The Never Ending Day

The day I left Portland went on and on and on. We had to stay awake so we wouldn't miss anything. In all, I stayed awake 35 hours. Add that to all the crazy stuff we did, and anyone would be exhausted. How did I manage it? Sugar and espresso! Anyway, here's what happened.

We left Portland for Seattle on the sixth at 9:30. After a short layover, we got on a lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, Germany. I should have slept then, but I just wasn't tired at all and couldn't. We hardly had the chance to get used to being on the ground again before we got on another (thankfully shorter) flight to Zurich, Switzerland. It was such an amazing blessing that we got to have a twelve hour layover in Switzerland, where my Great Grandfather was from. Anyway I was getting tired by now and not inclined to be too impressed with Zurich. It was just another city after all, not exactly Heidi's mountain. Mom had been to Switzerland before, so she lost no time in getting us train tickets out of the city. 10 minutes on the train, and Switzerland became the land of majestic mountains that I had pictured it as. The people were fascinating. Lots of old people would get on the train with their backpacks and walking sticks. I assume they were all walking together on some mountain or another because they all got off at the same stop and were chattering merrily in Schweitzer Deutsch.

We finally stopped moving at Brunnen. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera so I'll just describe it. Brunnen is very charming and quaint. There are lots of cobbled streets and funny little shops and bakeries. It is at an end of lake lucerne. We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water and a spectacular view. It reminded me a little of the Gorge where I worked last summer, so it was very familiar and comfortable. Supposedly, it was for this same reason that my great great grandparents decided to move to Oregon instead of somewhere else in the US. Overall, Brunnen strikes me as a drowsy, quiet place. it started raining while we ate, but somehow this just added to the sleepy atmosphere (or maybe I was just imagining all this because I was so sleep deprived).

The view  from the restaurant (not my picture)

After we left Brunnen, we went to Arth and finally got a hold of my camera. Arth is where my Great Grandfather's family was from. My mom had found our relative there last time she visited so we decided to go see them and the house where he was born. Unfortunately  she had forgotten the way, so we started asking around on the bus. Its funny, but in Switzerland, people recognize last names so that even though we they couldn't speak English, an old couple on the bus recognized the name "Hospenthal" (my great- great grandmother's last name) and even offered to give us a ride! They were so friendly I couldn't believe it! We got to the house and our relatives were also extremely friendly. I felt crazy for just showing up at their house, but they remembered mom and let us inside the house where we shared stories and looked at old pictures.

The house where my Great Grandpa, Josef Dober, was born (built in 1750!!!!!!)

We couldn't stay long because it was starting to get late, so we said goodbye and got a train to Zug, and then on to Zurich to catch our flight to Bangkok. Switzerland is completely charming. There is a strange but wonderful contrast of the majestic mountains and timeless, quaint towns. I love how friendly everyone is and how their lives are so intertwined with the land. I hope to visit again someday in a more conscious state :).