The Adventure Begins

We 4 meet at the Atlanta airport - share greetings, exchange news & try to contain our excitement - 8 months of planning and we're finally on our way! The plane was packed - we were forward coach and Sostman's were hinterland coach - we never saw them again after they boarded!

Touchdown in Zurich was on time, 5 min wait at passport control, luggage arrived before us and we were on our way to the train station. The normal routine for French's is to approach the ticket machine with caution, try to act like we know what we're doing, survive several failures & then ask the nearest person "do you speak English, do you know how to get a ticket?" This year being the nominal tour guides for this adventure, we wanted to appear a little more sophisticated & knowledgeable. I found instructions on the Internet - with pictures! At home we studied the instructions & pictures intently and confidently headed to the ticket machine. Never occurred to me to check the date of my information. The pictures did NOT look like the real machines. Big Problem! Sophistication & Knowledge fled but Phil instead spotted an actual Ticket Machine Worker! How great is that!

Soon we were on the train, for our 15 min ride into Zurich. My cousin, Chris, met our train - we made quick introductions and headed for the hotel. Lack of sleep and jet lag, probably walking and hauling luggage wsn't the best plan but we were so glad to be off the plane, the air felt good. Our rooms weren't ready, we were in need of coffee; Chris suggested we head back to the train station. This time we took the tram.

To be honest, the rest of the day was spent trying to stay awake. We did a good job - took the tram to Lake Zurich, boarded a ferry & spent the afternoon eating Black Forest Cake - I leave that to Laurrie to describe as I understand it was a dream come true moment - and pomme frites. We took the train back to the city.

At this time, I'll let Laurrie and Jim take over as this is familiar for Philip and I and it's all new impressions for Laurrie and some for Jim - he was here a few years ago. Ciao!