Switzerland, Germany, Switzerland

We spent an evening and a morning in Lindau, one of the cities on the Bodensee, also known as Lake Konstanz. Lindau is on the outer edge of Bavaria and the only Bavarian City on the lake. The old city is on a little island while the newer city is spreading out on the shore. When we arrived with our big packs, kind people made sure we got off at the right stop on the bus and pointed the way to the hostel for us.

When my friend Nickie backpacked Europe a few years ago, she had purchased a youth hostelling card - which she ended up not using at all, not even once. I am happy to report that my purchase of the card was not a total waste. To stay at the hostels in Fussen and Lindau, membership was mandatory and the hostel was our only accomodation option.


As per our usual luck, we hit holiday weekend in Bavaria so everything was conveniently closed except for a few restaurants with worse than normal service. We climbed up a lighthouse and listened to a man play a long Bavarian horn. We wandered through leaf strewn paths and watched swans swim by. It was all quite nice. It would have been nicer if it had been clearer so we could have seen the beginings of the Alps on the other side of the lake. But because of the clouds we had to use our imagination.

The next stop on Saturday was Basel, Switzerland. At one point, our train stopped and everyone loaded onto a bus which took us across the border. As we stood at the tram station trying to figure out the system, a nice guy noticed our Canadian flags and offered to help us. Turns out, he is an Albertan who has lived in Europe for years, currently working as a curling coach and ice caretaker. Even with his help, we ended up on a wrong tram. It went the right way, just didn't stop where we needed it. Eventually we made it to our destination: the little old hilltop church of St. Chrischona.

A church of some kind has been standing on this hill overlooking France, Germany and Switzerland for close to a thousand years. The current building dates from the sixteenth century. The church was being used primarily as a barn in the nineteenth century. But in the attic, a theological seminary began, as did a group of evangelical churches. We came as guests of people we had yet to meet, but they made up comfortable as soon as we met them. They told us they lived next to the church, and they really weren't lying. Their house is immediately beside the church and the sound of the bells reverberated in our room. Philipp and Elizabeth are friends of one of Mer's relatives, but it felt like we were all friends by the time we left. I felt immediately comfortable when supper was a Malaysian curry. I could hardly contain my excitement. Apparently I am supposed to learn German and come back to take classes.

We attended an international church in Basel where we met an interesting opera singer whose accent is decidely southern. Then Mer turned down the possibility of watching tennis in favor of enjoying the unseasonable weather and exploring Basel. We have been told that this is the nicest autumn in a hundred years. I am really glad otherwise I would freeze. (Another reason Mer didn't go see tennis is because Basel's own Roger Federer is injured and obviously not playing. He's her favorite player so I have learned a lot about him this trip. Maybe she'll get to see him play in Paris.) We walked past the Munster, an old big church, where a carnival was occuring in the square. But most of the time, we sat by the Rhine and soaked up the sun with a throng of other sun-starved people.

That night, back at Chrischona, we were introduced to Rauclette, a very Swiss meal, where you eat melted stinky cheese on potatos. I was quite stuffed when the meal was done. Then we went with Deborah, one of the daughters, to a student led praise and prayer meeting in the old church. Most of the songs were in German, but we still felt God's spirit.

The next morning, chapel was at 7:30. Since the bells started ringing at 6, we were awake in plenty of time. Elizabeth translated the message and as she was telling me the final phrases, it was announced that Amazing Grace would be sung in English. Unfortunately, we didn't hear which verses and as the song progressed, very confidently sang the wrong verse. Oops . . .

Some friends of Meridith's from home, Paul and Mary, came for lunch and to take us back to Germany with them. (I know them from my time in Caronport.) Within ten minutes, it was established that they had some relatives in common by marriage with Elizabeth. This trip has definitely taught me even more about how all Mennonites all over the world are related. At one point in the conversation, a retired missionary who lives at Briercrest came up. I actually knew who he was and finally felt a part of the conversation.

Paul and Mary took us to Kandern, in the Schwarzwald (aka the Black Forest) where the missionary school Black Forest Academy is located. All the forested hills are full of the glorious colors of autumn. I met a bazillion people from Niverville, MB. I think everyone at BFA is from Niverville or has a cousin there or went to church there. We dropped our stuff off and returned to Basel, joining the high school at the big carnival. The kids had quite the time on the bumper cars and a group of them made some money busking in an alley. The four of us wandered around the different squares where the rides were. Due to the overly expensive nature of all things Swiss and all things related to carnival, we didn't go on any rides. We had supper at a "VIP" restaurant that didn't live up to its name.

On Tuesday morning, we slept in quite late. Germans have rolly-shutter things on their windows that really black out the room. The nice weather continued into November so Paul and Mary took us hiking. We followed a path thick with leaves to a rambling old castle. At the top, we could clearly made out the Chrischona hill and the church. It was quite beautiful. We hiked in the afternoon as well. Then they showed us a typical BFA dorm where the dorm parents convinced them to take stuff back to Canada for them. I think everyone they meet wants something taken back to someone. Then we had supper with an awesome family. The dad kindly took me to the train station in Basel the next morning, leaving Meridith in Germany.

Now I am in Zurich at an apartment of OM girls where my friend Cady is making her home for the next two years as a missionary. It's been really cool to see what her new life is like. More on that next time.