A Day Trip to Germany

Earlier this month, Doc made some calls to immigration and our local registration office since my residence permit approval was taking longer than we were told. We discovered that my permit was approved a month after I got here, but that our local registration office had no record of it. Thankfully, the offices that deal with immigration and residency issues were quick to remedy the situation. Less than a week after we discovered the problem, I had my permit. On Sunday, Doc and I decided to celebrate receiving my long-awaited residence permit by taking a day trip across the border into Germany. We took the train to Konstanz and toured the old town.


Konstanzer Münster

From Konstanz, we took a ferry to Insel Mainau, an island located on the Bodensee (a large lake between Switzerland, Germany, and Austria). The island is filled with beautiful gardens and colorful flowers, even this late in the season.








This sculpture reminded us of Sideshow Bob!!


We took this photo in the butterfly house.

An Early Fall?

I was hoping that it was only my imagination, but it wasn't. It is mid-August and a tree next to one of our neighborhood grocery stores has begun to turn colors. I was flabbergasted. I picked up one of the fallen, red leaves and brought it home to show Doc. I'm used to Augusts that are just miserably hot and too often muggy, not ones with the early signs of autumn.



Ok, you expected to see a tree with red leaves and this one only has a few leaves at the top that are turning. Still ... August ... red leaves?! I didn't even see that in Milwaukee.

Fireworks

Here is a picture of people setting off fireworks in front of our balcony for Swiss national day. Compare the size of the people to the volcano!

Okies in Luzern?

We also went to Luzern with my parents. While there we saw this trailer parked along a main road. Unfortunately, it was just an advertisement and no one was actually in the park using a smoker.

Rheinfall

Doc and I also went to the see the Rheinfall with my parents. The Rheinfall is the largest waterfall in Europe and is about an hour north of Zürich.



We took one of the boats out to the rock in the middle of the falls and climbed up it for a great view.





The walking trails around the falls also provide fantastic vantage points for photos.

A Day in the Alps

My parents came for a visit this past week and we did some sightseeing with them. One of the places we went was Titlis, which is located in central Switzerland. To get to the top of the mountain (10,000 feet) we took a series of cable cars; the final one was a rotating cable car that allowed us to get a 360 degree view of the mountain and surrounding area as we rode to the top.



Once on top of the mountain, we had a spectacular view of the glaciers on the surrounding mountains.







At the top of the mountain, there are chair lifts that take you over the Titlis glacier and down to a park where you can walk around and sled. While on the Ice Flyer, you can look down and see the fissures in the glacier.





Doc and I decided to try tubing at the park at the bottom of the Ice Flyer. I just couldn't pass up the chance to do something like that in July!





On the mountain, you can also walk into a glacier. We were quite surprised when we saw the photos afterwards. In the dark, we weren't able to see all of the striations in the ice.






We ended the day with a picnic at a lake half way down the mountain.

Züri Fäscht

Once every three years folks from all over Switzerland come to Züri Fäscht, a three-day festival along Lake Zürich and the Limmat River. Züri Fäscht has the standard rides and stands with crafts and food, only there are a wider selection of sausages and some Swiss specialities (e.g., raclette) added to the usual mix of hamburgers, hot dogs, and various ethic foods. Stands with sweets--my main interest--generally had a selection of cotton candy, nuts, and the Swiss specialty Magenbrot (a tasty spice bread). In addition to the food and rides, there were bars and music stands with folks singing (often badly) everywhere.

For me, the highlight of the festival was the fireworks. An orchestra playing classical music was piped in over loudspeakers along the lake. We listened and watched as 25 minutes worth of fireworks were set off from boats in the middle of the lake. Tonight, there will be another fireworks show. This time the music will be from the musical, We Will Rock You.