Touchdown!

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The Swiss airport is gorgeous!
The trip from Zurich to Constance, Germany was really easy by rail.

It was funny though, we missed our German friend at the train station and ended up just walking to his house (only 1 km away). They were amazed we found it...ah, the resourcefulness of americans. :-)

They had a great brunch for us in their garden out in back of their house with sulze (a kind of meat-spread set in gelatin) and lots of great breads, etc. In retrospect, I am amazed at how much I liked German food. I wasn't expecting that!

The Bodensee (the lake) is much and set between Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. Constance is a little bit of a divergent town...a college town with a good number of older people. It was great to see everybody out and about on their bikes though. I feel like that is somthing we don't see in the States (older folks out riding their bikes just or fun). Anyway, you can ride your bike around the whole lake - 200 km.

Besides visiting castles and great food, we went to the "Apenzel" (sp?) region of Switzerland for a hike. There's a famous cheese from there...I am going to be sure to check Whole Foods for it when I get home. The weather was incredible at the start of the hike and we at a fairy-tale like wooden restaurant overlooking a herd of grazing sheep and the mountains below. The wind really started picking up though, and we rushed along the path (through a small cave!) to the gondola to take us down the mountain. Those Europeans think of everything!

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Photos

The Medieval Town Square in Constance
yee-haw

The Swiss Alps!
gorgeous view from this restaurant and inn...