Exciting day today! It started out interesting and calm enough with a lecture on the country and some of its history and customs. Then we left the boat for a walking tour of downtown. First we boarded a bus for a ten minute drive to the tram, which we boarded with billets (tickets) that Steven provided, warning us to carry it with us at all times when riding the tram because, although no one ever checks, it could happen and since we have no identification (passports) with us, we would then be taken to the polizei (police) and he would have to come to bail us out.

We disembarked the tram at the Marktplazt, walked through the local farmer's market, sampled free Swiss cheese one man was selling - "all naturel" - delicious! Up a giant hill to the Munsterplazt, or the monk plaza. The monks, or munsters, began making cheese in the Middle Ages, and now we have, you guessed it, voila! Munster cheese! We walked through to the back of the Gothic church there to an overlook above the Rhine. We gathered together for our final group photo. Then we walked through the church. Once a Roman Catholic church, it was burned down, and the Protestants rebuilt it, but removed all the graves inside. Instead, they kept the markers and put them on the walls.

Fairs or carnivals were set up in the next plaza, Barfusplazt (or Barefoot Plaza, so named for the order of monks living there who walked barefoot all the time. We asked Steven to point out an ATM for us to withdraw some cash for gratuities for our crew and to have a little extra on hand for the next leg of our trip. He pointed us to the Post Office, so off we went. Darrel waited in line and when he got up to it (photo) he inserted his bank card twice, then we figured out that it was out of order. So he waited in the next line. By that time, Steven caught up to us just to see if we were doing okay. Darrel went up to the ATM with Steven, tried his card twice - rejected! So he tried my card - also rejectedL Steven led us to USB bank, and there twice again, rejected! What to do but return to the boat and call the bank.

Darrel had rented an international cell expressly for this trip, but this was our first call on the Droid and it wouldn't go through. He was ready to throw it into the Rhine! Ria came to our rescue by letting us call on her phone. The bank said everything was in order, yes, we had contacted them that we would be out of country, and they said the pin (which he has had forever) was still correct. So back downtown on the trolley we went to the USB. Darrel put his card in the machine, hit all the buttons - rejected! It was then I had an idea, "Try a lesser amount of withdrawal." And sure enough out popped the money! He did it again, and more money! So now we know: there's a limit to the amount you can withdraw in any one transaction, and a limit to the total amount you withdraw per day. Why didn't either of our banks tell us that when we called them??

So now still downtown, we decided to do a little sightseeing on our own. We rode another tram in a complete loop around the city. Steven guaranteed us we would end up right back where we started, but when I saw sheep on the hillside and we started climbing up & up, I was a little worried. The tram stopped, everyone got off, even the conductor. I motioned to him in a circle, and he nodded, so we stayed on the tram. Soon enough, another conductor came aboard and we started down the mountain. Wouldn't it be neat, I thought, if another tram passed and one of our fellow travelers was on it? The very next tram came whizzing by, and there sat MarySue & Richard!

Now the adventure was just about over, but as we approached town, two men in ordinary clothes hopped on and went through the car, asking, "Billet?" Just as Steven had cautioned us, they were checking for tickets. Well, we could produce our tickets, but unfortunately a young woman across the aisle couldn't. She produced her ID and was given a ticket about as long as my arm!

Arriving back on board, we had a little Farewell Party in Connie's room for the Michigan group that flies home tomorrow. Then up to dinner in the restaurant and the menu was a stitch: i.e., Sea Junk Pot on Hideous Green Gruel; or Terror Fish with Guts on Muddy Legumes; or Dracula's Blood Jelly Pie. Afterwards, the Program Directors had a little Halloween Party with after-dinner cordials for us. Everyone dressed in costumes. I wore a witch's hat I bought somewhere with a t-shirt from Wal-Mart that said, "Witch and Famous". Darrel wore a Freddy Kruger mask with straws sticking out of the nostrils. Steven was a mummy, Usama was a crazy woman, and Ria was a glow-worm with glow sticks hanging all around her that she was handed out to everyone, diminishing her costume bit by bit. Even the Captain got into the fun in a Screaming Ghost mask. I tried a bit of blueberry schnapps, but too sweet. Time to finish packing. We are the last to leave the boat tomorrow, but still we have to have our bags out in the hall and leave our cabins by 8 a.m. so the next group can board.

What fun it has been - and more is in store for us in Lucerne!

TOMORROW: Lucerne, Switzerland