October 25th

Egni, Nissimor and I left Einshlingen around 6:00 a.m. by taxi for the hauptbahnhof of Bielefeld to catch a train to Zurich. At first I was wondering why I had chosen to leave so early but later I was glad. We had coffee and a bite to eat in the station and caught our train. I fell asleep and woke up with a jerk and asked the man beside me "Are we ther yet?" Of course the answer was not for several more hours. I got to see the cathedral in Koln or Cologne in English. It is just outside the train station so I saw it as we entered and when we left. A couple of hours later Egni told me that the announcement in German said we were an hour late and we had to switch trains in Freiburg not Basel. What would I have done if I was travelling alone? They give two sentences in English and 25 sentences in German.
Nissimor missed her rehearsal for the concert tonight by her choir. Egni let her husband know that the train was running late.
When I arrived in Switzerland I found the prices were quite high compared to Germany or Canada. A cup of tea or coffee can be 4 Swiss francs or Euros  which is about $6.00 Canadian and double what it was in Germany. A locker was 6 Swiss francs or about $9.00. I dragged my suitcase around and explored the area around the station. Straight out the main doors is the new city but there is a lovely stream with spots for people to sit and enjoy the waterfowl only a block away. To the left across the bridge over the river is the old town. I love the amazing buildings and the decorations that have lasted four hundred years or more. The crosswalks here are marked with yellow lines. If there is no light the cars have to stop if you step off the curb. Watch out for trams as they have the right of way it seems and stop for no one. In Canada if the light turns yellow and then red the cars will wait for you to clear the street. Not here, if the light changes get off the street because the cars barrel into the intersection the moment it changes.
I found a water fountain of a boy holding an alligator and filled my water bottle. I bought a bun and cheese at one of the shops for lunch. I fought with a ticket machine to get a train ticket. I bought a Switzerland t-shirt and a Zurich card for the next day.
I headed for Winterthur, arrived, found Starbucks, bought a tea, figured out the iPad charging stations and read while I waited for Sabrina.
Sabrina arrived, a little late but I was reading so I didn't care. We took a taxi home; had a bite to eat; figured out what I was doing the next day and made up the couch as a bed and hit the sheets to get some rest. More tomorrow.