Tuesday, October 10- We landed in Zurich Switzerland around 6am their time but our body clocks were telling us it was midnight and time to sleep. I thought it was pretty good that of all our luggage, only 1 suitcase didn't make it along with us, but then again it was not my suitcase that was missing.
Our first stop was Tauferhohle (literal translation= baptist cave) in Baretswil, where our Anabaptist forefathers met to worship in secret during times of persecution for their faith. We had to hike about a mile uphill, past farms and into the woods, to get to it. Our first Swiss experience was hearing cowbells ringing through the valley as the cows grazed in the pasture along our hike. What a treat!
The 6 weeks of walking I had done to prepare for this trip was put to use right away! (The hike was quite a bit steeper than it appears in photos.) But even the oldest in our group persevered to the top.
Plaque in the cave -Google Lens translates it as "This cave offered refugee returnees in the 16th century shelter for silence and prayer"
We sang and prayed in the cave -a worshipful experience. We were told that at one time there was a waterfalls over the entrance which mask the sound of their singing & preaching. Since our lives were not in any danger, we could let our voices ring out. It was amazing that a group of people who had just met -never sang together before- could sound so good.
We hiked back down to the bus, then went to Migros for lunch. It's a buffet restaurant in a co-op. It was a bit overwhelming for the first day- so many choices and all the labels were in German. My sketchy high school German kicked in to where I could figure out pork cordon bleu and rice; Richard pointed and gestured till he got fries topped with some sort of spicy stew we still don't know what it was. He also got a chunk of meat labeled as "wild meat" and there was much debate among our group whether it was horse or venison, but generally the taste was not very popular among our group. Richard & I shared an apple pastry for dessert that was really good.
Our next stop was Rhine Falls. The largest waterfalls in Europe. It was magnificent! We spent about an hour there.
Richard & I hiked to the top. This is the view from the top looking down on the falls-
(This is where the bus almost left 2 couples behind. There is a reason for doing group checks. 😉)
We drove about 2 hours, into Germany, to our hotel, Hofgut Sternen, in the Black Forest region. Crossing into another country was very easy- we stopped at the border for a few minutes and my phone welcomed me to Germany- otherwise we wouldn't even have found out.
View from our hotel room balcony
Meanwhile it was morning back home and our adorable granddaughter was starting to school...
2nd course was a soup...
Main course was pork with spaetzle and diced mushrooms.
After everyone snapped the pictures they wanted, we continued up the mountain to this lookout point/picnic area, Le Bonhomme. When there are not enough picnic tables, one can happily sit in the grass next to cows grazing in the pasture. Our view was 👌!
The 2 sandwiches- one with cheese & cucumber slices, one with just meat- could be combined into one sandwich, more suited to our American preference for less bread.
We drove back down the mountain, "chasing" a biker who must have been training for Tour de France, at least he gained on us because he could navigate the switchbacks faster than the bus. On to Salm we went.
I may not have a fancy iPhone with AirDrop and all those Apple apps, but my Android's got Google Lens with it's robust translating power, which came in handy for markers like this! [Inside joke] 😁
Some of us convinced Duane (tour leader) to give us 2 minutes to jog back to an old cemetery in Salm. I was hoping to find a Miller, but many of the stones were hard to make out or missing completely.
White wine soup with rose pepper
Filled chicken breast with homemade sauce, carrots and rosemary potatoes
lasagna of nougat and marzipan with chocolate sauce and brittle
Dinner was served by the hotel. First course was a salad & smoked meat...
I missed getting a pic of the dessert but it was yogurt mousse with honey.
I appreciated their small portions, but we Americans are not used to taking 1.5 hours to eat. I was so tired I had a headache and felt miserable. Being awake 30 hours will do that to ya... time to "call it a day"!
Wednesday, October 11- Jetlag kept Richard awake a good portion of the night; I slept solid for 9 hours and was good to go again. Our hotel's breakfast buffet had the coolest coffee machines that made all kinds of specialty drinks.
We left our hotel at 8am and did a lot of driving that day. Soon after we crossed into France, we drove by these World War II trenches...
Land is expensive in Europe so they don't waste space;
we saw places where every foot is utilized, especially in vineyards like this one.
Our first destination of the day was the little village of Riquewihr, France.
It's essentially a tourist trap, but oh my, an hour was hardly enough time to snap pictures of all the enchanting architecture and browse the shops.
Oooh, look -genuine French macarons!
And cheese tasting...
We browsed around before buying macarons. Lots of shops advertised them but some were what we would call cookies, not macarons.
Say what? Bretzels?
Next we drove on some extreme switchbacks. It was crazy with a bus, but our driver handled it without a sweat; Richard was amazed. And the roads are so skinny in Europe! Occasionally we'd meet a car and they had to back up to let us through. Can not imagine Americans being that friendly & patient... It was hard to capture the switchbacks in a pic, this doesn't really do justice.
We continued on to Alsace and made a stop at the Jakob Amman house, founder of the the 'Amish'.
The hotel had packed sack lunches for all of us. Interestingly enough, 2 sandwiches, 2 mini muffins, apple, banana, and sparkling water.
This area is the birthplace of Jacob Hochstetler, Richard’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandpa on his mom’s side, in 1712. (This would be the same Jacob who is widely known for being attacked and taken captive by Indians in Pennsylvania in 1757.) Love the view! 😍
We drove back down the mountain, "chasing" a biker who must have been training for Tour de France, at least he gained on us because he could navigate the switchbacks faster than the bus. On to Salm we went.
Ah, the Peace Tree! Our unflappable bus driver drove back a dirt road to get to it.
"In 1793, the Anabaptists in Salm, France were facing a familiar predicament- the army was in need of soldiers to fill its ranks. An officer arrived in Salm with orders for all the men in the village to do military service with the government. The Amish bishop in the community, Jacob Kupferschmit, invited the officer into his home, where he sang a hymn from the Ausbund and gave a moving speech on his church’s peace convictions. After eating lunch together, the officer cut Bishop Kupferschmit an informal deal: if the men of Salm stayed home to work their farms, they wouldn’t have to join the army. Bishop Kupferschmit planted an oak tree on his property to commemorate the good news. He named it the Peace Oak."
230 years later... here we are. We tried our best to find acorns from this historic tree, but alas too many other Anabaptists apparently had the same idea. Nary a one could be found.
This ended up being the only group photo we got on the tour.
Roughly L-R: Keturah Sommers, Phaylon & Carolyn Schrock, Floyd & Marilyn Stoltzfus, David & Naomi Schmidt, Dale & Carolyn Hochstetler, Richard & Cheryl Miller, Lavern & Loranna Hochstetler, Al & Faith Garber, Paul & Faith Sommers, Marcus & Anita Sommers, Renie Helmuth, Tim Sommers, Phil & Linda Beiler, James & Velma Brubaker, Martha Hostetler, Anna Kuhns, Ron & Sandra Hess, Erma Yoder, Lorne & Grace Kuepfer, Maurice & Lois Graber, Cornelius & Margaretha Harder, Eli & Mary Jane King, John & Leah Yoder, Duane & Virginia Troyer, Glen & Rosanna Helmuth
We walked up the road to the KupferSchmit house.
The gentleman living there came outside and talked with us. The history he shared was interesting even though we're not related to these surnames, that we know of.
Because of all the driving we did that day, our bus driver was required to stop for a 30 minute break after 8 hours. Same regulations as American commercial drivers. However, while American law enforcement can only look back at 7 days of logs [driving records], European officers can go back 5 years. Wow! We stopped at a truck stop. Richard & I purchased a big bar of chocolate there for only $2. We made some "friends for life" by sharing it with the Indiana ladies. LOL
It was nearly 6:30 till we got back to our hotel. They served us another fabulous formal dinner.
According to the menu- marinated salad with bacon & croutons
Because of the slow European dining, it was 8:30pm till we left the table. Since we were jetlagged, we went straight to bed. Although I did take time to FaceTime with my grandchildren yet before I slept. Isn't it amazing how we can video chat from halfway around the world, clear as a bell and no lag time?!
to be continued...
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