Tickets, please!

Yesterday, I needed to take a certification exam for work (on a Saturday) and traveled by train. I left ample time to get to the exam, however, I ended up on a fast train to Lucerne and at least one hour out of my way! (Oh, Nein! I didn't plan sufficient time for THIS situation.) What I hadn't realized was that I was supposed to get OFF the train at a station stop and get on a different one on the same track, and my ticket wasn't checked until after being en route to Lucerne. This was a problem. The train I needed to catch back was leaving the Lucerne station at the same time as we were arriving! According to my helpful ticket collector on the train, this was impossible to make the connection; however, in English (all my German had flown out the window at this point), I told him my situation and enlisted his help.  To make a long story short, he helped me jump out of the door while the train was still pulling into the station, and I dodged children and elderly to get on the next train. I made it to the exam in time to take a deep breath before beginning. Phew!

Anyway, the morale of the story is to always confirm if you need to change trains at a stop, especially if you have a compressed time schedule! And I also tell this story to explain that much of my weekday free time has been consumed by studying for the last 2 months. Which means no extra time for the blog. Time to catch up.

Here is what we've been busy doing lately! School is coming to an end, work is busy and we've been doing some travel on the weekends. 

At the end of May, we surprised the kids with a trip to Legoland Deutschland. It was our first theme park experience as a family, and all of us loved it! Bob and I were surprised that both boys wanted to go on the "big kid" rides like rollercoasters. For two boys who love Lego, it was a perfect day. The park is in southwestern Germany, in the Swabian region. To get to the area, we enjoyed a trip on a car ferry across Lake Constance. This area is rich in farmland growing fruit such as strawberries, cherries and apples. We also visited the city of Ravensburg, home of Ravensburger (maker of puzzles and games). A great weekend for all of us.

And then last weekend, we celebrated Father's Day with a group of families at Oeschinensee, near Kandersteg (Switzerland). This was a stunning area with snow-topped mountains and a cool-blue lake. We took a gondola and then hiked to our hotel. This is a UNESCO heritage site, and was a perfect place for kids. They could throw rocks in the water, get dirty in the mud, play on the playground and basically, not get into trouble. It was like being at summer camp complete with lots of fresh air and bunk beds. We enjoyed hiking and saw a colony of Ibex (type of alpine mountain goat), ate our meals outside and watched the stars come out. It was a memorable weekend, and a place worth returning to.




Otherwise, our life has been busy with preparing for summer: we are anticipating family visits, the kids are eagerly awaiting tomatoes in the garden and we are caught up in the excitement of the Euro Cup soccer championship. (Go Deutschland! Go Italy! Go Spain! We'll cheer for anyone...)


Oh, and I don't get results of my exam for another 6 weeks. Which means I can really enjoy summer before finding out if I need to study for another exam!