Switzerland

On the weekend of July the 14th, I spent time with a family in Zurich, who know my great uncle. They were so kind to me, and allowed me to sleep in their guest bedroom, while I explored the city. I left Mannheim early Saturday morning, and arrived in Zurich and was greeted warmly by the Martens. Uwe, (pronounced "Oovay") took me around the city, showing me a couple of churches, one that had stained glass windows designed by a famous Jewish artist, depicting the story of the Bible. He also took me to a place called "Lindonhof" translated roughly "lime tree yard." Apparently the lime tree symbolizes young love and the center of a township, namely where legislation was made and punishments were carried out.

After seeing a few of the sights Zurich had to offer, Uwe and I went back to their house, where his wife Uschi (pronounced "Ooshee") had coffee and cake ready. "Kaffee und Kuchen" is a very popular meal in the afternoon, usually around 4, so the Martens had set this up, and we had "Eiskaffee" which is coffee with ice cream in it, and pastries. Their youngest son, Fabian, was also there. Shortly after coffee and cake, the older of their two sons, Florian, arrived for the weekend. We had dinner a couple of hours later, which consisted of barbecued meat and potato salad. The meat was mostly German sausage and veal, without our traditional Texas barbecue sauce, however, it was a very good meal. After dinner, we sat around and talked for a while, then I went with the two sons to walk the family's two dogs, Fiona and Duke. I have never really been a dog person, but these dogs were very sweet and quiet, too. Anyway, that ended my day.

The next morning I woke up a bit late, around 10:00, and found that breakfast was ready. I ate a typical German breakfast with the family, consisting of bread with cheese and coldcuts and jams, then we decided what we would do for the day. Florian said he would take me around Zurich again, showing me what I hadn't seen the day before, and along the way, we would basically take Fabian to his flat which was in the city (The Martens lived in a very small town just outside of Zurich) so that he could study. Florian took me to see a few things around the city, including a church where I went up into one of the towers overlooking the city. Florian told me that a couple of men were martyred, and after they were beheaded, they took their heads and walked back up to the church where they finally died. It was a very interesting story. The climb into the tower was quite a workout, as well. Then we met everyone else, excluding Uschi, who hadn't been feeling well, for dinner. That was where I had a Swiss meal which consisted of fried potato shreds very similar to, yet better tasting than, Ihop hashbrowns, called Röschti. Along with it came veal, I think and Rattatouilles (did I spell that right?). Anyway, the meal was very good, and filling. After dinner, we headed back to their beautiful home, and I lounged in their upper garden with Uschi, watching the sunset, and the stars pop out. It was amazingly serene and peaceful. I started getting tired, and decided to go to bed, and so ended the second day.

When I woke up the next day, I had breakfast with Uwe (Uschi was at a hair appointment, and their two sons had gone back to where they lived, as it was Monday and they had to go back to work and school), then he took me to the train station, where I caught a train to Lucerne. Once there, I got onto a boat which took me to the Rigi Mountain (I don't think it is actually a mountain, however, it is one of the bigger hills I have seen). I took the next train to the top of the mountain, and was rewarded with a spectacular view on the Swiss Alps, and the clear, blue water Switzerland is known for. It was absolutely breathtaking. The only the thing I would have changed was the cows. There was a herd of bovine at the top of the mountain, and I had to step carefully so as not to step in fermented cow poo. I take that back. That would not be the only thing I would have changed; I wish Anthony, or really anybody could have been there with me. Towards the end of my trip, I was very tired of traveling alone. I suppose the travel plans could have been talked about much more, since when we got there, everyone had different plans. Anyway, it was still a lot of fun, and I would trade those experiences for anything!

After I took a walk around the mountain peak, I went back down the mountain, only to find out I had a sunburn! I took another boat back to Lucerne, and visited the one thing I knew was in Lucerne: die Kapellbrücke (the chapel bridge) and the water tower attached to it. I saw a few other pretty buildings but I didn't want to stray far from the train station, so I wasn't really able to go sightseeing much in Lucerne. After a bit, I went back to the station, and traveled back to Mannheim.