Globetrotting Tigers

Thursday May 24, 2018

Our day began early, as we had to rise at 4:30am and get to the airport. We boarded our Allegan Airlines plane and headed to Zurich. Interesting that some Syrian refugees also boarded. Greece has entire communities, as they and Italy have been the only countries to provide refuge for these poor people. This family had clearly found a sponsor to come to Switzerland- I can only imagine the things they have experienced. George and I sat in Business class and enjoyed space, free luggage, and a nice breakfast. Karla had fun making eyes at the Syrian baby. We get our prearranged taxi and the driver is thrilled with us as he is Greek. A two-hour drive in mostly stopped traffic was met with sleepy passengers and thus we did not see a lot of the countryside.

We arrive at the hotel and are informed the taxi 230 Euro trip needs cash and not credit cards! We scrape together the Euros- lucky George had $200 and pay him- I had given my credit card but was never told they need cash in return! At least we know for the trip home. The train strikes made this trip a bit more expensive. And everything here is off the charts expensive! We are starved and have lunch and decide we must rest before the 4:30 sessions begin. I was informed by email this am that my poster won an award and would have a ribbon. It was in the category of communication and was one of the top 3 out of 108. Tomorrow morning they apparently announce awards from all they category winners. Nice surprise!

Afterwards we take the free trolley type car down to city center and try to find something to eat. You will not see food photos as we could not find any Swiss restaurants- most are Italian or German. Expensive and not anything to write home about! The chocolate on the other hand- if only you could survive on that! We saw a Big Mac at McDonalds- $8.50!

Heaven must surely smell like this!

Ollie they told us there is a park here with Bears. Its not a zoo but a “bear garden” where bears roam free. We hope to see it before we go- sounds interesting! There are bear cookies, toys, flags, statues, everything so its a pretty big deal. Home early as we are all exhausted.