Konstanz

Our friends lent us their car while they were out of town two weekends ago (so nice!), so we took the opportunity to drive an hour to Konstanz, Germany. If we took the train to Konstanz, it would take us about 2.5 hrs, which is why we haven't made the journey previously. Konstanz is the mecca for cheap shopping for those of us who think Swiss prices are too high. Additionally, Konstanz has an aquarium which we knew Carsten would enjoy, so we went! We arrived before everyone else did, which meant that we had no problem finding a parking space by the aquarium, which is right downtown by the train station and mall (gasp - a MALL!). Since we right by the aquarium and we wanted to let Carsten run a bit before lunch, we went into the aquarium. The aquarium was was pretty small with the main attraction being a large tank with sharks, rays, turtles, and other fish where you could walk through a tunnel. I've never been to a 'one-way' aquarium, but this was definitely one-way only since it was typically only wide enough for 1 stroller. Carsten enjoyed it very much and even learned a few new words like 'shark!' and 'turtle'. We managed to get 'shark' on tape, so please see the video below!

Carsten and Andy looking at the aquarium.

This weird fish kept doing a dance for Carsten with it's nose out of the water.

Carsten looking at the penguins :).

The aquarium was right on the Bodensee. 

After the aquarium, we went across the railroad tracks to the first mall we've been to in Europe. It was BUSY, and low and behold, prices were quite a bit cheaper than the Swiss country just a few miles away. For example, my shampoo costs about $7 here but only costs $4 in Germany. We took advantage of cheaper food and had thai food for lunch; Carsten was not impressed by our selection, so we got him a cheese and ham croissant instead (yummy bakeries!). This was indeed a special treat because as a rule, we do not eat out in Switzerland due to the insanely high prices (at a sit-down restaurant we would expect to pay $75+ for the three of us just for entrees and drinks). We then decided to take a walk around the downtown area of Konstanz so Carsten could nap in his stroller. Thanks to all the cobblestones, he napped for an hour while we walked around. Andy and I took turns going in the cathedral in the center of town because for some reason, when you stop walking the stroller, Carsten will immediately wake up, which is what happened around the 1 hr mark when Andy stopped to adjust a blanket for Carsten. This is a massive improvement over a year ago when it really wasn't a sure bet that he would sleep in his stroller at all, and we're hoping that this will continue when we go on our many vacations coming up in the next few months :). After Carsten woke up, we went back to the mall area where we found ourselves at H&M. We got Andy two new shirts at what we consider ultra-cheap prices, and this marks the first clothing items that we have bought in Europe since moving here. Clothes are much, much cheaper in the states, so we do most of our shopping in the US, especially for Carsten since last year alone he went through 4 sizes of clothes.  Here are some photos of our time in downtown Konstanz:

Exploring Konstanz

Beautiful building and sleeping baby :).

our sleepy buddy

Konstanz and the cathedral

Cathedral

Front of the cathedral

organ :)

it's old!

The front doors were carved wood and were pretty.  Makes me think of my Dad :).

pretty cathedral!

A rare site: an empty square.

After the mall, we headed back to the aquarium again since our ticket was good all day. Carsten loved going through again, and it was really nice to be able to let him run before we drove back home. Such a fun day! It's amazing the difference in the range of places you can go with a car. We were spoiled to have a car 2 weekends in a row!