Everyone met at our hotel for a huge breakfast buffet. Wedding guests filled the hotel and when Reinhard and Elena arrived, they were applauded to loud cheers. Folks began to say their goodbyes and get on their way. Osse suggested a trip to the Maulbronn Monastery, a World Heritage site right down the street, and several of us went there to explore. We took a guided tour in German but we had an English audio version as well. Some things were highlighted on the recording and some by the guide. Brian, Jerry, Osse, Lotte, and Flo all shared facts so we got the maximum culture and information. It was very interesting. The Monastery was founded by the Cistercian Monks, was very wealthy for the time and had a major impact on the area. It's one of ... read more

Today was a quiet day at Aunt Eva’s. Brian went for a run and we did laundry, downloaded pictures, and caught up on the blog. We also went for a walk around Edigheim and to Frankenthal to get our steps (and some gelato too, of course) Tomorrow, we leave for the wedding so we all spent time packing and turned in early.... read more

We had another lovely breakfast at the hotel and set off to catch our standard 0919 train. We looked around at all the shops and were at out meeting place for the tour in plenty of time. The main tour starts in Zurich and picked us up (and 4 others) in Interlaken. We were in a small minibus caravanning with a large tour bus through the countryside to Grindelwald, a small village. We changed to a train there. Our tour guide, Evylyn (“Just follow my blue sign!”) gave out train tickets willy-nilly to the big group. We were polite and waited our turn until last and she was one ticket short. Guess who didn’t get a ticket? Amy got the pleasure of telling every ticket collector to “Go talk to Evylyn!” Some were crankier about it ... read more

The weather was looking terrible and rainy for Tuesday’s epic trip to Jungfraujoch. We decided to call the 24/7 Viator helpline to see what they could do. They were awesome and contacted the Swiss tour company to swap to Wednesday which was projected to be sunny and nice (we’ve heard that before!). We’re been running from this rain for 2 weeks and were amazed that they have been so accommodating. We even got the same young woman who helped us change our trip to this week and she remembered us. High marks for Viator if anyone is looking for short excursions while they are traveling. We also had good experiences with them in New Zealand. Since today was the better weather day for our independent excursions, we decided to hike to the Hinterburgseeli, a little hidden ... read more

Today, we got ready for a big family Birthday Party. The 23rd is Brian’s Mom’s Birthday as well as his cousin, Uli’s. This is also the anniversary of the day Peggie arrived in the States from China and the same date she married Brian’s Dad. Everyone arrived in the afternoon and the house was full of catching up and laughter. Tables full of all kinds of appetizers started the feast and Britta brought a wonderful Rhubarb kuchen (cake). It was so good, we had dessert with wine thirty before dinner. The recipe is coming home with us. Then some pork roast and all kinds of salads for dinner. We took Nick and Bina (Gabi’s dog) around the neighborhood. The crowd starting thinning around 1000 and we realized we’d better go pack for our trip to Switzerland. ... read more