Local train cruise around the Bodensee part 6: St. Margrethen to Romanshorn
Continued from part 5, in which my distance calculations have been updated; some track maps confused me a bit and the distances were starting to not add up.
We're a little inland at the start of this leg, and the most interesting sights are the hills to our left as we pass through Rheineck (43 km to Konstanz). The railway line rejoins the lake at Staad (38 km), and we make our first stop in the following town that.
With plenty of interesting buildings, trompe-l'oeil facades and sculpted oriels, Rorschach (34 km) is the visual experience its name suggests, though the Rorschach inkblot tests were named after Hermann Rorschach, not the town. That said, Mr Rorschach lived not all that far from here, having studied in Schaffhausen and died at Herisau.
But the most stunning views of this side of the lake, in my opinion, can be found at Arbon (27 km). From the Eastern edge of the town, we get a panorama of neighbouring Steinach, with lots of water birds grouping and nesting on the artificial island in the foreground, and the Austrian Alps standing in the background.
A stroll through the charming historical centre later gets us to the Seepark on the Western side, with a clear view of our next stop, Romanshorn. More on that next time (Friday, I will be skipping a post on Tuesday), but until then, we complete our walk along the lake shore in Arbon with the Seemoosriet, which, like the zone around the island in the earlier view, and places like Mettnau at Radolfzell (haven't been yet) or the shore between Nonnenhorn and Wasserburg, is a restricted nature reserve.
