After a great night’s sleep in the rental apartment in Singen, Germany, I began my day with a Berliner and delicious cup of tea:
After breakfast we cleared out of the apartment and headed back to Lake Konstanz. Joachim took us to the Isle of Mainau, aka “The Island of Flowers”, which is an island within Lake Konstanz, accessible by road. It was amazing! The whole island is a botanical garden with an enclosed butterfly garden at the center. I could have stayed there all week. When we first entered the gardens we came upon a goat in a pen. There was a little machine where you could buy him feed. Joachim bought some and was going to toss it into the pen, but I said “you should feed him out of your hand!” and he dumped the feed into my hand and let me do it. I love feeding goats:
The gardens are endless and amazing:
I loved this crazy water-feature stairway, which dumps into a pool:
It was so beautiful!
In a separate area of the garden there’s a small farming section. Look how freaking tall the corn is!!! My brother-in-law is at least 6′ tall and it was almost three times his height! That’s not an optical illusion – he’s standing about 2′ from the tallest one, even though it looks like he’s very far behind it:
There’s a huge 18th century baroque palace up on the hill overlooking the gardens and Lake. The family still lives in it, but parts are open to the public. There’s a patio behind it featuring an odd assortment of gifts, including a giant Nordic horse which I wanted to take home!!!:
Parts of the palace exterior are under renovation. I was amazed to see a giant canvas covering the entire area being renovated mimicking the building’s regular face in great detail. From a distance you can’t even tell it’s being renovated mind blown:
The views of the Lake from the palace are amazing, of course:
Then it was into the butterfly garden! My brother-in-law opted to sit outside while my sister and I entered through a giant chrysalis:
Once inside, the garden is enclosed with glass walls and ceiling, and is very humid. It’s filled with plants, trees, benches, waterfalls, and TONS of free-flying butterflies. There were areas set up with fruit where the butterflies could snack:
The butterflies and moths were so gorgeous:
I took so many photos inside that it was very hard to narrow them down! Here are my favorites [I particularly loved the blue and white butterflies – can you tell?]:
tonight I stumbled onto your site while looking for ideas for my upcoming catio build. I laughed when I saw your blog on Germany We were there at the same time. We stayed at a condo two blocks from Lake Constance and used the ships to travel all over the area. Beautiful weather this year! Heading back for another month in Sept 2019. Family is up close to Aschafenberg.
Anne, that’s so cool! Lake Constance sure is beautiful. I was so happy to see it. My family is in Nürtingen. I wish you luck with your catio!
Seems that botanical gardens and butterfly pavilions are a thing–I have seen a few now! Your butterfly photos are beautiful. They are so hard to catch for a photo. Love the Dala horse–just like the little one I got at Little Norway in Wisc. when I was 8! (Still have it.)
It’s a great idea to combine gardens and butterflies! They are SUPER hard to get for a photo, unless they’re eating. I never knew they were called Dala horses – I’ve always had a few. They’re beautiful.
The red Dala-horse belongs to swedish christmas tradition.
I have already see it at IKEA:
Liebe Grüsse
OHHHHH! Neat! I have had some of them since I was a little girl. I have always loved them!
Those gardens are stunning. And Goats! My friend used to raise Pygmy goats. There is nothing more adorable.
Jim & I can’t wait to have goats when we’re retired in Hawaii! So adorable 🙂
You take unbelievably gorgeous pictures! The flowers, butterflies, and scenery are all so beautiful. And then there’s the goat – SO cute and funny! Great photo shoot!
Thanks! It doesn’t get much better than gardens and goats!