Fairy Tale Day 1 Lindau Lake Constance

For those who have seen my very old Blips will know, back in the 1970s my first real girlfriend was Annie from 13 September 1973 until officially 12th July 1976 but finally 2nd October 1976 and which, according to my memory, was the last time I spoke to her. I did see her from a distance at Earls Court Boatshow on 8th January 1977. She claims she jumped into London Underground train I was on around 15th July 1977 & we exchanged pleasantries. She knows as she had washed her hair & that I was on my way to Piccadilly to pick up my wedding suit from Simpsons!

Whichever version you believe (I believe hers), there was no contact whatsoever until about March 2011 when I returned a camera belonging to her father. It took quite some research on the internet to find contact details on the internet. After that, emails once or twice a year followed until December 2020 when I had sent a pot of honey for Christmas & the delivery was going wrong (& final Brexit customs looming). That led to a WhatsApp number & then increasing messages.

Annie's husband had died in February 2020 very unexpectedly & again I had recorded hearing of that on Blip. As these things go, over time we recalled holidays we had had in Germany & Bavaria in 1975 & 1976, with one thing leading to another, ended in agreeing on a one-week historical re-run.

And so it was today that I collected Annie from Memmingen airport this afternoon & we headed off to Lindau on Lake Constance. She hadn't changed in 45 years, loads of talking & laughing. This continued the whole week, interspersed with beer gardens, pretzels & pork knuckles.

Extra Photo, today's route