Local Spots to Know About

This week I decided to write about some local spots that anyone coming to Konstanz should know about. I have gone to all of these places repeatedly over the last several weeks, now that the weather is nice. The first month I was here, during Go Konstanz, my friends and I hung out mostly at the pubs downtown or a people's apartments, but now we hang out almost exclusively outside. It seems that we are not alone, because all of the public parks and other nice areas are always filled with people hanging out, tanning, playing sports, having parties and whatnot.

The first place is the Seerhein park. I go here pretty often, because it is only a few minutes walk from my house. There is a reason that my building is called the Seerhein apartments. A lot of people come out here just to sit around and have some drinks, maybe also have a barbeque. Their are families and kids, but i would say the vast majority of the people out at Seerhein are students either from the Uni or from the HTVG, which is an independent applied sciences college in Konstanz. Their are also a lot of teens out enjoying the day, and the fact that the German drinking age is only 16 for beer and wine. The park is right next to the bike bridge over the Rhein, so pretty much everyone knows where it is. People also go swimming in the river, even though it is still freezing cold. It is ,however, extremely clean so that you do not need to worry about that. I have also seem people jump off of the bridge into the river, but I do not think is is legal. I'm not about to find out, because I have crippling fear of heights and falling. This park can be reached from either the 14/4 or 5 bus routes.

Another important spot to know is the Hörnle park. It is out at the tip of the peninsula that the city is on. It can be reached by taking the 5 bus route, or following the coastal path by foot or bike. A lot of people come to do the same things that they do at Seerhein, but their are also sports areas here. There are several beach volleyball courts, tennis and badminton courts, giant chess, pingpong tables and a few other things. Surprisingly there are not basketball courts though. You have to bring your own equipment, because there is no place that you can rent it as far as I know. You can rent some stuff from the university, but it is not really close to the Hörnle park. There is also a snack bar, beer garden and restaurant in the park. This is my favorite place to go swimming from as well. There are platforms that you can swim out to, and it is closed off to boats. If one studies in Konstanz, you are almost guaranteed to spend some time in this park.

Another notable hangout spot is the Bismark tour. I think it is off the 9 bus route, but I always walk so I don't actually know. The tour sits on top of a hill, which has an awesome view of the whole area, even though you can not go up in the tour itself. This is a good place to come and just hang out, or to have a barbeque. This is the best place in the city to come and watch a sunset or sunrise.

There are also some nice places along the lake in the downtown, with benches and whatnot to hang out. The city of Konstanz puts on free concerts a lot of weekends in a small park in the old city right next to the lake. I have been to a show, but I have heard they are pretty good. It's free, so it can't hurt to check it out.

This screne shop of google maps showws the location of several places I mentioned. The stars are the three parks. Also, the place labeled International Hair Group is the cheapest place in town to get a haarschnit.

Looking out at the lake from the path along the lake,between my housing and Hörnle.