I left for Zurich on the 28th of August, and not only did my whole family drop me off at the airport, but my friend Sarah Cook found me at my gate, having just arrived on a different flight! On the flight to Zurich I sat next to a very nice man from Germany- we talked about traveling and Germany and airports and jobs. I arrived in Amsterdam 15 minutes early- which I was extremely thankful for, as getting through immigration took the entire hour and a half of my layover! There were a large number of people traveling on passports from African nations, and the customs agents were extremely skeptical (apparently), so the process took much longer than usual. It seemed that half of the people in my line were pulled aside for extra questions! I ended up having to run to the end of the terminal to catch my flight, and the gate agent reopened the gate for me to get on the plane. I think it was worth being late, though, because I saw the largest and most brilliant full double rainbow that I have ever seen! The airport area is very flat, so I could see the entire arc. Each color was vibrant and vivid and distinct- I even saw the ground crew taking out cameras to get pictures of the rainbow!
Given my frantic dash through the Amsterdam airport, I wasn’t surprised to discover that my luggage didn’t make it with me. I left my address and then met my hosts, Lisbeth and Franz, who kindly picked me up at the airport. It was so nice to meet friendly faces at the end of the trip!
We went back to the house, which is really out in the country.
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| My street. |
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| My house. |
People raise chickens in the backyard, ducks across the street, and cows down the block! My window overlooks the creek across the street- I can hear it bubbling and gurgling when my window is open.
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| My room. |
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| The garden. |
It was my goal to stay awake the whole day, so Franz took me on the bus to the train station and then walked me back so that I would know how to get there and what trains to take and how to take them. We had tea with Franz’s brother in the afternoon, and then Lisbeth and I went for a hike at the top of a hill by Winterthur. The hike was really beautiful- we were walking on a path through a forest of old trees, with glimpses of the green valley below and the Alps beyond. It is definitely more chilly that I was expecting for August- the highs are 55 or 60- which means that vigorous hiking is a good thing. We also walked through a small farming village and made friends with some cows. There are many many trails around my house, and I'm excited to be able to explore them!
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| Scenes from the hike. |
