If there is a day in which I think about home, it would have to be Sunday.  Here in Bonn, our Sundays are very different from home.  Firstly, there is no church service like at home and one can’t help but miss hearing the Word of God or spending time in worship.

This morning, I set out to find a local evangelical church that was offering Sunday services.  Just as I stepped outside, I heard church bells ringing in the distance.  I followed the sound for about 10 minutes until I finally came to the Johanneskirche.  The Johanneskirche, as I found out, is one of the largest in Bonn with about 5,000 members.  It is one of about 10 churches in the Rheinau area and operate on a rotating basis.  This means that Sunday morning service is always in a different church. The reason they operate this way, is that they have too many churches and not enough people.

I’ve heard about these things, but never really thought I’d experience one.  And yes, when the Germans say that the Flohmark is “Sehr Gross”, they actually mean it. This morning our group of students from Goethe University made our way down to the bus station for a nine minute ride to Rheinaue Park.  When we arrived, the place was already swarming with people and vendors.  There were over 1000 vendors and they stretched from one end of the park to the other.  Think GIANT garage sale, no, more like a mutant garage sale.  It was simple amazing how big it was .  The stuff you could buy also varied, but in most cases was no different from the stuff we can buy at our Garage Sales. Mind you, there was also a lot of exotic stuff that you wouldn’t find at home. 

Today, we left the flat and fertile plains of Venetia and journeyed into the splendid scenery of the Dolomites. The Dolomites are a section of the Alps which are located in the north-east part of Italy. They run as far south as the Puster Valley from which area our ancestors moved many years ago.

The name “Dolomites” comes from a French scientist, Deodat Gratet de Dolomieu, who was the first one to describe these strange rock formations. The unique feature that these rocks posses is that they seem to change colour as the day progresses. Also, the Dolomites have a very unique shape: somewhat like a gothic cathedral. The tops of the mountains were always very jagged and covered with clouds.

Sorry, if I’m a little behind with my posts. For the last week, we’ve been in Bonn at the University. Things are going well and we’ve settled in rather nicely. We fit in about as much as everybody else, which isn’t saying much. I don’t know if I’ve ever bin in a company of people from such a variety of different languages. We have students from almost every part of the world! It truly is an amazing experience. I think we all feel about as equally out of place. Because we all come from such varied walks-of-life, the only connections we have is the thin thread of German language which we all know. Sometimes it’s very funny trying to communicate with others. Both parties try to explain something to the other but eventually both stand there with a quizzical look on their face, not quite sure what the other was trying to say. In such a case, everybody just has a good laugh and you try again! Oh well, laughter is a great communicator that spans all cultures and languages.

I’ll try to post the last two days of our trip at some other time. I’m rather busy at the time, so that might be a great incentive for me to keep my posts shorter. I apologize if they are lengthy, but we’ve really experience so much on this trip that I’m really not even scratching the surface.

Take care all you at home.  Thinking of you all as you start the harvest!

I’m not going to say a lot about the town of Lugano, other then that it was another beautiful city.  One interesting thing about Lugano, is that it is an Italian speaking town.  This might not sound strange if the town wasn’t located in Switzerland.  The climate in Lugano is Mediterranean and so you see palmtrees all other the place.  Also, the other trees that you see are huge!

Something else that we saw in Lugano were the shops.  For instance, take a look at these delicious shrimp and different types of cheese that were on display!  I had to restrain myself from jumping into the storage bin!

We have spent the last two days in Zermatt. This town is very unique, as no motorized vehicles are allowed in the town. Rather, I should say that no gas vehicles except with special permission from the town council. Electric carts are used to haul baggage and such stuff.

Last night, we stayed at the beautiful Alpha Palmier hotel in the city of Lausanne. I must say, that this has been the most interesting city we’ve visited. I don’t think there was anything strait in this city. The streets are all running off in different directions and all going either uphill or downhill. The uphill was very steep. I took an evening run down to Lake Lausanne. The downhill part was really easy, however, coming uphill needed a lot more energy. Really, I think if I had to chose a city to live in for a while, it would be Lausanne. The view was breathtaking.

This morning we left the Lucerne area and drove through some more Switzerland landscape. The land again began to change. On both sides of the road, we passed small fields of wheat. Most of it had already been harvested. The corn were very tall, but still standing. Also, the southern slops were covered with vineyards.

This morning, we pulled out of our hotel parking lot at 8:00 am sharp. Oh, we have to get up at 6:30 everyday. Breakfast is at 7:00. Today, we drove through some more breathtaking Alpine scenery as we headed towards the Principality of Lichtenstein. On the way, we drove though the longest tunnel in Europe called the Arlberg Tunnel which is 14 km long. Actually, we drove through tunnels all day long. It was truly amazing how many tunnels they have around here. The mountains towered ways up above our heads. I always thought the Rockies were high, but I think the Alps would dwarf them. Most of the time, the top of the mountain was hidden by the clouds; or the mountain would go up and disappear only to reaper ontop of the clouds.

Today, we were up at six-thirty to head out on our second day of touring. But first, we all gathered downstairs for a quick continental breakfast. And what a breakfast!! I don’t think there was anything quick about that breakfast; and that from somebody who usually inhales his food. The selection was unbelievable! Juices, coffee, tea, fruit juice, fruit, different types of meat, toast with about 10 different jams and jellies to spread on top. Really, it was almost too much and to boot, it was free. Needless to say, I think the hotel lost money on my stay. They were well in the lead (profit wise) until that continental breakfast and then they slipped into the red! Lol