Switzerland and Italy Trip 2015

We finally arrived in Bern, Switzerland via Chicago, Istanbul and Milan and Zurich. After travelling for approximately 25 hours, we were ready for a good sleep, which we got. Thanks to our friend, June, we were able to leave our car at the retirement home where she lives, close to O’Hare, and used our first Uber driver to get us to the airport . . . nice driver, car and price.

 After arriving in Istanbul, we were reminded again how diverse the world is. The airport was bustling with people of many nations. You might wonder why on earth we went to Istanbul on the way to Italy. To save money, would be the answer. It seems that other Americans were thinking the same thing because we met quite a few on our flight on Turkish Airlines. We have flown them several times and the service, food and flights are always very well done.

 When we arrived in Milan, the fun started because we were not sure how to get to our first Airbnb, not far from the airport, but we finally found a taxi who took us right there without a problem. Thank the Lord for Google earth so, in our heads, we were familiar with the surrounding area, street names and landmarks and were able to give him clues.

 We stayed in an apartment in a home which was very nice and clean. Even though the host doesn’t have to supply breakfast, a huge amount of various packaged breakfast items were provided for us. The host then took us to the train station in a nearby town. Since it was a weekend, no one was working the ticket counter and only ticket machines were available. Various friendly Italians helped us out and we started on our journey to Bern via Porta Garibaldi station in Milan, which was the wrong way. But we ran into an English- speaking Trenitalia agent who put us literally on the right track. The Lord places these people in your path just when you need them.

The train took us to the border and then we changed to a Swiss train.  It was a school holiday weekend here so the train was packed so we ended up standing in the space between cars. As we are travelling along around the Lake Como area, which is very mountainous, the train is swaying and weaving and Roger is getting greener by the minute. Every now and then, in situations like this, his tendency for car sickness looms its ugly head and today was the day. We were able to get him to sit on the step and after awhile he was back to normal. I won’t tell what thoughts, as a nurse were going through my head while this was happening but all turned out well. On this train, we did meet a Christian Indian businessman who was traveling to Zurich. We spent a large part of the trip talking about his business and travels all over the world. Interesting!

After changing trains in Zurich, we arrived about 8 p.m. We found the bus to our next Airbnb place without too much of a problem and didn’t end up getting lost finding her house. We again have our own little studio apartment and will be here for two nights.

We are hoping to go to Langnau, Switzerland tomorrow to check on the area from where some of my ancestors came.