Tuesday traveling and Berne Old Town #7

It was an early morning as we had to be out of the apartment by 10am...we made breakfast with all our leftovers - which meant eggs with parmesan (they actually turned out pretty good). We packed and showered and went for one last walk around the town. It had snowed last night and the streets were wet and glistening. Workers stood on a rooftop, waist-deep in snow as they shoveled it off into a closed off zone. There is a dangerously thick layer of ice under most rooftops from the variation in temperatures and to prevent it from sliding off and hurting someone I guess people hire workers to clear off their roofs?

Now that we're ready to leave this place I decided to consult my travel guide to see what it says (thanks Joey and Carly!)...apparently Leukerbad is Europe's highest spa village at 4,628 feet elevation. According to Fodor's- travelers have been coming here for "centuries" to enjoy the curative waters and breathe the cleansing mountain air (as long as a smoker is not walking ahead of you!). It was also a famous destination for arthritis relief treatment centers. Calcium sulfite hot springs flow underneath the entire village filling stone troughs with warm vapor (this is true), circulating to private pools and keeping thoroughfares free of snow (I was wondering as I didn't see a plow the entire time!).

We walked back up to Alpentherme (hot springs) and had a coffee in the café next to the spa. We grabbed our luggage and made it just in time for the 11:30 bus...so first the bus, then the train, then a second train and one more bus before eventually making it to Berne...I am tired just thinking about it all!




I occupied myself writing my blog :)

We arrived back to Yetta's around 2 pm and immediately raided the fridge...we still had lasagna! Popped that in the oven for a quick lunch and Yetta, Brian and I left Patrick behind to work while we explored Berne by foot.

Yetta walked us past the university (see below) where we saw cloudy but picturesque views of the Old Town with the mountains behind...their peaks covered up by low-lying clouds.



We took an elevator 4 floors below to cut through the bustling train station. When we emerged we found ourselves in a farmers market where old men were playing life size chess and Mühle...Yetta says this game is usually on the opposite side of chess boards. She never even noticed these until we pointed them out and then we started seeing them everywhere! There were large benches which actually were huge toy chests for the pieces.

We walked to the Bundeshaus (Houses of Parliment) which Yetta explained has water fountains in the likeness of the Bellagio in the summer except they are open and children can run through them...it was below 0 so the fountains were unfortunately not in operation. Close by was 'Credit Suisse' which Yetta highly recommended for opening traditional numeric Swiss bank counts...hmmm...

Our first stop was to Nespresso so Yetta could stock up on coffee for her fancy coffee maker. It was quite the operation. The people who worked there were wearing suits! They also sell chocolate which they pair with particular coffees. Brian got in trouble for taking pictures, but he had already gotten the shots he wanted of course :)

We walked over a bridge which had beautiful views of the Old Town and rushing water below. The glaciers haven't started melting yet so the water was low right now but in the spring they turn into fast moving rapids. We walked down a cobble stone path to a glass front restaurant below the bridge...this reminded me of the art museum area. We walked along the river front past runners and polizei doing something in the water...? Brian had lots of great photo ops:



We were on our way to the bear park...Berne actually means Bear and they have a bear family living here with 2 girl cubs. Berne has kept bears as their city mascot since 1513 when Bernese soldiers brought one back from the battle of Novara and kept it in a hut which has now become known as Bärenplatz. Their names are Björk (mama bear), Finn (papa bear) and they have 2 girl bear cubs:


When we visited Yetta complained that the bears were "boring and just grazing like cows"...they kinda were. I didn't know bears ate grass? I also didn't know that bears hibernate on an empty stomach for up to 7 months a year during which time they slow down their heartbeat and body temperature cools to 4 degrees celsius. You are also not supposed to throw round things at them:




We walked over another bridge and continued along the Lauben (arcades) - which Berne is famous for...Einstein lived in Berne and wrote to his fiancé in 1902, "both sides of the street are completely lined by old arcades so one can stroll from one end of the city to the other in the worst downpour without getting noticeably wet". True story. It is now somewhat of a shopping district which is like a blend of South Street, Manayunk, and Suburban Station all rolled into one and culminating at the Zytglogge (Clock Tower), complete with a full astrological clock below which is accurately pointing at March and Pisces...it also tracks the moon and the day of the week...The calendar clock began its timekeeping in 1530!




We stopped at Chocolate Heaven. I am not sure what it is really called but this is what Yetta calls it and rightly so...they have huge sheets of chocolate bark and the biggest display of truffles I have ever seen. Their biggest box of assorted truffles was 120 Swiss Francs! And no free samples! The nerve!

We stopped at Migros, the grocery store, to pick up ingredients for dinner...Patrick would be making us shrimp scampi with bowtie pasta. There were no Obama cookies to be had so we had to settle for Mont Choco cookies which boast a chocolate representation of the infamous Swiss peak-Matterhorn:




They weren't quite as good...

Patrick's dinner was delicious even for a non-shrimp eater! :) We shared a bottle of wine and then walked to Yetta's favorite café/bar 2 blocks away where we ordered Pimm's cups and had to negotiate for seats...the conversation started to get a little ridiculous (and involved expensive methods to cultivate coffee beans...you'll have to ask Patrick if you want more details!) which was in part due to the alcohol but probably mostly from being overtired...we were home and in bed by 11...this trip is wearing me out! Will likely need a vacation from my vacation ;)


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Location:Seidenweg,Berne,Switzerland

Monday: Supa! #6

Supa! Or 'super' in English has been our word of the day- Although you can't truly appreciate it without the German accent or inflection. I will demonstrate it for you when we come home :)

Brian and I now know 8 German words and 1 French word. Supa (see previous definition), bitte (please), danke schön (thank you very much), yah (yeah or yes), fuss wärmers (foot warmers), nein (no), guten morgan (good morning), dusche (shower), merci (thank you).

Today we woke up around 9 and it was Brian's turn to make breakfast. He also had to go to the store because we were fresh out of eggs. He made us each a fried egg with bacon and hash browns with a croissant on the side. Patrick just had yogurt, fruit and granola. Patrick was anxious to get to the mountain but we stayed behind and took our time getting ready. Yetta called the ski school again and luckily Nestor was free for a lesson at noon. We were just about to leave when Patrick called...guess who forgot his ski poles? We reminded him of his own advice- whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger ;)

We set out for the gondola again...today was much colder and very overcast.




We made it to the top just on time and Nestor and I went back to the bunny slopes...today was very icy so I was much more nervous going down...he kept telling me...'poot your weight on ze frooont foot and look at ze mountains' but I kept looking at the ice and freaking out. I did do much better on the Tbar ski lift however. Here is Nestor waiting for me to strap into my bindings...




Someone left a black scarf at the top and Nestor grabbed it and we used it like a leash...I felt so much better going down the icy slope knowing that he was holding me up! 'Supa!' he would yell whenever I made the turns right :) Yetta said when she first moved to Philadelphia she said 'super' all the time but people gave her weird looks so she stopped...that's unfortunate because it is such a fun word. But I guess it does sound better with a German accent.
Yetta, Patrick and Brian came down to find us at one point and we took a few quick pictures...








we only went down 4 times today because it was so cold and icy...but by the end (and after he made me do some turns with my eyes closed!), I had definitely loosened up and was actually having fun :) besides, snowboarders just look so much cooler than skiers- even if I did spend more time falling, at least I did it with style- snowboarders outfits are way better ;) I wish I had the coordination to snap some photos of the particularly hideous neon and black and white striped uni-suits but my hand warmers were far too cozy to even consider it!

Nestor and I headed to the café (whose outdoor seating was off limits in the cold and wind) and I got him a Bailey's coffee and Just a hot chocolate for me while we waited and began to peel off our snow covered helmets, goggles and mittens...There was a guy wearing this:




And Nestor explained that it was a hard, spine protector. Speaking of gear, I have to say, my Burton coat and mittens are quite ingenious with pockets exactly where you need them but never would have thought to put them. For instance, my left arm had a pocket with an plastic-covered ID slot attached to elastic (?!) which was just large enough for my ski pass card and in the perfect location to be electronically swiped through the turnstiles. Of course we didn't realize I even had said pocket until today but still...the discovery was Supa!

Brian, Yetta and Patrick soon joined us and we ordered a full round of hot chocolates. We soon said our 'auf widersehens' (goodbyes) to Nestor and set off on the small gondola to go down to the restaurant. Patrick and Yetta decided to ski down there instead. Show-offs. Brian and I had no shame climbing in for a scenic, gondola ride after securing our equipment outside the doors. This thing reminded me of an enclosed ferris wheel car...except it was completely closed in to protect from the wind.




We soared over steep black diamond ski slopes, through 2 stations to the bottom where we were surprised to see Yetta and Patrick already waiting for us! They are Supa!

We had limited choices due to the time (3pm), but there was still something for everyone. (supa!) My fried chicken dish was more like half a chicken and Brian's specialty pizza was like a large thin crust sicilian. Yetta and Patrick ordered what looked like beers but as it turns out was actually sparkling apple juice. Brian and I boarded the bus back to our apartment while Yetta and Patrick headed back up for 'one more run'...

The bus ride was scary but thankfully brief. I kept trying to close my eyes and Brian kept pointing out particularly scary moments. Like when our window was approximately one centimeter from a rocky cliff or when we made a sharp turn and could only see about 300 feet down (and this was not to the bottom btw)...we got off very close to our place and changed into our bathing suits to get ready for the spa...my calves and shoulders were killing me and I was craving the thermal pool with the massaging jets...

To our surprise, Yetta and Patrick arrived only about 20 minutes later. We rounded up our gear to return to the rental place and when we stepped outside it was snowing! Supa!

We all stepped into the outdoor pool at once and it was particularly magical tonight with dusk upon us and the swirling steam rising up and intermingling with the snowflakes...words just wouldn't do it justice. The heated pools are actually cooled down a bit from the high temperatures of the hot springs and you can tell because every now and then there is a 'fuss wärmer' or water jets close to the bottom of the pool which were boiling hot! Yetta and Iiked to be closest to the 'fuss wärmers' because the outdoor pool wasn't quite hot enough for us. Fortunately there were many options...the central cauldron which was a circular area that would just bubble up uncontrollably every 10 minutes or so...the shallow recliners with soft pillows which had jets for 8 minutes every 5-10 minutes, the deeper recliners without the pillows, individual 360 degree massage cages (which were Brian and Yetta's favorite), and the ultra hot hot tub complete with warning label which was of course, my favorite. Overall, our evening at the spa was...Supa! (I think by this time Yetta and Patrick were sick of us saying 'supa!' over and over again...

We headed back to the apartment and started dinner which was salad and ricotta and spinach filled tortillini. We forgot to pick up wine so we settled for ginger ale and for dessert Yetta made us hot chocolate with flan (which was a cup with a tab to vent it on the bottom so it could be perfectly inverted...the Suisse are so Supa!),








and of course Obama cookies :)




Yetta and Patrick started watching a scary German movie and Brian somehow convinced me (my hair was wet and I was already in my pajamas) to stop blogging and take a walk with him to take night photos at 9:30pm...Turns out I'm glad I did ;)

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Location:Dorfstrasse,Leukerbad,Switzerland

Hitting the slopes...#5

We woke up around 10 to bright sunny skies and mild weather. Yetta called a ski school and at first they were not sure if they could arrange a lesson but their instructors were "on call". They called back less than 5 minutes later and said that Nestor (whose only descriptive factor was that he had long hair) agreed to meet us at 12 for a 2 hour lesson. Patrick ran out to the bakery and got fresh croissants and poppy seed rolls for breakfast. He made scrambled eggs and bacon and we all sat down to a nice hearty breakfast...with yogurt and "musceli" (granola) on the side...we were going to need it!




We all suited up in our multiple layers of clothes...base layer, warm layer, thick woolen socks, snow pants, jacket, mittens (mine with hand-warmers) and finally our snowboard or ski boots...mine and Brian's were a bit snug. Brian set out to rent a helmet (the ski shop only had children's sizes yesterday) and our landlady overheard and offered him hers to borrow...which was very kind of her. So once we were ready, we then realized we had to walk about 7 minutes up the mountain to the 'gondola' (which Yetta informed us are always made in Switzerland)...ugh. The walk was brutal. My feet were hurting already even though the rental guy insisted I would want my boots to be tight, I was beginning to think this was maybe too tight.



We stopped by the ski school to pay for our lesson with Nestor and continued on to the gondola entrance. I couldn't believe just how beautiful the scenery was...the mountains simply do not look real. As we walked you could hear the clunks of 4 pairs of boots (not meant to walk so far in) and the dripping water of melting snow...the weather was very warm today. I started to break into a sweat even before we reached the mountain! We passed by the spa we would later visit because the entrance fee was included in our rail-snow-spa passes :) how convenient...

There wasn't a line or anything at the gondola station...we all boarded what looked like a giant wonk-a-vator with all our equipment.




The gondola began to sway a bit as more and more people boarded...probably 40 by the time we began our ascent above the huge rocky mountains scattered with evergreens...we just kept going up and up...I was wondering where exactly we were going to ski because the terrain within view was so rocky...apparently up and over the huge mountains!




Patrick pointed out these metal 'shelves' incorporated on the ledges of the mountain to help provide 'structure' to the snow to prevent avalanches. Interesting.



The whole ride was probably only 5 minutes but seemed an eternity as I scrutinized the engineering of the cables and wondered if we were over the recommended weight limits...?



We glided over the peak of the mountain and sailed into the station. It was a mad rush to escape and everyone thanked the operator with a quick 'Merci'.
We approached the turnstiles and waited for our access cards (which had to be strategically placed in the left front pocket) to beep and glow green to allow us through. Suddenly we were at a winter wonderland. Here was all the snow! Some of the slopes appeared to simply end right at the edge of cliffs...without warning or protective barriers...I started to wonder if maybe I should spend the day at the lodge sipping hot chocolate instead? No I couldn't...after all Yetta rented a snowboard just so we could spend the day together...

The boys took off and Yetta and I sat in the snow waiting for Nestor to arrive. Yetta helped me get my helmet and goggles on. I was sure I was quite a sight.



We watched a tall, snowboarder with an official red jacket waiting for someone...Yetta finally went over to him and sure enough it was Nestor. After quick introductions he led us over to the T bar lift, pictured here:



Ok, now this was a challenge. I am used to the comfy chairs with protective bar that sits on your lap. Wtf was this?? Nestor made me get on the right side and he rode with me on the left. Half of the bar goes between your legs and you turn forward and hold the red bar as you stand on your board and the 'lift' really just drags and pulls you to the top of the slope. My biggest problem with this was that I kept trying to sit down on it! Even though he told me multiple times not to! I kept almost knocking the both of us over! Fortunately he was strong enough to catch me and right us both back up...I still continued to sit for 4 of the 5 rides up...lol

More later...It is later...

He said to stand straight and just go straight. What did I do? I sat and fell.
I strapped myself back into my snowboard and started down with Nestor close by. He tried to show me turns...'put your weight on de front footz and look up the mountain'. Instead I put my weight on the back foot and looked directly at the snow. This went on like this for a while. I did much better when he held my hand with each turn. I definitely dominated Nestor's time during our 2 person lesson. Yetta didn't seem as fearful as I was...2 helicopters landed on the upper slopes during our lesson which was a little scary. Then Patrick found us and was without Brian...it was difficult to hear his explanation through the carving snow but when I finally did hear I was relieved that he had gone back to switch his boots...unfortunately he missed the helicopter landings but at least he wasn't in one of them!

We went up and down about 5 times in the 2 hours...I got better by the 3rd run and needed less of Nestor's assistance. I still continued to try to sit on the Tbar over and over again...I think finally by our last trip up I got it right :)
Our lesson ended at about 2pm and we went down to the cafe to meet the boys. It was so bright and sunny that people actually had chairs and almost appeared to be sunning themselves! Nestor pulled off his helmet and for the first time revealed his long hair and snowboarding sun tan. Patrick ordered a pizza which was really a very thin crust (almost like a tortilla) and lots of cheese. Nestor got a coffee with Bailey's and Yetta and I had a hot chocolate. It was delicious. Made with milk and real whipped cream- not the fake hot water chocolate I am used to from home...Brian made it back about 220 and we Ordered dessert: a nutella pizza topped with coconut. What an excellent idea! The ski place was closed so Brian actually returned in jeans...which I was actually happy about...I was definitely done for the day...my Boots were also very tight and my feet were killing me...Yetta and Patrick stayed behind and we headed back on the gondola.

We stopped home, changed into our bathing suits and headed for the spa...we bought combination tickets for the train, 2 day ski pass and access to the spa. Not bad. This was our first attempt to navigate on our own without our own personal translators...finding the entrance to the spa was the first challenge :) once inside we successfully rented towels (5 francs each) and then took the elevator as directed to 'minus 2'. We found ourselves in a co-ed locker room which took us by surprise. And no signs were in English. How to get to the pool? We wandered through, found a locker and then realized we needed to go through our respective 'dueshes' (showers) to get to the pool...back upstairs we found ourselves in paradise.

A heated pool (naturally it turns out from the hot springs) with a section that goes outside with the rocky mountains as a backdrop...this was heaven. Every few minutes the jets came on and gave bubbling massages for those lucky enough to get a seat (we had to wait our turn but it was worth the wait). The pool inside was actually warmer with an even warmer hot tub. I convinced Brian to join me but he only lasted a few minutes! We stayed about 2 hours until we had practically turned into prunes...Yetta andPatrick still did not make it back yet! Of course once we were showered they arrived!
Brian and I headed back to get started on dinner which was more difficult than we thought...we had no idea how to turn on the stovetop! Finally, after a lot of pushing of buttons and a bit of teamwork- success! We boiled potatoes, tossed a salad, cut bread in fondue worthy bite size pieces and then Yetta came back to handle the rest. We sat down to a typical Swiss dinner of cheese fondue and ' salat'...it was delicious and heavy. Yetta said black tea helps for digestion but I am not sure how successful that was! We moved to the couch, talked and drank some wine (Patrick turned his nose up to the local white wine) and by 930 we decided to call it a night...

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Location:Dorfstrasse,Leukerbad,Switzerland

Off to the Alps! #4

So we made our 2:07 train and the scenery was much better today...green fields, snow capped mountains in the distance, lakes, farms, etc. The sun was shining and the sky blue...we had a nice one hour train ride with circular booth seating before we had to board train number 2. So many damn trains!
After that we boarded a bus for the final stretch up the mountain. This was pretty scary. There was a baby up front who cried out every time we got close to the edge...my thoughts exactly.




We finally got to the tippity top and found ourselves in Leukerbad- a stone's throw away from the ski resort in a French section of Switzerland.



Just when I was starting to learn to say 'bitte' (please) and 'danke shun' (thank you), I now have to say 'merci' instead! We walked about 20 meters and Yetta recognized the exterior of the B&B apartment building right away. A woman welcomed us and showed us around our apartment which sleeps 8. It is like living in an Ikea showroom! Sleek black leather and white lacquered furniture, an orange kitchen and black and white bedrooms, plush shag rugs, hanging lamps and mirror-tiled storage cabinets. Patios off the kitchen and bedrooms. The place is immaculate and ultra modern. Yetta insisted we take the master bedroom complete with a heated water bed (with separate heat controls and for each side!)...ok well maybe the water bed is a flashback in time...

We set out to explore...everything is really close to where we are staying. All the rooftops have about 3 feet of snow layered on them and the backdrop of these rocky mountains just looks surreal. We got fitted for our rental gear...I was glad that I didn't forget anything important...everything is ridiculously marked up (I.e. a knitted ski cap was 79 Swiss francs!). I convinced Yetta to snowboard with me tomorrow and the boys will ski :)

We stopped at the grocery store for some essentials for the next few days...yogurt (apparently Patrick cannot live without), granola, eggs, milk, cheese, chocolate, pasta, wine, fruit, cookies, sparkling water...

Church bells chimed as we headed to dinner at 6pm...at a restaurant our land lady suggested which had a painting of Marilyn Monroe from Seven Year Itch and James Bond on the window.


They played American music inside too. Never the less, they did not have English menus so we had to rely on Yetta translating for us. I ordered vegetable soup and insalata mozzarella caprese which were both really good. Everyone else got a form of spaghetti with meat and we all cleared our plates except for the entire cloves that we piled up on the sides after almost breaking our teeth. The chef must really like cloves, or as a wise comedian once called them- nature's thumb tacks.



We walked back to the apartment in a light, misty rain (this was not in the plans) and drank after-dinner schnapps. Between the 4 of us, we managed to polish off an entire box of assorted Swiss wafer cookies...yum. We browsed the 10 tv channels and of course found nothing of interest...so off to bed it is...

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Location:Lichtenstrasse,Leukerbad,Switzerland

Late morning in Berne #3

Patrick prepared us Swiss coffee topped with foamed milk and we took turns showering. The tulips already started opening up and moving around in their makeshift vases.




We decided to condense our luggage into one bag for our 4 day trip to the slopes. It was a beautiful day with blue, sunny skies and probably pushing 60 degrees. I started to notice the nuances of Yetta's Swiss apartment...my dad would love this heated towel rack in the bathroom:




And these light switches:




And each door has it's own latch and key:




And for Yetta to do laundry in the common basement, she has to use this contraption to track her electricity use:




We took a walk around the block to to "ringel tingel" - a small café with specialty bagels and outdoor seating. Yetta ordered for the group while Patrick and Brian secured an outside table directly in the sun (glad I packed my sunglasses). We got another round of coffees and they served our bagels topped with tomatoes, lettuce and sprouts (I was boring and simply got cream cheese alone).We walked back and saw a group of people in white uniforms dancing capoeira (a Brazilian dance) in the street. We also saw this on her street (which I thought Judy would appreciate)




We crammed into the small elevator in Yetta's building and finished packing for our ski/snowboard trip.
We took our bags downstairs and Yetta realized she forgot our reservation information. She bet Patrick a kiss:




that at 1:45 we had enough time to board the bus, buy our train tickets and make it to the station in time for our 2:07 train. Sure enough we boarded the train with 2 minutes to spare. Patrick has yet to pay up...
2 trains and one bus along frozen cliffs later...




The bus started out at 19 degrees Celsius but by the time we got to our destination in Leukerbad at the top of the mountain it was only 8 degrees...




Then we headed out for fondue mix, wine and groceries...




More morgen!
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Location:Berne Switzerland

Switzerland #2

After the tour of the castle (which I definitely should not have worn heels to...)




Patrick drove us over to the Old City where we parked in an underground lot (where there were special parking spots just for Damen and not for damen with children...just Damen aka ladies). We emerged from the lot to a cobblestone center square where Patrick led us along. Lots of tourist shops, bars, restaurants and cafés lined the streets. We stopped at the famous 'Café Knösel' with a sign above (and the chocolate's logo) of a boy kissing a girl as their signature...Patrick informed us that this place used to be dating central in the olden days where young people could go on a "supervised" date :) Brian took the photo op:




We were a bit hungry and Patrick insisted we stop at "Ginos"...not only to remind us of Philadelphia but also because it was a great mexican burrito place... they had gyro meat that was heated and spinning and actively shaving bits off behind the counter. I got the vegetarian version and we all sat down to eat. The stone walls were lined with dollars from around the world. Patrick said that we were lucky to be here this time of year to avoid the crowds...it usually is a 20 minute wait to get a sandwich here. We headed back and found a cafe that boasted "coffee to go" so Brian grabbed a (tiny) cup. We climbed back into the car and had about 13 minutes to pick up Carolyn (car's owner) to drive us to the train station for our 4pm train to Berne. We picked her up at the lab and she drove us around the city back to where we started our day at "DB". We ran inside with all of our luggage (Patrick kindly took responsibility for my larger bag) and were happy to realize that our train wasn't until 4:18...




As we waited for the train I heard little tapping sounds above us in the ceiling-then noticed the ground covered with bird droppings and asked Patrick if there were birds up there? He shook his head then said maybe so I pulled my hood up as a preventative measure. He laughed but then moments later a few "drops" dropped down...We climbed aboard the public train (# 1 of 3). The first ride was about an hour and we had uncomfortable seats so it was hard to fall asleep but I still managed a brief nap. We had 5 minutes to make our next connection and found more comfortable seats on that train...I snuggled against the window with Brian's fleece and when I woke up it was time for train #3. I tried to stay awake but it was useless...about an hour later we were at the station in Berne (after getting off at the wrong stop and quickly jumping back on).
The Berne station was bustling and smelled of cigarette smoke...everyone seemed to be in a hurry. We took the stairs down and found ourselves in an underground shopping plaza. We hit up the ATM for some Swiss Francs and then emerged at the street level to grab a taxi. The driver seemed surprised by the amount of luggage we had but piled it into the trunk anyway and wasn't worried that it wouldn't close...
We arrived to Yetta's about 5 minutes later and Patrick snuck us in to surprise her - she was slaving over the stove as she prepared a Swiss version of vegetarian lasagna (just for me)




as I tried to quiet my heels enough do she wouldn't hear me. She turned around and shrieked in her Yetta way and hugged us and was so happy we had finally arrived (it was 830pm). She had purchased fresh tulips and Patrick prepared us sparkling apple cider. We sat down to eat olives and rosemary bread sticks and chunks of Parmesan as appetizers. When dinner was ready we had champagne spiked with Elderberry syrup. The lasagna was chunky with tomatoes and vegetables topped with fresh mozzarella. The meat version was ready a few minutes later and soon we were stuffed and the fatigue of being up 36 hours was getting to us.
Yetta turned her living room into a guest bedroom for us and closed the external shutters so we could sleep in. We got ready for bed and I don't remember waking once...at least not until a single ray of sunlight shone through the tiny oval window and landed directly on my face around 10am. I shifted my position for another hour until Brian woke me up at 11...
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Location:Heidleberg continued

switzerland- here we come!

After a whirlwind last day at work (which included a stressful presentation in front of 30-40 people) madre rescued me right on time and then helped Brian and I load the car with our excessive luggage. We convinced her to drive the 76 route instead of SW Philly back streets (can you blame us for just wanting to get there as quickly as possible?) and soon we found ourselves at Gate A19 in the international terminal of PHL. Our gate was conveniently located next to Chickie and Pete's so we stopped in for lunch where I had to field a few more work calls before vacation could officially begin.

Our flight to Frankfurt was delayed about an hour...once in the air it was relatively smooth - minus the 2 screaming babies a few rows ahead of us! I watched "Tree of Life" (so strange) and Brian watched "The Descendants"...we tried desperately to sleep but the babies and the guy behind me studying with a spotlight over my head prevented us from getting any more than an hour. It was around 7 am when we landed in Frankfurt Germany to 42 degrees overcast, cloudy weather...

We made our way to baggage claim, breezed through customs with the official Polizei and found an ATM to withdraw some euros...headed over to the train station and luckily the next one to Heidleberg was leaving in 8 mins...we hurried over to the 'long distance train' tracks and climbed aboard. (mental note- don't bring more than one rolling suitcase next time). We had to switch trains about 20 mins later, thank God Brian was paying attention! And then we accidentally got off the train one stop early...caused a minor delay but we were able to catch the next one in less than 10 mins.

We got to the Arrival Hall in Heidleberg and Brian bought a fresh cinnamon croissant for us to share while we waited for Patrick- Yetta's boyfriend who kindly took off from work to pick us up and show us around town. He arrived a few minutes later in the tiniest car I've ever seen. He put us in a cab and we followed him a few blocks to his place...a very bright apartment on the 3rd floor of a spiral staircase (mental note- next time bring a backpack).

His apartment was big with hardwood floors, high vaulted ceilings, a cow hide rug (that matches the one in Yetta's place we would later discover) and every door had an old fashioned key lock contraption. He got us settled in and gave us "blankets" (towels really) for a shower. Each sink in the apartment had its own mini water heater. Patrick brewed us some coffee with freshly foamed milk and then ran out to the organic market (with the very organic people he would later complain about) to grab breakfast foods...

The shower was hot and lovely. By the time I was finished Patrick was whipping up scrambled eggs (they come in crates of 10 here) with sheep's milk cheese, grape tomatoes, and German poppy seed bagels...delicious. I tried to help clean up but he wouldn't let me so I beat Brian to the couch for a quick nap...

We woke up at 1pm and loaded his friend's car (he exchanged his miniature one for the day) with our luggage. I squeezed into the back seat and we drove off to Heidelberg Castle. The houses were large with external blinds that come down and completely darken the rooms(Jul- you would love them!). The best way to describe the architecture here would be to imagine those Christmas village houses that light up...I felt like I was in one of those scenes surrounding Santa at the mall :)

Many people bicycle here and the bike parking lots seemed larger thancar parking lots! The castle was built in the 1200s and Patrick informed us that some of the stone in the crumbling sections was actually purposefully removed during WWII...check out Brian's photos. More tomorrow. I am up for 36 hours now and need a real night's sleep!


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Location:Heidleberg, Germany