We've Arrived!

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Flight to Zurich, Switzerland

Good evening one and all and welcome once again to the blog of the Happy Wonders - Vanda and Rob. It is currently 9:35 Central European Time September 7 for Vanda and me - six hours earlier for you on the East coast and earlier yet for those further west.

Monday, Labor Day, September 6, started early for your author as his dear wife rousted him from a deep slumber so that he could go on-line to check in and get the boarding passes, mow his grass and finish last minute packing. Of course, true to form, Vanda was also mowing her lawn and rushing to get all the last minute details completed. Needless to say, by 11:45 we were on the way to Dulles and arrived with enough time to have lunch and explore the terminal.

The Lufthansa flight left on time and we ended up in an economy section with only four rows of seats and one screaming baby. This flight reminded Vanda and me of days long since past when the airlines actually cared about their passengers. We were served a full dinner - it was beef teriyaki - really good and tasted like pot roast. Even had a full breakfast 90 minutes before landing. Lufthansa put all US flag carriers to shame. I managed to get an hours worth of sleep, Vanda 2-3.

The Frankfurt airport, where we had to change planes, reminded me of the 50's and 60's. This airport is truly user unfriendly. We landed in concourse B, had to hike to concourse A through a maze of tunnels and stairs with no escalators or people movers and then were put on a shuttle bus and taken to the plane which was in the middle of the tarmac for boarding. And a misty rain started to fall while we were climbing the ladder to board. Who remembers those old days of leaving the terminal to go to the tarmac to board a plane? Last time I did that was in 1966 in Columbus, Ohio and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The trip to Zurich? Quick, as we were in the air about 40 minutes. Or course, the closer we got to Zurich, the worse the weather became and the more bounce for the ounce we got. I guess Lufthansa wanted to make up for the zero bounces we got crossing the Atlantic. We arrived without giving back breakfast. I have to give those two flight attendants credit -- Captain came on and ordered them to quit serving and they never stopped. Everyone was served, everyone had their trash collected and then they passed out a sweet roll to everyone. They deserved a medal for customer service.

Baggage collection was a breeze - my bag was the last one out - but since there could not have been two dozen bags, it was no big deal. Then it was on to see if Avis tries harder. Not really sure about this one. However, they tried to offer me a free upgrade - right into a full sized minivan. Can you imagine Vanda and I traveling in a gas guzzler like that? I refused it! Turns out they had nothing in the lot anywhere near the size that I had ordered and those that were there were preassigned. I was told that there was one the next size up being cleaned and that I would have to wait 30 minutes for it. No problem. So Vanda took this time to comb her teeth and brush her hair. However, when she began flossing her teeth in the Avis lounge, the rep magically appeared with another offer - a diesel BMW 320 (eat your heart out Robby). The speedometer says it will do 260 KPH, but have only had it up to 150 far.

On land

Took off and had our first meal in Europe, lunch, at a restaurant in Switzerland. Mushroom soup and salad. 32 Swiss Francs or about $34.00 USD. Looks like we'd better find a grocery store soon.

Arrived in Triberg, the cuckoo clock capital of the world around 2:30 and checked into the Hotel Pfaff right in the center of town near the waterfall (see photo) - a small hotel run by the same family since the late 1800s. During the drive from Zurich, Vanda had managed to catch a couple of winks, but it wasn't enough. She was B-E-A-T. As in dehydrated, out-of-it, and so forth. She decided nap time was in order and so I set the alarm for 3:00. At the stroke of 3:00 I bolted from the bed and headed for the car to bring in he luggage. Then got Sleeping Beauty up so we could see some cuckoos. By 5:00 she was done in but your intrepid reporter was still full of energy (no Red Bull either) and kept going until the stores closed at 6:00. It was back to the hotel to pick up Vanda, who was still dehydrated but feeling better, and off to a Gasthaus we had seen earlier for dinner.

I guess the navigator must still have been half asleep because we missed the turn in the road where a detour was posted. However, the BMW has navigation that we don't know how to use - just follow. So we did. An hour later we arrived at the Gasthaus Engel near St. Georgen, which we later discovered was about 10-12 minutes from the hotel. I had venison for dinner and Vanda had a delicious pork and mushroom gravy dish, both meals served with homemade noodles.

All in all it has been a very interesting first day. Vanda is now dead to the world and I will be shortly. She can't figure why my energy level is so high, neither can I. Must be the excitement. We took a few pictures, but some great ones got away because my camera was buried in my backpack. The weather called for 70% chance of rain today, but once we left Zurich, we didn't get any rain until about 5:00 or later. Been constant since then. We won't let it dampen our spirits. Tomorrow we have to decide whether or not to buy a clock.

As it is now after 11:00 pm here in Germany and I've had about two hours sleep since 8:15 EDT yesterday, I'm off to visit the Sandman. As they say here - Auf Wiedersehen.

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Photos

Our Lufthansa plane unloading in Frankfurt
Our Lufthansa plane unloading in Frankfurt

German house with bovine lawn mowers
German house with bovine lawnmowers

Hotel Pfaff in Triberg
Hotel Pfaff in Triberg

Landgasthof Engel
Landgasthof Engel near St. Georgen-Brigach

Rob at Gasthof Engel
Rob at the Gasthof Engel

Shops with clock facades in Triberg
Triberg shops with clock facades