From where...To where?

This post was written on June 8, but not posted until June 11, due to inadequate

internet connection capability. I'll try to get back on some sort of schedule soon.

We are currently in Rapallo, Italy....

Where does one come from? And where is one going? Two questions that are often at the heart of my experience in this first week of sabbatical leave.

The first question helped me know that I will be returning to Switzerland at some time in my life. At least I hope so. Those who have been there told me that I would love it, and they were right. Not just the mountains and the lakes, the valleys and the beautiful homes and farm fields with the Brown Swiss and, I might guess, the Simmental cattle unknowingly ringing the bells hanging around their necks. Much more than that. I came to appreciate the friendliness of the people, evenif they weren’t comfortable speaking English. I kept remining them that my Sweizerdeutch (Swiss Germam) was worse! I had hoped to find some family connections during this trip, and I still might. We discovered a restaurant own by a Klossner family just outside the small village of Diemtigen where my grandfather was born. I don’t know if we are related, the stained glass family crest in one of their windows was the same. Chris and I had a wonderful dinner with the Klossner young people who first found me by the sign outside the church in Punta Gorda way back in the spring of 2004. We area looking into the family connection there, too, but even if we are not officially related, we have connected. They promised to come back to Punta Gorda – soon, I hope! There is still so much to see in this small country. We need to visit east and west, and back to Frutigen and that region. Perhaps even with our children and grandchildren!

To know where we go, you must meet Mabel. Mabel is our GPS system. Her full name is Mable Garmin, and she has taken us in some interesting directions in our travels. Our first day, traveling from Zurich to Luzern and then to Frutigen, I was surprised that she directed me to travel on all kinds of roads that paralleled the “Motorway,” but never let me drive on it. It was a leisurely 2½ hour trip with absolutely beautiful views that got us to our hotel by 4:30. We even had to turn around and then u-turn to get down this driveway-like road that took us through what seemed to be some farmer’s path to his house. You should have seen the look on the woman’s face that seemed to say, “Who are YOU, and what are you DOING on this road?” We later found out the trip should have taken us 1¼ hours and that I had accidentally set the system to “Pedestrian” and not “Automobile” so we avoided all the “fast ways!” Today, we wound our way to Italy over switchbacks and narrow mountain roads following Mabel’s directions, only to get near the top and find the last pass over the Alps was still closed! So we re-traced our path to the bottom over those same narrow, switchbacks, and Mabel found us another route that made us go nearly as wacky with narrow switchbacks. But I became a pro at the mountain driving with my manual transmission car! (Of course I must admit that neither Chris nor I saw the big sign at the floor of the valley that showed motorists that the pass was closed! We are now in Tremezzo, Italy, overlooking Lake Como and the village of Bellagio.

It is our 35th anniversary today, and I am so blessed to have a partner in life, in love, and in travel like Chris. She centers me and she brings so much joy into my life. Happy Anniversary my love…This year… on Lake Como….next year….????