I am not good with trains. I am a confident traveler, but I guess we regress in stressful situations. The first time I had to speak German was at the train station, when Elisa and I couldn’t figure out how to buy a ticket using the automated machines and were forced to ask a real live human being. I was about as terrified as I used to be ordering a hamburger from McDonalds, (a highly anxiety-producing situation in my childhood), but I survived the encounter.The real scare came later, on our journey to Bremen. We prepared to hop on a train in Schaffhausen, but I was having trouble lifting my heavy roller suitcase. All of a sudden, the train lurched forward. In retrospect, it was moving very slowly, but I was sure that it was about to leave Elisa and I behind. I gave up trying to lift my bag and urged Elisa, with her gazillion ton traveller’s backpack, to hop on first. The train was still moving and all I could think was “She’s on that train and it’s moving and I’m not going to make it on! How am I going to get to Bremen?!”
Panic-stricken, I cried, “Elisa, help me!” I think it was the most pathetic phrase I’ve ever uttered, because some random blonde man on the platform came to our aid. I barely noticed him, due to my state of sheer alarm, but between his pushing and Elisa’s pulling, I (and all of my stuff) made it aboard. The train then stopped and waited around in the station for another five minutes before finally departing. I continued to feel ridiculous for several minutes after that.
Luckily, our travels haven’t been limited to train. This past week, we saw a large chunk of Switzerland from Sabine’s car. A resident of the very quiet Büsingen, Sabine was excited to go out and about with us, and we had a blast with her on our two day-trips. On our first trip, we drove from Büsingen through Zurich (we passed a city called Schwamadingen, a very exciting event for Elisa), and then up Der Klausenpass.
Der Klausenpass is a road that winds through the Swiss countryside. As we headed out of the metropolis of Zurich, we entered another time and place: “Heidi”-land. Any expectations about what Switzerland should look like are not disappointed on Der Klausenpass. The fields are green, the mountains high, and there are countless cows. The cows even have the stereotypical bells at their throats, which help the farmers keep track of them should they wander too far in to the hills. When we reached the highest point on Der Klausenpass, we saw the first bit of snow of the season on the nearby peaks.
As we descended, we passed through the lake town of Brunnen. The view of Lake Luzern with the backdrop of the Alps settled it: if Elisa or I ever come in to ample amounts of money, we are getting a summer home on a lake in the Alps of Switzerland.
Our final destination for the day was Luzerne. It is a town rich in history, and beauty. The Reuss River runs down its middle, and connecting the shores is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge). Unfortunately, the bridge was partially burned in a case of arson a few years ago, so many of the religious images painted on the bridge’s interior are dark with soot-stain. We walked through Luzern for a while, but we were ravenous. Our wallets couldn’t handle dinner in Switzerland, so we opted to drive back towards Germany for dinner. We stopped in Gottmadingen, where we purchased Turkish kebabs. Anyone that’s been to Germany knows that shaved meat inside a warm pita with various veggies and sauces is a little piece of heaven.
A few days later, we succeeded in driving through four countries in twelve hours. We started out in Switzerland, of course. We drove up to St. Gallen, which prides itself in being the highest city in Switzerland. Originally Catholic, St. Gallen houses the Abbey of St. Gallen, inside which is the notable Cathedral St. Gallen.
Outside of the Abbey stands a Protestant church, which was built there during the Reformation. There remains a part of a wall that was built to separate the two churches when there rivalry spurred a competition to gain the most congregation members. The Protestants won out, because they served beer before every service!
Our next country (my favorite) was Liechtenstein! It is 64 square miles and it took us about 10 minutes to walk from one end of its main street to the other. There is a huge, functioning castle up on a hill. We weren’t allowed to go in because it still houses the royal family. Liechtenstein is really more a home for people’s money than for actual people. Several banks are located within the city. Of course we had to get some iced coffee (it was almost 80 degrees that day!) in Liechtenstein. According to Sabine, a country can only be on your list of “Countries I’ve Been To” if you “qualify” it by having coffee or a meal in that country.
Austria, on our way back, was not technically “qualified.” We planned to have dinner in the city of Bregenz, on Lake Konstanz, but since it was such a nice day outside, traffic into the city was unmoving. So we walked down to the lake for a bit, then hopped back into the car and drove to the other side of the lake—to the city of Konztanz. We had a great dinner, and then walked through the city by night. It’s one of my favorite European cities. The lake is beautiful and the main square is full of fun fountains and windows with pretty jewelry inside. As we roamed, we devoured gelato, and we were full and contented on our way home to Büsingen.
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