Germany week 36 Resignation and Zurich

Germany week 36  A Resignation and Zurich

Dear all:

I have some news this week.  After much consideration and long talks with Dad and my sister.  We all decided that I needed to be back in Tallahassee this next year to help with my dad.  He is doing better after his fall but his mobility is to the point that he is not going to be able to come over and visit like he first thought that he would. So after a lot of thought I put in my resignation letter from
DODDS for the end of the year.  So far they have been great about it.  We are looking at anywhere from June 15 to the 26th.  We already had tickets home which we bought way back at the first of the year to go home for the summer and come back, but we may can change the date and come home earlier since school ends the 15th.  I'm just up in the air now. 
We had three weeks of paid trips so we decided to go on them all since they were paid for and I plan to finish my school year. The first was Zurich.

We had looked at Zurich and you had to go through Stuttgart so Gregg decided that we should stop there too.  Anyway that was a bad choice.  What was supposed to be a 4 and a half hour trip driving turned into 8 hours as we got caught up in Stuttgart because of traffic and the Garmin didn’t take us  to the place we wanted to go and anyway we were dog tired when we got to Zurich.We had a great hotel thanks to booking.com—I feel like an advertisement for them and Ryan air but  it was one of those flash deals and Switzerland was really expensive in the hotels so this deal came along and I couldnt resist it since was on my list of places I really wanted to go and see-- so we came here.

Friday was a bust but we woke up fresh on Saturday and the hotel helped us make reservations for the city trolley tour and Zurich Lake Ride which were great.  It was perfect weather and we rode all over Zurich which is home to over 300 K people.  Driving is not what you want to do but anyway we went  and saw this city in the middle of the Alps and the lake.  It is a gorgeous site.

What is a negative is it is the most expensive places we have been.  We bought a beer for 9 dollars.  Cokes for 6 and coffee for 8.  The spaghetti meal they offered us in the hotel was 100 dollars a plate- To say the least we did not take them up on that little jewel  LOL  We found a relatively reasonable  place across the street and a grocer down the street so we were okay

I bought souvenirs like the army knives and watches.  IT was something I had always wanted to buy a watch from Switzerland. And of course chocolate.  J

By the end we had had a great time and glad we came and everyone was so friendly.

With that I will close. 

Hugs from Germany,
Susan

Snail in our yard

Notice the sign I couldn't resist

Stuttgart  bad detour

Room welcome  Frau??

Stadium in Zurich across the street/hotel

Zurich

Zurich lake view

Alps

Zurich

Zurich and below Zurich too

Okay so the guy who took the pciture his daughter wanted in the picture how could we refuse isn't she a doll with her hello kitty shirt :)

Germany week 35 extra sheep herding

Germany week 35 extra  sheep herding
Dear all:
Couldn't resist this on our way home today from the commissary saw sheep being herded on the road- so cool and although once again I didn't have my camera we came home and got it and went back for pics- enjoy
Oh yeah and I forgot to tell you we sent postcards from Liechtenstein and got a passport stamp- yeah --we really are tourists. LOL
Hugs from Germany
Susan

Germany week 35 Liechtenstein

Germany week 35  Liechtenstein
Hello all:
It was back to school week for the last 9 weeks of 2011-2012. Wrapping up has been and will probably be the focus for the rest of the year.
We went to Liechtenstein with the military this weekend.  While it was not originally on my list I thought it would be fun.  We rode through three countries in a matter of an hour, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein.  When  we got there we had a two hour walking tour which pretty much covered the whole country.  Now this is truly how the other half lives.  There were no bums, no litter and massive beautiful houses.  The Prince of Liechtenstein and his son and daughter in law and their families all live in this huge castle that overlooks the town of Vaduz one of the 11 principalities of Liechtenstein.  We walked around and saw the Princes vineyard and all of the massive amount of banks located in the town.  It seems that there are around 36K people in Liechtenstein and around 32K jobs so no one is without work.  Houses cost around 2 million a piece.  The Swiss Franc is their money which is about even with the dollar, but they accepted Euros.  One thing I got from the tour is that women did not get the vote until 1983 yes you heard right so women's rights are let us say a bit behind.  They speak German but their next language is English.  There is a lot of money in Liechtenstein and it is a gorgeous country--no doubt.  According to our guide the following is a little history and some facts about Liechtenstein. Citizenship is hard to get- you can have a birthright.  Women who marry men of Liechtenstein citizenship can become citizens in three years.  Men marrying women --getting citizenship is a lot harder and longer- hey they are backward with the women thing you know.  Also children are Liechtenstein citizens if they are born in Liechtenstein to Liechtenstein parents.  This whole country was started during Napoleon times when Napoleon needed men for his armies so the Prince promised to send men in exchange for being granted country status.  With only 300 people in the country at the time it was good the battle was over by the time they sent men.  There is no army or anything now and only 90 police and to be honest I saw no reason for a police presence at all.
The country is bordered by the Alps and the Rhine river.  There was a covered bridge across the Rhine, see picture below.
After our walk we went to their museum and then to eat which  rivaled Versailles in price.  We opted for a little side of the rode place next to the grocery store.  After lunch we we walked up to the Prince's castle which was quite a walk--almost straight up for the first two parts completely steep-- almost did us in and then went serpentine for the rest but once we got up there-- the view was breathtaking, see below.  Weather was cold in the morning but warmed up nicely during the day.
All In all I thought Liechtenstein was a great place to visit and if I was a millionaire I might consider having a place there.  LOL
With that I will close, going to take it easy today.
Hugs from Germany,
Susan

 The Alps

Prince's castle

 Model of castle

 Vineyards

 Vineyards

 Vineyards

 Castle and Alps

 View from castle

 At castle

 Covered bridge across the Rhine and below

Germany week 34 Barcelona day 3

Germany week 34 Barcelona day 3
Hello all
Today we did the hop on bus again so we started by hopping off at the palace-- see below.  Last night when we saw the fountain show.  At night the fountains do a water show.  It is spectacular.  We decided to get off there and then at a market and then went went to the cable car rides.  I am always nervous about the heights but I sat with my back to the down and only looked up and that seemed to help.  We went up to a great fort from the Spanish American war.  They had an archery area set up and gardens and the fort itself was wonderful.  They had cannons pointed to sea.  Gregg said they were aiming for whatever came from the sea to threaten Barcelona.  We have a couple of shots on the cannons.  We ate at a little outdoor cafe there and it seems that when you eat at a fort it is a bit more reasonable than at the king's palace.  We got a bit more food and it didn't cost 80 dollars. LOL A few other things I learned is that a lot of Barcelona used to be separate -there were lots of little suburbs type residential areas and they started incorportating them a couple of decades ago which is why now Barcelona is so large.  Another thing is that before the 1990s and the Olympics the rich people lived inland-- as a matter of fact the further from the coast you lived the more affluent you were thought to be, but that all changed with the Olympics of 92.  Oh if only we had invested in coastal land in the 80s  I can never hit that just right.  LOL
We went back to the beach, it was a beautiful day.  There was even a topless sunbather which Gregg said she shouldn't have been sunbathing.  Isn't that the way it aways is?  LOL
He went back to the casino and won at blackjack so he was happy.  I sat out on the Beach area and just soaked up the sun.
With that I will close.
Hugs from Germany via Barcelona
Susan