Southern Germany, Switzerland and Italy
 

Hello everyone, we’ve just come back from Europe – Southern Germany, Switzerland and Italy (Munich, Lake Constance (Lindau) Basel, Lausanne, Zurich, Florence and Rome.

It’s amazing that Switzerland and Italy are neighbors yet so different countries and cultures. Though I guess that’s true of many neighboring countries in Europe.

Contrasts – natural scenery in Switzerland and south Germany, green pastures, cute sheep and quaint towns; culture in Italy, medieval towns, cities packed with history and art.

People, like day and night, Italians and the Swiss, it was great to meet the locals and experience these two diverse yet close countries.

Highlights – lake Constance (Lindau is a beautiful town on the lake) and Rome. We took some great tours in Rome of the Ancient City and the Vatican. Went to an outdoor opera and a Jazz concert on the Celian hill in Rome. The baroque churches in Rome are amazing.

The countryside in south Germany is beautiful.

Used public transport in Italy and Switzerland - excellent. We discovered that the modest restaurants in Florence and Rome were the best places to eat. Romans like the “dolce fare niente” (sweet to do nothing). So did we. Passing time in piazzas was wonderful.

Henry James was right, we were momentarily characters in his novels.

Looking forward to reading all about it, Metz, and hoping that you can get to it this week before I have to go back to teaching August 4. :)

Gosh, haven’t had time to breath. Just gotten back from a wedding in the wine country of Southern California. It was amazing, the scenery down there… and the sunsets

There’s for making a good and unintentional connection between Europe and the US.

ttt