Blogs from Switzerland, Europe - page 321

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During our four years in Boblingen, we took weekend trips to the following destinations: for two day weekends we traveled Bavaria, including Rothenberg, Munich, and Oberammergau; to the Bernese Oberland section of the Swiss Alps; and for three day holiday weekends it was by overnight train to Antibes, on the French Riviera. This entry describes our trips to Switzerland. As they could occur on any weekend, they were usually spur of the moment decisions depending on the weather. If we woke up on a Saturday morning, and the sun was shining and we had nothing else planned, we would hop in our car and drive south via the autobahn passing Singen, Zurich, and Lucern and arrive at our destination of Steckelburg, a small village at the end of the Lauterbrunnen valley south of Interlaken (also the ... read more

In early May 1978 my Mom flew from Thailand to be with us for several weeks. I took her and Linda on a business trip to Jever Air Base, a German base in northern Germany that the USAF would use in wartime. We stayed and ate a small gasthaus. While eating, the landlord’s teenage kids, Jenny and Jurgen, noticed we spoke English. Soon we were helping them do their English homework. The next day while I was at the German air base, they took my Mom and Linda on a tour of the town. It was freezing cold and they insisted everyone have ice cream. In German the J is pronounced as a Y, so we will always remember the kindness of Yenny and Yurgen from Yever. After my meetings, we drove back to Ramstein via ... read more

We were across the West German border by 10am and it was a good road through some pretty flat Swiss countryside, so with the van now performing a little better again, we reached Zurich by midday. By then, it was a real scorcher so after lunch, we spent most of the afternoon swimming and sunning on the north side of the lake with the swans. After a makeshift dinner, we returned to town for a stroll around the main part of the old section, including the three churches, Grossmunster (Large Cathedral), Fraumunster (Church of our Lady) and St Peters. We took in a couple of beers at one of the taverns then walked along the River Limmat back to the van. Finally, we drove out of town for about 30 minutes and stopped for the night ... read more