Just arrived in Freiburg, Germany

Posting this from Starbucks (free wifi) in Freiburg.......just got off of the train.

Well, here I am sitting on the train from Zurich to Freiburg, Germany.  The first week of my journey, to say the least, has been outrageous.  From the moment I arrived in Zurich last Wednesday and meeting Seraina, till I left the Giger’s home this morning has been more than I could have expected.  The Giger family took loving care of me from day one on arrival, until leaving their very welcoming home this morning.  They had the entire weeks itinerary planned out, including all the reservations for the train ride to Munich for the Oktoberfest, the reservations in our hotel, etc. etc.  Additionally, Eliane’s cooking and preparing all the meals while I was at their home in Gossau, was just great.  They made my dream to attend the Oktoberfest a reality……Thank you!

As I had posted earlier, the Oktoberfest was an absolute blast.  Seraina and Eliane stayed for one night, and Ivo and I stayed over for an additional day.  Ivo  has a great sense of humor and the two of us drank beer, laughed and enjoyed everything that was going on around us…… and there was a lot going on!  I needn’t say more!! It did rain, but that did not stop us from sitting in the various tents and partying with everyone else.  The entire stay in Munich and the Oktoberfest is something that everyone must experience in their lifetime.

Yesterday, Eliane, Seraina and I took a very long hike up one of the local mountains.  The scenery in Switzerland is breathtaking.  Going up the mountain was quite strenuous and tiring, at least for me, but once we arrived at our destination we stopped at a small restaurant for some hot chocolate and some ice cream and sweets.  The walk down the mountain was a lot easier than going up, but also made me “schvitz”.  We returned to their home, where Eliane & Seraina prepared another great meal and then we all relaxed and chatted for the remainder of the evening.  We even had a chance to video chat with Gail for a bit, when she arrived home from work.  As the evening drew to a close, it was rather sad for me, because I knew I was leaving their hospitable home tomorrow. But, I also was excited as I was continuing on to the next phase of my exciting journey.

As I sit on the train now I am enjoying all of the scenery as we leave Switzerland and shortly cross into Germany. A short time ago we passed a trainload of new Audis, all wrapped in their white “covers” with the Audi symbol on the outside. The train is actually slowing down a bit now as we are making our last stop in Switzerland, in Basel.