European Vacation #11 - On to Germany

On June 25 Wendy and Amanda flew home while Tobey and I went on to Germany. We have hosted six exchange students, five from Germany, and thought it would be a good opportunity to visit since we were so close.

We picked up a car in Frankfurt and drove south to Schaffhausen, Switzerland – about an hour from Zurich, where Tom, our first student, now lives. Our second student, Stephan, is now living in Zurich also, so we also had a chance to have dinner in Zurich with both of the “boys.” They had the opportunity to meet several years ago when they both came back for a visit so they keep in touch, also.


We had fun exploring Schaffhausen and the surrounding area. It is a charming little town, complete with a castle.

Before leaving Schaffhausen, we drove to the Rhine Falls.

As we entered the parking area we noticed a sign that said “frei” which we assumed meant “free parking.” Well, you know what they say about assuming things … Anyway, we had to pass through a gate and get a ticket, but thought it was probably so they would know how many people came through the area. Well, after seeing the falls and snapping a few pictures we headed back to the parking lot. Imagine our surprise as we drove up to the exit, inserted our ticket, and the booth said to return to the payment kiosk! Guess “frei” isn’t free. Okay, we went back and the kiosk indicated we could pay in Euros or Swiss francs – no problem, we had Euros. The machine wouldn’t take them – and we tried every one we had! We set off back down the hill to the shops in hopes of getting change, but our smallest Euro bill was $50 and didn’t want $45 worth of francs since we were heading to Germany! Tobey found a park worker and attempted to explain our dilemma. He looked at our ticket and motioned for us to meet him back at the parking lot. He drove through with his truck, gave us his new ticket and we were able to exit without paying anything since we were there less than 15 minutes. Who would know that “frei” really means that it was open?

From Schaffhausen, we headed east to Munich with a stop at Paul’s, our last student. Along the way we drove through miles and miles of “green farms” where buildings, houses, and barns are covered in solar panels. It was quite impressive.

We were in Munich when Italy and Germany were playing in the Euro Cup so it was quite exciting since Paul’s mom is from Italy! We could cheer for either team and be on the winning side – but they were actually happier that Italy won in that round! We went to the BMW Museum, the Olympic Park, Scholss Nyphenburg, and had fun touring in the Englischer Garten. It was fun to see kids “surfing” on a man-made surf in the river that runs through the garden. We even had dinner in a traditional beer garten – even though neither of us drinks beer!

Another bonus in Munich was seeing Alex, our “step” student. He was here the same year as Tom, but lived with another family, and they became good friends. We have enjoyed his friendship through the years and had fun touring “old town Munich” with him.

From Munich we went west to Erbach. Stephan (#2) came from Zurich to join younger brother, Christoph (#4) and his parents for the weekend. We had a wonderful time sharing stories and friendship.

We had planned to meet Hauke (#3) in Stuttgart on our return to Frankfurt. He is now flying regional planes for Lufthansa and his schedule changed at the last minute, so we didn’t get to see him. We were really disappointed. Tobey wanted to find out if Lufthansa honored the "family members fly for free” that some airlines offer, and whether host parents qualified as family! Maybe next time.

Our week in Switzerland/Germany came to an end on July 3rd as we headed home to Colorado. It has taken me a while to get all of the posts finished, but one month later, this is it! Just in time, too, because we are heading out in the RV today for a 3-week adventure.