We were all a little tired from Oktoberfest, so we got a bit of a late start. George suggested we stop along the way and spend a couple hours in Ulm (the birthplace of Einstein). Ulm is a traditional German country town. It has a very large church in the town center, which you can climb the steeple and get a great view. Of course we had to-so we climbed all 768 steps to the top of the Munster (Cathedral). I believe it is the tallest steeple in Europe, and it was quite a thrill!
We made our connecting train in Lake Konstanz just fine, and entered into Switzerland without any problems. In fact, there was nobody manning the border. We just passed through a building at the train station, and made the 10 minute connection with time to spare. We arrived at our destination perfectly in time for dinner.
Sigi & Petra had a fabulous dinner party planned for us for the evening. For dinner, Sigi made the most delicious Vietnamese style rice noodle & shrimp dish with curried veggies. The wine was outstanding, as well as the chocolates Petra pulled out for dessert. I had a very lovely time with our host & hostess!
George & Sigi went to college together at Oregon State University, back in the day. They have managed to keep in contact over the years, to our great benefit. Because of the connection, we were invited to stay with them and see a bit of Switzerland during our vacation! After a long day of travel, it was wonderful to be staying at a cozy home instead of a cold hotel. We are so happy to have made some friends, and who knows, maybe they will visit us in Denver sometime?
Additionally, Sigi works for Siemons as the CIO for the Swiss branch, and Petra does Marketting/Project Management for a major company. Gotfried studied history & literature of Germany, and now he’s working on funding for educational grant programs in Germany. And, with George, Dennis, and I being government worker bees’, it made for a great variety of conversation. Sometimes it would drift into German, and then I’d be lost, but Sigi & George were great at translating so I didn’t feel left out. I was amazed at how wonderfully they spoke English, I felt a little behind the times being only a one language gal!