fame for his teaching and for helping the poor in and around Padua, northeast Italy.

He died in 1231, aged 35, and was canonised by Pope Gregory IX less than a year later.

The church, presumably must have been built within a few years of Anthony's death, looks strictly functional from outside, and I was not able to enter.

However, the walk was the thing - the church just gave it a theme, and without it I almost certainly would not have explored the hillside of Solcio.

Italy Trip

HAVE returned from a long weekend spent in the north Italian town of Lesa on Lake Maggiore.

Opposite my hotel was a church dedicated to San Rocco (the literal translation is Saint Rock, but his name is usually rendered in English as Roch).

He was born in Montpellier, in what is now south France, in the late-13th or early-14th century, when the city was part of the Aragonese empire.
Roch's father was apparently the city's governor, but died when the future saint was 19.
According to the Golden Legend, Roch distributed his wealth among the poor, joined the Franciscans and went on pilgrimage to Rome.
He worked tirelessly among plague victims, before falling ill and withdrawing into a forest to recover.
While returning to Montpellier, Roch was allegedly arrested by his uncle, accused of being a spy, and imprisoned in a dungeon for five years, until he died aged about 30.
Wikipedia states that Roch is "patron saint of dogs, invalids, falsely accused people, bachelors, and several other things."

The church in Solcio on the outskirts of Lesa

The church was built in the 1820s by trader Felice Borroni, who made his fortune in the Netherlands before retiring to his native Italy.
The bell tower was added in the 1930s, replacing a smaller one, and interior decorations have also been changed over the decades.