Discovering Switzerland, Bavaria & Austria begins!

Wed, Aug 19th 2015
 6:10pm, Newark, NJ
 On the plane, getting ready for my trip to Switzerland, Bavaria & Austria!! OMG- I am beyond excited! The anticipation this week has been like a drug. All of my friends & clients have been wishing me well. We've been talking about it for months & now it's finally here!!
Cousin Greg took me to the airport cuz Michelle is sick. God bless him on the way home with work traffic! Check-in was a breeze. Got some yummy California Rolls. I'm flying in to Zurich. Last month when I traveled home from Convention, I came through Newark & saw the gate for Zurich. I smiled & thought, "I'll be right there next month!" & here I am! When I saw it now it was SO exciting! That gate for Zurich is for ME this time! YAHOO!!
I wonder how many people on this plane are going to be on my tour. I wonder how many people are Swiss & are going home. It seems there are a lot of people speaking in different languages.
I'm so stoked for this trip! I pray God blesses me with a safe, secure trip with lots of new adventures!

Touchdown! Yahoo! Flight was great, went fast. I watched 2 movies: Cinderella & Shooter. Had a decent meal & snacks. The Zurich airport was very sparse & quiet! Popped in a couple Swiss gift shops & saw a stuffed Berner-YAY! They have wonderful embroidered linens, placemat things, nice wool things, knives, watches & some cool pottery.
Luckily, my bag arrived just fine & I saw a man with the "AAA Member Choice Vacations" sign & he had all my info. Steve is our tour manager.
I met 6 others & we're on our own bus to Bern! It's 1 1/2 hr drive. Pretty hazy & foggy at 10am. Steve said we'll meet for dinner at 6:45pm. He said we might have sticker shock here. Everything is expensive. They have higher salaries & a higher standard of living. I'll try to keep my shopping under control. Ü

Oh man am I exhausted! Got to the hotel around 11:30am & the room wasn't ready. So I hit the pavement! I must have walked 10 miles. I was out til 5:30pm! There is an open air market around the corner & lots of shops on the side streets. I found a path that went down to the river & spent a long time walking down there. Tons of people were out jogging. Took lots of pictures. Steve recommended lunch at a grocery store which was a terrific idea. $5 got me an ice tea & a hot pocket thing.



I walked in & out of a lot of shops. The only things I bought were postcards! I got a SIM card for my cell phone. The kid must have confused his English cuz I called home twice & used it all up. He told me hours when it was actually $20 for 20 minutes. Oh well! My feet were killing me when I got back. My room is very nice & cozy. Clean & just fine.



We all met for dinner at a nearby place. It was terrific! We were served family-style where we shared & passed the plate. We had broth soup, cheese fondue w/ potatoes, a veggie mix with shredded potatoes (rosti) & cream sauce, sausage & more rosti with sauce, pork tenderloins with carrots & pasta with sauce, then a meringue with fruit for dessert. YUM!





But boy, am I crashing now. I'm SO exhausted! It's only 9:30pm but I'm going to bed. Lights out!