MAY 4, 2010 TUESDAY

The night went by quickly and it seemed my eyes popped open not long after I had closed them. Monica and Chris slept in the living room on the couch we laid down into a double bed. Rebecca slept in the spare bedroom on a fold out single bed. All was quiet when I got up at 5:30 to shower, shave and get ready for the day. Diana was up by 6:00 so she could get finished by the time the kids needed he bathroom. All the kids showered last night so they would be able to sleep in this morning, if you can call sleeping in when awakened at 6:45 for Rebecca and 7:00 for Chris and Monica. By then we had made the Australian omelet and hot chocolate. Breakfast was over by 7:30 and we were out the door by 7:55 to catch our bus to the bahnhof. We had a comfortable ride to Zurich where we met Chartlotte who came with us today. She knows not only Zurich like the back of her hand, but everywhere we’ve been she’s given us insights into what to see and the history behind it.

First we walked up famous Bahnhofstrasse for a couple of blocks and then jumped on a tram and rode it to Paradeplatz. We walked the cobblestoned streets lined with old buildings built of stone sometime between 800 and 1700 A.D. The sculpted and decorative stone is amazing and just isn’t done in our modern world any more. We went to the Frau Munster, but it was closed because of renovation. We crossed the Munster Bridge to the Gross Munster, but it was still locked because we were about twenty minutes early. It didn’t open until 10:00 so we walked the narrow streets of the old town, mostly window shopping until the stores opened at 10:00. There were so many wonderful things to buy, but most were way out of our price range and not much would have fit into our allowed suitcase for the trip home anyway. The biggest hit was a candy store. Monica and Rebecca wanted to take some authentic Swiss candy home to their kids and they searched high and low to find the exact things they wanted. A half hour later we moved on down the street continuing to enjoy the scenery and the window shopping. Mom, Chris and Monica got ahead of Rebecca, me and Charlotte. Suddenly Charlotte took us through a narrow door into a shop that made and sold handmade soaps, shampoo, face creams, and other products for the face, hair and skin. Rebecca found a skin lotion in the form of a bar of soap she liked which was very expensive and bought it. We followed along and eventually caught up with the others then decided we’d had enough walking so we went down a narrow alley to the street below to find a tram stop so we could get back to the bahnhof. Of course there were shops along that street, too, and they acted like magnets. One in particular was right by the tram stop so we were able to look around until it was time to catch a tram that got us to the bahnhof in time to catch our train to Einsiedeln. When we got to the bahnhof Rebecca showed Monica the solid bar skin lotion and Monica immediately wanted to go get one , too, but we didn’t have time.

We got on the train to Einsiedeln and were there in an hour with one train change in Waedenswil. Our travel took us along Lake Zurich, sometimes not far from the shore. The scenery is always magnificent even though will the cloud cover and rain we couldn’t see the Alps that are normally visable in the distance. Before we got to the end of the lake the train turned and took us up into the green mountains which were interspersed with meadows and small towns. When we got high enough, we got a clear view of the lake and could see the longest wood bridge in Europe extending from one side of the lake to Rapperswil. It didn’t take long to get to Einsiedeln. We thought about waiting for the bus to come, but decided to walk the fifteen minutes to the cathedral/convent instead. On the way there were more shops to draw the interest, but this time it was mostly window shopping. One shop did manage to suck some money out of a pocket or two.

When one comes up the street, the view suddenly opens up where you can see the cathedral which sits on a bench above the city. It really was an impressive sight with hundreds of people milling around the cobblestoned grounds and visiting the many souvenir shops that were all around the perimeter of the gigantic courtyard. All of us traded our hard earned money for cute, but also useful Swiss souvenirs, probably more than we should have. We finally made our way up and into the cathedral where you can’t imagine how much gold and silver is displayed on the walls and ceilings in the form of statues, religious artifacts, etc. and etc. and etc. The paintings, statues and art work that covers the walls and ceilings are fabulous in their complexity, artistry and craftsmanship. Could something like this be duplicated in today’s world?

As we were looking around more and more people came in and sat in the rows of benches as if waiting for something to start. When the benches in the great hall were full, the organ started playing echoing it’s music throughout the building. While that was going on, a priest came outr and sat in a chair on the dias and when the music stopped, began reciting something that we couldn’t understand. We listened for awhile and then we all got up and slowly filed out of the building. On the way back down to the city we saw a few people filling jugs with water coming out of the fountain at the foot of the courtyard. Charlotte told us it is supposed to be holy water blessed by the priest and people like to come and get it to take home with them. Rebecca had an empty water bottle, but wanted normal water and not “blessed water.” We stopped at a little sandwich stand and each of us got a wurst sandwich or something else to assuage our hunger and then continued on to the bahnhof.

And here is where we got mixed up. I asked the girls and Chris if they had had enough or still wanted to go visit Rapperswil. If we didn’t go to Rapperswil, we could go home and still haave time to go to the Rhine Falls. I thought they said they wanted to go back to Schaffhausen and to the Rhine Falls. So we got on the train headed back to Zurich. On the way Diana told me the girls thought they were going to Rapperswil. And that’s how miscommunication can be the cause of wars, but not this time. They and Chris were sweet enough to say it didn’t matter and seeing the Rhine Falls would be fun, too.

When we got to Zurich, Monica really wanted some of what Monica had bought at the soap lotion store so while Charlotte, Chris, Monica and I walked back over to the store. Mom and Monica stayed at the bahnhof and did some shopping of their own. The Zurich bahnhof is one of the biggest shopping centers in Switzerland and it one of the few places where the stores are allowed to stay open twenty four hours a day every day of the year. By law most places are closed on Sundays and during weekdays close at 7:00 p.m. and on Saturdays by 5:00. At any rate they had fun shopping while we were on Monica’s errand. However, Rebecca couldn’t resist and bought a few more things, too.

We all met back up in the bahnhof and we caught our train for Schaffhausen while Charlotte said goodbye and went home. When we got to Schaffhausen, Monica decided she wanted to stay in town rather than make the quick trip to our apartment to drop off all we had bought. Diana stayed with her and while we were gone, they did their best to buy all of the chocolate in MIGROS. When Rebecca, Chris and I got back, they had more sacks to carry. Diana had been to the Rhine Falls a couple of times before and didn’t really want to take the hike down and then have to climb all the way back up so she chose to take the sacks home while the rest of us went to the Falls. In retrospect that was a good decision because when the rest of us were finished and back home, we were tuckered out and all in. But we enjoyed ourselves and the Falls really are spectacular in their own way. We wished we could of gotten there when the boat was running so we could have gone to Schloss Laufen (Laufen Castle), but we were too late.

By the time we got home Diana had dinner ready which was pork and pork gravy over noodles. It was delicious and really was welcomed after a tough day of walking, hiking and riding trains, buses and trams. We sorted through all our treasures and then the kids got ready for their departure to France and Italy. We were all settled down by 11:00 to sleep quick and be up by 4:45 in the morning.

The tender mercy was that, even though we were traveling around and having fun, we were able to still do a little missionary work. On the train trip back from Zurich to Schaffhausen we sat by a man with whom we were able to talk about the Church all the way home. He was a self described agnostic, but formerly a catholic. Before we engaged him in conversation he seemed like a sour man. As soon as we asked him how his day had gone he brighten right up. We had a friendly conversation discussing parts of the first and second discussion including the apostasy, Joesph Smith story and the restoration. As we got to Schaffhausen he declined the offer to let us come to his home to teach him the discussions and, when offered a Book of Mormon, declined it also. He did take the Joseph Smith Testimony brochure and the one on the comparison of the BM and the Bible. He also took our phone number and said he would call us, if he decided he wanted to talk to us. It was disappointing, but maybe the Spirit will work on him and who knows, we may get a call later. Or, we can always rely on the “planting seeds” parable; maybe someday. When we think of planting seeds, we think of Paul Hunziker, who will be getting baptized Saturday at age 75, who had his first contact with missionaries was when he was 19 years old.