Nate's Winter Holiday Adventure

December 15:

With a small suitcase, and my backpack I trekked through the snowy cold to a gas station not far from where I live in Munich. I walked into the station store and saw another chap with several items of luggage waiting. He and I looked at one another knowingly, "are you here for the ride-share as well?" he asked me. I replied affirmatively. We didn't need to wait long: a white Volkswagen Kombi pulled into the station and we went out to greet our driver. He loaded our stuff in the back and we climbed into the rear of the van. Within minutes several other strangers bearing suitcases, backpacks, and in one case a pug dog, came out from the U-bahn station and elsewhere and climbed aboard the van.

With our driver and seven passengers (eight with the pug on the lap of the girl next to me in the back) we set off through the snow and onto the Autobahn. It was a slightly cramped but pleasant enough journey south and west, through Austria, into Switzerland. We passed through the Austrian/Swiss border that was the scene of several not-so-pleasant memories back in August.

The sun went down and we pulled into the city of Zürich. I got out at the train station and paid the driver his €25, not bad for quick and easy transport from Munich to Zürich. I had booked it online on a website where you enter your cities of origin and destination and the date of travel and it connects you with people offering a seat in their vehicle.

I walked across the bridge to the train station, taking in the site of a bustling winter's night in Switzerland's largest city...

From the train station I hopped aboard a commuter train to the town of Wettingen, just outside of Zürich. From there I was picked up by Emily Tagg and she took me to the church where they were having Young Women's (she is the YW leader). I toured the church building and then found a piano in the Relief Society room downstairs (in the bunker! Every Swiss building must include a bunker in the basement with thick concrete walls and heavy metal doors that look like they belong on a bank vault. This is where the Relief Society room was). I was able to play piano a bit until Young Women's was over and we were able to drive to Fischbach-Göslikon where the Taggs live. Joseph, Emily, their daughter Megan and son Isaac were my good friends when they lived in Munich and this was my first time since helping them move to come visit them in their new home...

It was great to see them all again, but unfortunately I was a bit ill and so were most of them and so we simply took it easy while I was there.

The next day we did make a little excursion to the nearby town of Baden, where Joseph works. It was quite cold but also festive. We walked along the river and up the streets as the sun went down...

Baden (meaning "Bath") sits on thermal hot springs and has been a spa town since Roman times. Here was a little public sink with naturally warm water...

Some of the old Roman ruins under excavation...

Modern Swiss folks enjoy the waters as much as the Romans and bathing in the hot springs is still popular today...

We came around to the walking street where a merry-go-round was in progress. Megan took a ride...

The city was decked in Christmas decor...

After warming up in a supermarket and getting a few things we went back out into the cold. The city glowed festively under the grip of ice and snow...

And the castle...

The next day we made the journey out to the town of Kilchberg to the world headquarters and main factory of the Lindt & Sprüngli chocolate company.

The chocolate factory...

There was a huge outlet store with more chocolate than you could shake a chocolate stick at...

Megan and I...

The main offices from the road...

Just down the street was Zürichersee, the lake on which Zürich sits...

We were able to stock up on chocolate gifts and goodies at a fairly decent price.

The next day we took a trip out to a castle overlooking the town of Lenzberg...

It was still cold and frosty everywhere...

Lenzburg...

This was an interesting thing: a mole digs a tunnel underneath the soil, he pushes a mound of dirt upwards through the snow, a single dirt clod rolls away from the mole hill into the snow, the snow collects around the dirt clod as it rolls, the dirt clod comes to a stop and crumbles out of its snowy tire, a single ring of snow sits upright on the icy ground...

A hot air balloon drifted by the castle...

We also visited the storybook town of Mellingen....

Isaac trying to be a baby model...

I went to church with the Taggs on Sunday and by Monday it was already time to leave. I had arranged another ride-share to take me from a town near the Swiss border in Germany all the way up to Güstrow in north-eastern Germany. On Sunday night, however, I got a call from the people I was going to ride with informing me that they were no longer making the trip. Suddenly I had no way to get to my relatives in northern Germany! Definitely one of the disadvantages of this ride-share thing.

Much to my relief, however, I found another ride-share who had only recently posted on the website. I managed to get a hold of him and organized my ride for Monday.

It had been fun and relaxing staying with the Taggs. On Monday Emily drove me to the German border where she could do some shopping (much cheaper than Switzerland) and from there I made three short train journeys to get to the town of Tutlingen where my ride-share would picked me up from the train station.

It was raining in Switzerland but as the train ascended a bit into the hills of the Black Forest I looked out the window to see the entire world covered in white frost...

My ride met me at the train station, a nice guy who works with artillery in the German military, and we drove first to Stuttgart to pick up two other passengers.

The snow was falling heavily and we had to wait nearly an hour in Stuttgart while the other two battled the traffic to get to our meeting point. While waiting I took a brief stroll in the nearby park...

The other two passengers arrived and we set off onto the Autobahn. It would be a journey of over 900km in total and the going was slow at first as we crossed from Baden-Württenburg into Bavaria. It was already dark as we passed Bayreuth and the snow started to subside. We almost got stuck behind I stalled semi at a rest stop, but in the end we made good time once in the former East Germany and around midnight I was dropped off near Lüssow, where Sybille & Wolfgang live.

Wolfgang picked me up at the Autobahn exit and we drove to their house. It had been a long day and, with pockets full of used tissues, I was still getting over my illness.



The next morning in Lüssow was crisp, clear, and beautifully cold as I ate breakfast with a view to the old church across the street. That morning I took a little walk in the fields and woods near the house.

The old church...

A wintry road...

DEER!

This picture makes me hungry for Frosted Mini-Wheats...

I took it easy while at Sybille & Wolfgang's as well. It was the holidays, after all, and I didn't want to aggravate my cold. Still, one day my fifth-cousin Elias came over and we spent some time outside building snowmen...

Soon Christmas Eve Day arrived and the local family gathered at the house in Lüssow. Notice the Christmas tree... Sybille & Wolfgang have about eight small pine trees growing in their backyard each at a different stage. Every Christmas they cut one down and every Summer they plant a new one...

Soon it was time to open presents and we all sort of just opened our presents all at once. Elias was the most amusing of course...

Although Wolfgang received a very cool remote-controlled helicopter from Antje...

it was a bit tricky to fly and despite Antje's warnings of flying the thing indoors, Wolfgang still wanted to test fly the helicopter. Sybille took cover behind the couch...

On Christmas Day we had a nice feast of roast duck, mashed-potatoes and homemade gravy, and red cabbage. It was amazing...

I ate really good while I was there.

The first day after Christmas Sybille's brother Gerhardt and his wife Lilo picked us up in his van and we drove south to Putlitz where Sybille's other brother Arnulf and his wife Sigried live. We had a delicious lunch of roast boar...

We weren't all quite ready for this one...

While the Germans chatted I took a little late-afternoon stroll through Putlitz...

I met some sheep...

The old Putlitz Tower...

And the old town wall...

Shadows on the tower...

The Putlitz church got a new steeple in 2010...

The Pegnitz River...

Unfortunately, Putlitz, like many other towns in the former GDR (East Germany), suffers from a lack of good jobs and many younger people leave to find work in the big cities. A walk down the main street of Putlitz reveals many run-down and vacant buildings. This house was up for sale: €2,000...

It was cold...

Downtown...

Just as I felt I was getting over my cold, another bout of illness came over me and I felt rather crummy for a few days. I did find a bat outside my window however...

Hibernatin'

Another frosty day...

For New Year's Eve I went to the village of Wilhelminenhof where Elias and his parents live. I celebrated with them and some of their cousins (also my distant cousins). They did a lot of fireworks...

And we dropped by on the neighbors who had a small bonfire...

And bratwursts...

The kids actually managed to stay up until well past midnight. Frohes Neues Jahr!

Other than being ill, it was great spending time with my distant relatives in northern Germany. Finally it came time to travel back home to Munich. I managed to find a ride-share on the day after New Year's Day. Wolfgang drove me again to the Autobahn exit where I met up with my driver and fellow passenger in an old Twingo.

Although the weather was nice the traffic was a bit heavy and at times quite congested as we made the long journey back to Munich.

I got home that night and it was nice to sleep in my own bed again.

When I went into work that week I found that someone had left a TARDIS and no one knows where it came from...

If it's still there next week, I'm taking it home. I'm sure the Doctor would approve.

Here is the map of my Winter Holiday Adventure...

View Nate's Winter Holiday Adventure in a larger map

Happy New Year!

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