Wednesday, June 29--We left home right when we meant to, at 8:00 and were at Josiah's at 10:00. We had left Zoe at the Shaggy Hound the day before. Josiah went with us to the airport and then drove my car to his house. The flight from Jackson was on time leaving and landing. When we reached Charlotte, NC, we had about a 31/2 hour wait so we looked for food. There were nothing but sandwich type places, but we found a pretty good one. I had a Caribbean Cobb salad, which was quite good although I didn't discover the guacamole under the lettuce until I had almost finished. Tom had fish, I think Mahi Mahi, which seemed about adequate. We then went to wait for our flight and found that something had happened to our airplane and they were going to wait for another plane to land from London and then clean it and turn it around. We had about a two hour delay. I was able to get a seat in the extra leg room area in the same row that Tom had while we were boarding in Jackson, right in the front, We both had aisle seats, he on one aisle and I on the other. While we were eating we met a family (father, mother, and daughter) from Harrisburg, NC, Jeff, Jan, and Megan Yeargin. They happened to have seats right next to ours. We exchanged seats so that I was sitting next to Tom. It would be nice to be this lucky on the way back! After another delay because of weather in the Raleigh area we finally too off about 9:15--almost three hours late. The flight was uneventful and shorter than we had expected. It was only about six hours rather than the eight we expected. Neither Tom nor I managed to sleep much.
Thursday, June 30--We reached London about 9:00 in the morning. Immigration was bad in that there were hundreds of people in line and it took over an hour to get to the persons checking passports, etc. Once through that it was relatively quick to pick up our bags (although Tom's wasn't there when we first looked. It was only after we inquired about it at the American desk that it miraculously appeared.) We walked out onto the concourse and found our driver holding a sign. His name was Navid. There was some trouble about how much we owed him and a 35 pound trip turned into a 100 pound trip. However, he delivered us to Gil and Maureen's with no trouble. Their house is in a block of what I would call semi-attached town houses. Maureen said that their house was Edwardian and about 100 years old. It was lovely inside with a sense of unclutteredness that I would love to have--maybe at Ste. Catherine's. Their sun room had glass ceilings that kept the rest of the house very light. I wanted 
to show the ceiling to Ashleigh as she and Josiah think about adding a porch to our house. We went for a nice walk along the Thames and to see the nearby park and Bishop's Palace. 
The palace was build during Queen Elizabeth I's time and was used by the Bishop of London until just a few decades ago. We had lunch there and then returned to the house where Tom and I took naps for a couple of hours and then bathed. Maureen cooked a delicious supper of lamb chops, tiny new potatoes, beans, and sweet peppers. She had a salad to start and a dessert of cooked fruits with cream. After supper,we went to bed and slept well in very soft and cozy beds.
Friday, July 1--The same driver came to pick us up for the airport, but Gil talked with him and we settled the how much before starting to the airport. Navid requested to be my friend on Facebook, and I agreed. (Since then I’ve noticed that he is traveling.) Going through the boarding process was simple and quick. They don't assign gate numbers until nearly boarding time, but have a large Departure lounge with many shops. The flight was only about 45 minutes and after a short wait in the immigration line we were through, picked up our luggage, and went out to meet the Grand Circle people. We met two other couples in the immigration line. After we all gathered at the airport, about 25 of us were put on a bus and driven to Antwerp. We met David and Susan from Brooklyn originally and Maryland now, Crystal and Larry from South Carolina, and Elaine from Maryland. I also talked with a teacher from Bristol, Virginia. When about 25 of us had been gathered we were led to a bus and then driven to our boat waiting for us in Antwerp. Our cabin is quite nice with a balcony and is only one cabin from the dining room. We are also on the same floor as the lounge. We met in the bar for a safety talk from the captain and learned that the tides here were 20 feet. Tom and I ended up going for a walk after supper and didn't realize that it was 11:30 by the time we reached the boat. Wales and Belgium were playing in the World Soccer semi finals and there were Belgians in many of the bars watching the game. It was interesting to see them so interested in the game.
Saturday, July 2--Tom got up early and went on to the dining room. I was up about 7:00 and joined him about 7:30. There was a walking tour with each of our program directors leading a group.
Tom did not have a jacket and discovered while we prepared on the dock that it was too cold for him to go. I enjoyed the tour and came back to the boat in time for lunch at 1:00. After lunch Tom and I tried to go into town to see the Ruben's House, but it started raining and we didn't have rain protection so wereturned to the boat. We enjoyed seeing the difference in the level of the boat at low tide and high tide.
Also, we watched the sailors washing the boat. Both the outside and the inside of the boat were kept quite clean.
We were supposed to be back at 3:30 for a talk by an Islamic girl about radicalized Muslims. I wanted to go to the talk, but Tom wasn't interested. I found it very interesting. She was definite about the bad effect of calling the terrorists "radical Islamists" and very much felt that rather than trying to make the Muslims become assimilated, everyone should be aware of and celebrate differences.
After the talk, we had a safety drill with all of us getting our life vests and meeting in the lounge, and then the ship cast off. The captain had a captain's drinks and introduction of the crew party before the port talk--when Johannes described the activities for the next day. Then it was time for supper. We sat with Kathy and Frank Callahan from New Jersey and Diane and Eric Belusar from New York and enjoyed it very much. We returned to the room and went to bed.
Sunday, July 3--Up relatively early to go on a trip to the Delta Works at 8:30. This is a fantastic engineering project that protects the coastline along the delta of the Rhine and two other rivers in the Netherlands. The Dutch spent billions of dollars after a 1953 flood that was disastrous to ensure that the floods would not happen again. It made us think of what could be done in the US if we had the will to improve public infrastructure. We saw a movie describing the building of the Delta works in the museum, then I went to a simulation of the storm, and to view a couple of seals in a pond. Tom went to the seals and then bought a mug. The bus driver took a different way back to the boat, and, unfortunately, with that and a great amount of traffic due to a local festival, we were more than 30 minutes late getting back to the boat. It sailed as soon as we loaded. We ate lunch and then took a nap while the boat sailed. At 4:30 our group boarded a small boat to see the windmills of Kinderdyck.
(Click on image to see more pictures.)
There are 19 windmills that have not been moved, but were built there. The one we visited had been there 400 years, I think. These windmills were used to raise water from one level over the dyke to the next level. The name came from a story that a baby in a cradle somehow was responsible for keeping the dykes from breaking. We have been told that the Dutch are the tallest people in the world, and there was a giant cradle in the water for one of those babies. 
We rode the boat to the oldest windmill and then walked back to the gift store. The windmill keeper showed us how the windmill worked and how he added "sheets" to the blades depending on the amount of wind. We were also able to see the inside of the mill and how it was set up for the windmill keeper to live although not many still live in the mills. The cooking is in a separate building to avoid fire hazards. 
The gift store was just closing, but stayed open long enough for Tom to buy another mug. A couple of local young men talked with us on the way to the gift store. We returned to the boat, and ate supper as the boat moved again. After supper there were two hot air balloons in the air.
I went to the lounge to play a "Liars" game, but Tom stayed in the room and went to bed. The game was fun. Our tour directors are very entertaining and imaginative!
Monday, July 4--The entire crew has worked to make a celebration for us for the 4th of July. We had a walking tour of Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands, in the morning.
Unfortunately, because of a mistake, the Allies bombed the city near the end of the war and it was destroyed. Although it has been rebuilt and "restored" there is very little that is actually old. To the right is the Latijnse School (Latin School) built between 1544-1545 by architect Herman van Herengrave.
The church is very large and is rather plain, but beautiful, inside. 
It is ecumenical and can be used by secular groups as well as religious groups. Tom and I walked around after the tour. I bought some of the bra money holders that Bjorn had described to give all the adult females in our family. We went through the park and saw the remnants of a Carolingian chapel (eighth, ninth century AD) that was part of a palace built for Charlemagne and rebuilt? by Barbarossa.
There is also a remnant of an imperial palace that was mostly demolished in 1798.
We then walked down the hill to the boat. We listened to part of a talk about Operation Market Garden, but we didn't have good seats and couldn't see the slides well. Lunch was at 1:00 after we started moving again at 12:45. We rested during the afternoon and went to a Life of your Program Director program. I left a little early for a schedule 30 minute massage, which I thoroughly enjoyed. By the time that finished, I found Tom on the sun deck and we went to the lounge for the American Cocktail hour. I had a gin and tonic. It was then time for dinner. The dessert was a large flat cake decorated as an American flag and was brought in by the entire staff with sparklers and marching. They played the Star Spangle Banner and everyone sang. Nice! We had supper with Frank and Kathy Callahan from New Jersey and BJ and Inge Dyrved from Seabrook, Texas. After supper we had a not too serious German lesson including two very funny skits and then tried to plan the next day before going to bed.
Tuesday, July 5-- We had breakfast with Larry and Shirley May from Port Charlotte, Florida. We had a walking tour of Bonn with Bjorn. As we left the ship, he showed us a statue built into the bridge that was the result of a dispute with the town on the other side as to who would pay for the bridge. 
The bridge was built with a large number of solar panels.
He left us at the Beethoven birth house. Tom needed to go to the bathroom and left saying that. I misunderstood and thought he was coming back up, but he didn't. After waiting for a long time I decided he must have gone to the ship and decided not to return. The only good thing was that we discovered that we can text each other. Ed came by and I asked him to see if Tom was in the cabin. I also texted Tom. After Ed found him, Tom saw my text and answered--it works! Unfortunately I didn't see his answer until I had given up and reached the boat. We decided to go into Bonn and have lunch at the restaurant that Bjorn had pointed out as the oldest in Bonn. Tom had a ham dish with sauerkraut, and I had the pickled herring. Mine was delicious, but his was not quite as good although he did like the sauerkraut. After that we did go to the Beethoven House. It was where Beethoven was born. He actually lived in about seven different places in Bonn, but this was the only house still standing. Before we went in, we noticed a sporting goods store right across the street, and it had windbreakers. Tom found one he liked that happened to be on sale, so now he has a jacket. 
We walked to the Münster, which has black and white stained glass windows and then walked around town until we were really tired. We returned to the boat, skipped the German Cocktail Hour, and went to the murder mystery and port talks in the lounge and then went to dinner. After dinner there was a Horse Race in the lounge. I went long enough to see what it was and then joined Tom in the room.
We passed by the Bridge of Remagen remnants on either side of the river.
Wednesday, July 6--We asked for a call when we passed Cologne and had a quick view of the cathedral there from the boat at about 5:30 in the morning.
Today our guided tour was of the town of Cochem, and there we visited the Cochem Castle. Although this castle was built in the 1100's or so, it had been destroyed by Napoleon and only restored in the 1800's by a rich businessman who wanted it for a home. We were able to tour about seven rooms, which I understood were all the rooms that were furnished. The furniture was brought back to the castle after it was owned by the state, or maybe by the town, which now owns it. There was a receptacle for a door key that was designed to be easily manipulated by someone drunk or maybe when it was dark. The key was guided by upraised metal to the keyhole. 
There was a lamp hanging from the ceiling representing some kind of female form. Supposedly rubbing the stomach meant one would get a wish.
While at the castle we saw the Witches' Tower. Supposedly suspected witches were dropped from the top of the tower. If they died, so sorry, they weren't witches. If they survived the fall, they were witches and were burned. 
After the castle we returned to the boat for dinner and a nap. Walking across the bridge to the boat, there was a point at which you could see a witch flying over the castle. 
The Rhapsody sailed at 2:15. All along we are seeing fantastic vineyards on the hills. Some were so steep that you wondered how they cultivated the vines.
I went to the Galley visit at 4:40 and then to the Mexican Cocktail Hour in the lounge where I had a Margarita. 
It is amazing how close to the locks the boat comes without touching. The sailors are still cleaning the boat at many opportunities. 
Tom joined me about 6:45 for the Port Talk. I had sat by myself with someone I hadn’t met before, but she wasn't very talkative so when Frank and Kathie Callahan came in I moved to sit with them. We went to dinner at 7:00 and then returned to the lounge to hear the captain's nautical talk, in which he answered everyone's questions about the ship and its functions. After that, bed.
Thursday, July 7--We spent the day in Bernkastel. There were beautiful flowers on the way into town. 
First we had about an hour's guided tour with Bjorn and then free time. Bjorn showed us shackles used for relatively minor transgressions in a wall in the center of town. 
He also showed us various aspects of the buildings. For example, people were taxed for the amount of ground space that the house occupied, so they built a small ground floor and enlarged higher stories.
He pointed out the high water marks on buildngs from past floods.
Tom and I both skipped the wine tasting and just wandered around town. We climbed up a street to see the vineyard closer and then went back down. 
We bought a small jar of mustard (Senf) for Bill. We ended up stopping at a store run by a couple with ties to Nepal who imported from there and Indonesia. I went in because I saw a purple scarf with elephants on it. The woman told me how much she liked elephants and said they had more in the store. She showed me one small ceramic one that was doing yoga, and Tom and I both liked it so I bought it. The man dropped a tiny elephant in as extra. On the way out of town we enjoyed the swans. 
We returned to the boat to eat lunch, nap, and afterwards go to a party for the Inner Circle people. Then it was a little free time and supper. Supper was a Bavarian buffet and Tom, unfortunately, couldn't cope with the buffet. They had said that one table at a time would go, but it was still chaotic. After supper Johannes was giving a talk on WWII using cartoons, but neither of us wanted to go so we went to bed. The boat docked near Trier at Illis, and we will go to Trier by bus.
Friday, July 8--This is our day for Trier. We left the boat at 8:45 land walked to buses for a 20 minute ride into Trier. During the walking tour we saw the cathedral and the Liebfraumilch church close together.
Then we saw the Basilica, which was built during Roman times as an administrative building for the empire. 
Trier is the oldest city in Germany. We also saw the Bishop's Palace.
After the walking tour we had the opportunity to walk a little and then return to the boat for lunch or to stay in town, eat lunch there, and then return to the boat. We chose to eat lunch in the cellar beneath one of the department stores. This cellar was from about the 13th century. Before eating I tried to change some English currency into euros, but couldn't without my passport. Tom and I both had the tomato soup and then the herring Hausfrau something. It was similar to the herring I had the other day, but I'm not sure this today was pickled. After lunch we walked down to the Imperial Baths and went in to see both the parts above ground and that part under ground. 
Undergroud Baths
Then I thought I wanted to go to the Landesmuseum, which we did, but somehow we got into a Nero exhibit--maybe a temporary one--instead of the main museum which we had wanted to see. We rushed through that and then went to visit the Basilica. It is an enormous building from the Roman times. They had tried to destroy it, but the walls supposedly are eleven feet thick and it was almost impossible to destroy so they renovated it and turned it into a Protestant Church. It was originally a Roman office building. I think the circular section at the altar end is the room I remember as a throne room, but I had to ask a young lady in the Tourist Information Center to realize that. 
After the Basilica, we visited the Liebensfrau church, which is build with a round center and which had beautiful stained glass windows. 
From there we could walk into the cathedral, which was right next door. The Cathedral was rather dark, but had impressive stone carvings. We were really hot and tired so we stopped in a cafe near the Porta Nigra to get two bottles of water.
Porta Nigra
Then we had time barely to go up to the top of the Porta Nigra (Click to see pictures from the climb.) before going to catch the 4:00 shuttle to the boat. I especially wanted to hear the discussion of the European Union. We had a few minutes to rest before the discussion. After the discussion, by Wolfgang who had been our local guide, we had a short time to rest before listening to an interview for the murder mystery and our port talk. I went, but Tom didn't. Then after supper we went for part of a concert by a local choir that appeared to be a group of senior citizens.
Saturday, July 9--We were leaving at 8:15 for Luxembourg so everyone was early for breakfast. Since our program director, Bjorn, was staying back to take people on a walk in Zell, we joined Johannes's group. Frank and Kathy Callahan were in this group. We had about an hour and a half drive to Luxembourg with one bathroom break. When we reached the city, we walked around a small part near the Golden Lady and the Market Square. 
There happened to be a market today. We've been lucky in reaching towns on market days. We saw the Palais of the Grand Duke and the cathedral. 
We saw an area lower than the part of the city on which we stood. I think it was an older part of the city, but it was surrounded by cliffs and in old days could be flooded to drown enemies.
We had lunch of a quiche in one of the restaurants, but Tom and I left before dessert because I thought I had remembered a pleasant promenade place and we tried without success to find that place, although we did find another green area. When we didn't find it, I began to think maybe what I remembered had been in Lichenstein. We met back at the restaurant at 1:15 and walked to the bus. After a 20 minute drive we arrived at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, which is where General Patton is buried.
We had an hour's talk from the caretaker and then went on to the German soldiers's cemetery nearby. The German one had trees around it and was much cooler.
The American one was beautiful, but bare. We then returned to the bus for the drive back to the boat and reached the boat about 5:00. We stopped once for a view from an overlook.
We were tired. Tom got some coffee at the "perpetual" coffee machine, and I ordered a Coke Zero from the bar and we sat in the lounge listening to Sergei play music until the murder mystery with the butler beinginterviewed and then the port talk. It was then time for supper and we sat with some different people, Neal and Carolynn Bredehoeft and her sister Diane Rose. Afterwards we went to our cabin for an early night.
Sunday, July 10--The excursion to Marksburg Castle started at 8:45.
(Click on the image for more pictures.)
(Tom had decided not to go, but I took my walking sticks and went.) They had somewhat discouraged people by saying that the walking was difficult, but it wasn't as difficult that I had expected. After the tour of the; castle we were served three kinds of wurst and a drink. Then we were returned to Boppard where Julia gave a little talk and short walk. I left soon and tried to meet Tom. I texted him and received a replay but then things went downhill. We didn't receive later texts, but the same ones over and over. Finally after I walked to the ship and then back into town, we met as he started walking back to the boat. We had lunch in one of the sidewalk cafes and then walked. We tried to find Hans by going to the church, but had no luck. We did manage to find the house in which I had stayed when I was at the Goethe Institute.
We never saw Hans, although I’d tried to write him about our being there, so we don’t know whether he is still alive or what. We returned to the boat, but it was a hot walk and we were both very tired. Tom took a nap, and I went to the lounge to listen to the commentary on the Rhine and watch the castles and the Lorelei Rock. We passed the Brothers's Castles, Mausberg, Katzburg, the statue of the Lorelei, and the Lorelei Rock.
I was very tired and went back to rest before the murder mystery and port talk. Tom joined me for supper, and we went to bed. When I showered I found that I had let myself get sunburned.
Monday, July 11-- We moored in Germesheim because supposedly the piers in Speyer had been damaged by flotsam in the high water they have had on the river. We had a walking tour in Speyer with Bjorn. I was better this morning, but Speyer looks as if it won't require much walking. Bjorn started at the old gate,walked through the former Jewish quarters, and ended at the cathedral. On the way we stopped at a fanciful private garden that among other things had books in the ceiling as we entered.
We were anticipating sitting in a cafe for a cold drink, but by the time we walked back to the old gate from the cathedral with my stopping twice--once to buy a blouse and once to buy gummi Bears for the grandchildren--and our almost buying cherries in a grocery store, we really didn't have time. As we were waiting for the bus, however, there was a fruit seller on the sidewalk and we did buy more cherries from him. By the time the bus returned us to the ship, it was almost time for lunch. Tom and I both chose the German lunch with bratwurst, blood sausage, and a potato dumpling plus a delicious chocolate cake of about seven very thin layers. At 2:15 we left for a home visit of coffee and cake in the home of Crystal. Her husband was not there, but she was very nice. She had been a teacher and her husband was an electrical engineer. They had two grown children, one grandchild, and another on the way. They were the son's children. The daughter was not married. We had a delicious cake and homemade pretzels. We returned to the ship and dinner. After dinner was karaoke. I went long enough to watch some of the first song since I'd never seen it and then joined Tom in the cabin to go to bed.
Tuesday, July 12--We were the first group out this morning for Bonn and had to leave at 8:15. Neither Tom nor I noticed that breakfast started at 6:30, so we didn't there until almost 7:00, but we had enough time. They gave us tickets for public transportation for the day and we walked to the tram stop only to discover that the tram we needed wasn't running so we had to walk to the next stop and take a different tram. When we reached the Cathedral area we had a short tour during which Bjorn talked about that area and let us visit the Cathedral before getting on a boat to go around the central city in the canals.
Strasbourg Cathedral
After the boat ride we were free to do what we wanted. Some people went on the optional trip to Alsace, but Tom and I stayed in town. We climbed to the top of the platform in the Cathedral
(For more pictures of the climb to the top, click on the image.)
and then went to watch the clock work at 12:00. The climb was really great, but the clock was disappointing since it did nothing at 12:00. There was a video, and then at 12:30 it did some of its action. We tried to find the restaurant that Bjorn recommended, but walked the wrong direction. We found another one on Gotenberg Square and enjoyed our lunch. Tom had a salmon with sauerkraut, and I had foie gras. After a very leisurely meal, we went to the Museum of the Cathedral, which was very interesting with stained glass, cathedral artifacts, art objects, and paintings, but wore us out. In the museum were two statues of Christianity and Judaism showing Christianity winning over Judaism. 
Since we were so tired, we decided to have a pastry. Then we looked for and finally found a mug for Tom to buy and went back to the boat. We took tram back, and had no problem except that when we got off the tram we started walking in the wrong direction before realizing that it was wrong. About the time we realized that, a very nice woman asked if we needed help and told us that we're did need to turn. around. We knew we were about back to the boat when we passed the Legion Etrangère building. 
We reached to boat about 6:00, went on dinner, and then listened to French chansons for about 30 minutes before going to bed.
Wednesday, July 13--I took pictures of the dock and of our cabin. We loaded up the buses to go to Baden Baden.
Unfortunately, the weather was not that good. As a slight extra, our program directors decided to drive through the Black Forest on the way although it added about one-half an hour to the drive.
We walked around Baden Baden and then got back on the buses and arrived back at the boat in time for lunch. Tom broke off from the walking tour when the rain started, but I went on with it to see the casino and then walked to the TrinkenHalle, where there was a spring formerly used. There were murals on the closed side with a legend of a fairy tale under each. 
It was frustrating because I could only read parts of each plaque. It was raining, but the sprinklers for the lawn were turned on.
Tom barely made it to the bus behind the church in time. 
We rested that afternoon and had an early supper at 6:30 and the port talk afterwards. I discovered that I had missed an important clue in the murder mystery. I had not heard the butler say that he heard the aunt in her room praying so I thought she did not have an alibi, when she did. Anyway, Elinor was the murderer rather than Mabel. After the port talk there was a staff show, which was a good try, but rather slapstick and only funny in a less limited way.
Thursday, July 14--Tom decided not to go on the walking tour into Basel because it was somewhat rainy, but I went. We took a shuttle and then a street car and got off at the Art Museum. We walked past ruins of a Celtic wall that were under a glass structure on the street. Then we walked past the Münster, which had been started in the eleventh century, but almost destroyed by an earthquake and then finished in the fifteenth century. A small part of it was still Romanesque, but the rebuilt part was Gothic. 
From behind the Münster, we had a really nice view of the Rhine although we couldn't see our boat. We could see a tiny ferry that used a cable to go across the Rhine. 
Afterwards we went to the market where Bjorn gave us free time for an hour. He went looking for Irene, who had disappeared. Later it was found that she had fallen, but was not too seriously hurt. I went to the McDonald's to use the bathroom, but found that we had to buy something to get the code for the bathrooms. These were buildings near the McDonald’s.
I bought and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate. Later we realized that the code was the same for everyone so we could have just reused it. I then walked around for awhile and then found a chocolate shop where I bought chocolate. I also bought some cherries at the market. They were about twice as expensive as others we had bought. I almost bought an elephant, but ran out of time to meet Bjorn and group to go back to the boat. We returned to the boat where Tom had taken care of the bills and packed. At lunch we sat with Frank and Kathie and Norm and Barbara and had a really good conversation so we were the last out of the dining room. Afterwards, we rested, packed, and prepared for the evening.
Friday, July 15--Tom was up early, but I didn't get up until 6:15 for breakfast at 6:30 so that we would have plenty of time to eat, pack, and leave the room by 8:00. We decided to take a taxi to the train station with Stu and Vicky when we discovered that we could ask for a minivan. The ride to the station was uneventful. When we reached the station, Tom waited with the luggage while I bought the tickets. It was not a difficult process, but I had help. A young woman told me to take a ticket in order to get a place in line. Then the ticket agent spoke English so there was not problem. While waiting I had a part English/part German conversation with a woman also waiting. Once we had the tickets we proceeded to the track for the next train, which was, of course, on time. It was about a 50 minute ride to Zurich. There was an impressive sand castle display being made in the train station.
When we arrived at Zurich we got a taxi although I knew the hotel was close. It turned out that it was really close--just right around the corner and across the road. However, there was a minimum fee so it cost us 20 SCF. When we reached the Sorri Ruti (sp?) they actually had the room ready even though it was only about 10:30 in the morning. We left our bags and headed out to explore the Old Town, which is where our hotel was. Old Town is right around the river (Limmel?).
We went to an Italian restaurant for lunch. Tom had ravioli and I had gnocchi with tomato sauce. Then we went sightseeing. We visited three churches. Almost everything seems to be Protestant now. First we went to the Liebfrauen Kirche, which was originally a monastery founded by two sisters.
Then we visited a church that had the largest clock face in Europe. We had a little trouble finding it since it was a little back from the river and on small roads and up a hill. It was Protestant and plain, but had crystal chandeliers and the pulpit was up a very high flight of steps.
Finally we visited the Grossmunster.
Each church was a little different. Finally, we went to the Kunstmuseum, which also was a little difficult to find. However, several helpful people got us there. It was very large and had interesting pictures--not a lot by most artists, but it did concentrate on a few. We left that museum around 6:00 and decided to have supper before returning to our hotel. We had noticed a French restaurant earlier that was close to the Italian one, so we tried it. We like it so much that we made reservations for the next night after our Jungfraujoch trip.
Saturday, July 16--We had to get up early for the trip to the Jungsfraujoch since we were supposed to meet at the bus terminal behind the train station at 8:00. We had walked over to find the bus terminal yesterday, so we had no trouble finding it. We had a Thai guide who was a little difficult to understand and with whom Tom had a run-in when the guide grabbed him and tried to make him go somewhere he didn't want to go. The guide was wary of Tom after that, but apparently decided he was just a dumb American by the end of the trip. We met and talked with a mother and daughter from San Diego. The mother was originally from England and had met her husband when he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. The bus ride to and from the Jungfraujoch was long, but the trip up the mountain and the view from the top were very nice.
(Click on the image for more pictures of the Jungfraujoch.)
We ascended to a structure on the saddle between the Jungfrauj and the Mensch (sp). The problem was that it was very crowded and very hurried. We happened to see Barry and Jan and Ed and his wife coming down while we were going up and then on the way down I saw Ed's wife taking a picture from the door of a train that we passed. We reached the hotel at a after 8:00 at night and left all our stuff from the excursion and then went to supper at the French restaurant. We sat outside and enjoyed the atmosphere--especially some gymnasts--but the experience didn't seem quite as good as the first time. We returned to the hotel and did all the packing we could in preparation for going home tomorrow.
Sunday, July 17—We had checked where to get the bus earlier, so we left in time for the bus ride to the airport. It was only a walk of a block or so. When we arrived at the bus stop we were still a little uncertain about which direction the bus was going and as we dithered, a man we had noticed in the hotel at breakfast came up and asked if we needed help. It turned out that he was from Morocco, so we started talking with him and mentioned that our son, Lee, and his wife, Laura, had just returned from Morocco and how much they enjoyed it. He was a doctor visiting other doctors. He was head of the ENT-HNS Department at the University Hospital in Marrakech. He took the same bus, but got off at the University stop. We had no trouble getting on the airplane at Zurich, although I was not able to get a seat in the more legroom section with Tom. However, I was comfortable enough and sat next to a young man who had a charger that he let me use for my iPad since the plane did not have USB ports. The worst part of the trip was landing in JFK. The crowd in immigration was almost as bad as Heathrow. I would have thought that coming back into our own country would have been easier! We finally did make it through although Tom was sent to a shorter line than I was for some reason. We had plenty of time for our connections and got some supper while we waited for our flight to DC. From there we took a flight to Jackson. Josiah met us at the airport at about 10:30 pm, and we spent the night at his house. We had to barricade the door to keep their new cat out of the room.
Monday, July 17—We were able to visit with Josiah and his family before leaving to pick up Zoe at the Shaggy Hound.
