Landing for Meinau; coming into Meersburg; most of our missionary group in Romanshorn.

MAY 24, 2010 MONDAY

We were up before 7:00 so we could be ready to catch our train at 8:31 for our trip to Romanshorn. We made our lunches, stuffed them into my backpack and were out the door by 8:10 to catch the bus at 8:11. We forgot our cell phone and wanted to go back and get it, but we didn’t want to miss the bus so we went without it. It turned out that we didn’t need it anyway.

We made the hour and a half trip to Romanshorn where everyone was going to meet. When we got off the train, we were surprised by Elders Wolf and Ross who were there ahead of us. We waited together until the others arrived twenty minutes later. It seemed half the people getting off the train were missionaries, seventeen in all which made twenty-one total. The senior missionaries were Pres. & Sister Matern, the Walkers, Larsons and Charlotte. In addition there were four sisters and ten elders and, the surprising things was, we knew almost all of them. After a false start we finally figured out what we wanted to do and where we needed to be to catch a boat that took us on an excursion around Lake Constance (Bodensee in German).

Pres. Matern checked with the harbor master to find out how much it would cost and when we got on board we expected to pay 9:00sfr. each for the trip. We were standing in the ticket line with Elder Wolf who, when a ticket checker came by, asked again how much it would cost. He told us that the policy had just changed so that the trip was free with the Swiss Transportation Pass that all the missionaries have. That was even better news for all of us.

We were on the ship for about four hours and went to the following ports of call: Romanshorn, Altnau, Bottighofen, Kreuzlingen, Mainau, Uhldingen, Meersburg, and then back to Kreuzlingen where we got off. The day was picture perfect with full sun and no clouds. On deck it was a little bit cool while underway and we didn’t bring jackets or sweaters. Even then it wasn’t too uncomfortable and, when it became just a bit too chilly, we went into the cabin to warm up. We saw a lot of other tour boats and car ferries plying the waters as well as other personal sized watercraft and sailboats. The sandy shores and grassy parks were filled with sunbathers, picnickers and campers. When we pulled into the harbors to let people off and some back on, we got close up views of medieval buildings, castles, government buildings, monasteries, convents and such. Some harbor fronts had many stores and shops with hundreds of people moving about or eating in the open air cafes. It would have been nice to have had the time to get off and walk around, especially in Meersburg, but we had to stay on the boat and be content to look as we passed by.

We ended out boat trip in Kreuzlingen and when we got off, there it was staring us right in the face. A golf course! But alas, only a mini golf course and full too, so it wasn’t much of a temptation. At this point most of the young missionaries separated themselves from the adult group and where they went, we don’t know. We’re sure eventually they made their way back to their assigned areas. On the other hand the Materns, Walkers, Larsons, Charlotte and one set of elders walked to the train station and boarded the next train for Schaffhausen. We had a lively discussion as we traveled and got off at Schaffhausen, enjoying the scenery as we traveled along. We’ve ridden this line many times, but it was new for the others. The train follows the Rhine River from Kreuzlingen to Schaffhausen. At Stein Am Rhein Elder Walters jumped off the train while we were stopped, to take a photo of the castle on top the mountain and we weren’t sure he would be quick enough to get back on before the train took off again, but he made it with time to spare.

When we got to Schaffhausen, the Materns had made up their minds to go get some ice cream, and that we did. We’ve been past these open air cafes many times., but have never been tempted to sit down and order anything. We knew it would be expensive and it was. Sister Matern ordered lemon cheesecake for 9.50sfr and got a piece that was surprisingly small. I ordered two scoops of pistachio ice cream for 6:00sfr and the scoops were quit small, too. Diana was satisfied to finish drinking the water she brought with her. Anyway, we enjoyed what ordered and had a nice time watching passers by while sitting in the shade.

We saw the Materns and Charlotte off and then walked through the old town with the Walters until their train came fifteen minutes later. They really wanted to see the Rhine Falls, but decided they didn’t have time and promised to come back another day. While we were walking with the Walters, we ran into Roger who came to Church yesterday and said hello to him. We reminded him that we’d be out to see him in Buch sometime Wednesday afternoon. With nothing left to do we went home ourselves. We called Carla Sprenger and made an appointment to visit her on Thursday afternoon and the rest of the evening we busied ourselves with writing our journal entry, reading the scriptures and preparing lessons for Emely tomorrow, Jasmine and Roger on Wednesday and Carla on Thursday. In between those we have a meeting each day with Sylvain and need to visit Carla Wigger on Wednesday for her birthday. We can’t forget about Paul either, nor Michael Hartig’s birthday on Sunday and Angie Lloyd’s baptism Sunday evening. It’s good to keep busy. And that’s the tnder mercy for today.

Before we posted this entry Roxsan called on skype to say hello. It’s always good to see and talk to our kids and to see our two newest grandsons, Nathan who is two and Truxtn who is five or six weeks old. She said there was a heavy snow in Sandy this morning. Gardeners weren’t happy.