We took a long time to come through passport control in arrival in Raleigh/Durham - this was because there were four attendants for US passengers and only one for all other passports. Eventually we were through, and we were pleased to see our three bags had all arrived from Zurich. Cam was waiting for us and it was so lovely to see him. We were an hour late in arriving and well over an hour clearing the airport. Cam was quick to warn us it was hot, and it certain...

The Friday afternoon traffic wasn't too bad as we arrived in Zurich. The only issue we had was that the road authorities were making the most of the summer weather and there was construction work happening on many roads. This included the road our hotel was on - there were benefits in this as well as there was no through traffic so was quieter. We off loaded our bags and checked in then returned the rental car. We had driven some 1956 kilometres in the seventeen ...

We have been privileged to visit Grindelwald a number of times now and it was great to return (www.grindelwald.ch). Grindelwald is a mountain village with views of the Swiss Alps all around with trains, gondola and cable cars heading off in all directions to high in the mountains. We were guests of Nicole (our lovely host daughter from 1999), and met her husband, Christoph and their eleven month old daughter, Mia. They live in a newly built chalet with views from...

We have really enjoyed our five days in Germany. There were a couple of things that really surprised us. One was the number of motorbikes of various types that we saw used. Perhaps this was just because we were in the Black Forest and the roads encouraged holidaymakers and the long week-end drivers. It was not unusual to meet large groups of bikers or for cafes and hotels to have signs out say bikers were welcome. The other thing we noticed was the availability o...

Saturday morning while Peter made the customary visit to the baguette shop I packed up the apartment and we were on our way south by 10 am. We are headed into the centre of the Black Forest, a distance of about 80 kilometres from Sasbachwalden but with many stops it took us all day. Our first stop of the day was at a hardware store - those who know Peter well will know that he loves Bunnings and takes every opportunity to visit. Last week we had walked into a har...