The shed we built in Klosters; Sunrise in Klosters; Robert & Diana in Klosters.

OCTOBER 19, 2009 MONDAY

Monday morning we got up, got all our things packed and then walked over to the Bolt’s to travel to Klosters to stay for a few days. We really didn’t know what to expect other than we were going to Kloster to spend a few days with the Pres. Hitsch Bolt and his wife Kathi. Hans, their 25 year old son, also came along. It was a pretty snug fit for all five of us including our food and baggage. It took a couple of hours to drive there, but we enjoyed the scenery and the company on the way. Their home is the very last one at the top of the street and the last station for the bus. Winter had come to this little dorf since we were here a few months ago. On the shed we had built was 33 cm of snow and it was pretty cold to boot.

After getting settled in Diana and I walked down the street towards the town of Klosters a couple miles away because the bus only ran once an hour. About halfway to town we saw the bus coming up and so we decided to get on it and ride back up because it was warm and we were tired of walking. When it got back up to the top we just stayed on it and rode it back down to town. We checked in the train station to see what we could find to do and then we walked around town for a bit. Nothing much was going on so we rode the bus back up to where we were staying. We goofed around a bit and then had dinner. When that was done and the dishes cleaned up, it was time for home evening. We discussed Chapter 5 in Ephesians and that was about it for the day. Hitsch always goes to bed by 9:00; Hans was in the living room watching TV so, believe it or not, we were in bed by 9:00 too. Before we went to bed Hitsch and Hans gave us ideas on what we could do the next day. They said the best place to go would be St. Moritz, another well known resort town, mostly with a reputation for skiing. We decided that’s where we would go tomorrow.

OCTOBER 20, 2009 TUESDAY

This morning we were up and breakfast was over by 8:45. By the time the dishes and cleanup was done we barely had time to get to the bus stop before it took off. We got on the train in Klosters and traveled to St. Moritz, changing trains twice before we got there. The first part of the trip was in a tunnel that took us through a mountain to Sarglaians where we made the first transfer. From there we were above ground and traveled through the snowy valley between snow covered mountains. The train stopped at seven or eight little towns along the way and all of them reminded us of typical Swiss countryside. When we arrived at St. Moritz, it kind of took us by surprise. We anticipated a touristy hustle bustle type of town, but there wasn’t much around the train station to see. We asked the ticket person in the bahnhof what there was to see and she suggested we take the bus up the valley to Malojapass. We remembered Hitsch telling us the same thing, but we couldn’t find a bus that would take us there. We took the local bus to the end of the line and halfway back again and decided to get off and walk along the lake. We eventually came to a bus stop and discovered this bus would take us to Malojapass. We hopped on and it took us along several lakes and through some small communities. When we got to the end of the line, we discovered the bus wouldn’t return for 30 minutes, so we got out and walked around a bit. There wasn’t much to see other than scenery; no little shops or any kind of stores so we were kind of glad to get back on the bus and go back. We arrived just in time to get on the train, but this time we wanted to go to Davos on our way back home. Davos is another well-known ski resort and going this way would take us back to Klosters a different way. When we got to Bevers where we needed to change trains, we got on the wrong one. Instead of going a new way, we went back the same way we came this morning, returning all the way to Klosters. At Klosters we got on a train, this time the right one, and went to Davos, a ride of 25 minutes. Davos had a lot more going on than St. Moritz did. The first thing we did was visit a COOP to buy some croissants, cheese, apple juice an a couple of other things to snack on. Then we visited a souvenir shop just to check things out. If you want to buy souvenirs, don’t go to Davos. This is the most expensive place for tourists we’ve seen. We could only spend an hour or so and then we were on our way back to Klosters.

We arrived back at our vacation home about 6:00, but no one was home. We saw Hitsch down the street as the bus passed him on our way home; Kathi and Hans were still at her daughter’s home in Landquart. However, Diana got to work and cooked dinner hoping they would soon be home. Soon Hitsch and Kathi came, but Hans took a train back to Zurich from Landquart. Dinner was soon over and as is their custom, they went to bed at 9:00 again. And that was the end of this day.

OCTOBER 21, 2009 WEDNESDAY

Our plan this morning was to get up, have breakfast and then take a morning walk around this part of Klosters while Hitsch showed us around telling us of his growing up experiences. He showed us the home he grew up in, his grandparent’s home, where his two sisters live and places from his childhood. We walked along a small narrow road that took us up the mountain all the while telling us of childhood experiences. We came to a place overlooking the main town of Klosters and then we turned around and came back. It was fairly cold and frosty when we started out, but the sun came out and warmed things up. The road was a lot muddier on our return trip from the thawing ice and the melting snow. When we got back, rather than wait for time for lunch, we decided to pack up and go home. We were ready to go home and get back to work; all of this idleness made us nervous. Rather than go directly home, the Bolts stopped at a slaughterhouse and then at their daughter’s home in Landquart before we went on home. On the way we got a call from Sister Sunke asking us if, when we went to renew our visas, did we do both of ours together. When we said yes, she said she had received my extension, but not Diana’s. She wanted to be sure we had done hers as well as mine at the same time. She said she would call to try and find out what had happened to Diana’s.

Just as we were coming in to Schwamendingen, we got a call from Elders Nilsson and Irick asking if we were home yet and, if we were, could they come over and finish their zone reports for their meeting with Pres. Bolt and Pres. Matern at 5:30 tonight. We got home and got mostly unpacked before they arrived. They worked steadily on their reports and finished just in time for their meeting. We changed and went to see if one of our inactives, Christopher Ernst, was home so we could wish him happy birthday. We were disappointed he wasn’t home, but we left his gift/card along with a conference issue of the Liahona and an invitation to come to Church Sunday to see the last session of conference delayed broadcast for Sacrament meeting. We came back home and spent the rest of the evening catching up our journal entries and looking through all our 33 emails in our inbox. We were interrupted for an hour while the Elders came back to make corrections/additions to their report after their meeting with the two Presidents. We are glad to be home and we’ll be ready to get to work tomorrow.