Zug and Baar (6/4)

 The “hotel” in Zurich couldn’t accommodate me another night, so . . . I left.  Actually, it all worked out OK.  After my coffee and croissant, I finished packing up, took my suitcase to the train station, and stowed it in a locker. That left me free to walk around the old part of town. I’d see it from afar via the boat ride yesterday, and had walked through when I went to the Grossmünster and the Fraümunster, but I hadn’t really walked into the area. I walked quite a ways – at least to the Zwingli statue and a bit beyond. Then I turned around and went back – and enroute, found a skateboarding shop where I was able to satisfy a request from Brendan. Hurrah! By that time, it was lunchtime.  I sat at an outdoor café and had a dish that was wonderful – a lot of cheese (the kind they use for raclette) over thinly sliced ham over toast. Yum! It tasted like comfort food, and I’m wondering if it is thought of that way here.

Back at the train station, I bought a ticket to Zug and paid some 64 francs, which struck me as a lot of money for what I assumed was a short trip to Zug (described as a medieval city on the edge of a lake). When the conductor came to take my ticket, she said I had paid way too much, and made arrangements for me to be reimbursed.  I have no idea what I did when buying the ticket, but the ticket I got was to a completely different part of Switzerland.  I got off at Zug, got the reimbursement from train personnel, and then discovered that my reservation for tonight was not in Zug at all, but in a nearby town – Baar -  a short train ride away. The train employee seemed dismayed that I had made not one, but two mistakes in my travels – which did not make me feel great about it all. So, I got on another train for a 2 or 3 minute ride – and the schlepped my suitcase another mile in the HEAT! As I walked, it became clear that it was going to rain – that humidity that bursts into a rain storm. Fortunately, the rain waited until after I arrived at my “hotel.” Actually, I am at a conference center, and I have one bed in a 3-bed room with a bathroom down the hall. (I have the room by myself.)

So I left my stuff and made my way to the bus stop in front of the conference center.  Just as I got to the (covered) bus stop, it started to pour.  Immediately, it was cooler, which was welcome, but it rained pretty hard.  I got on the bus and went the short distance to Zug.  When the bus got there, I was confused because it seemed like a fairly modern city. But as we approached the lake, I began to see the older buildings, and I got out of the bus. (Yes, I had a raincoat with a hood.) I walked around, looking at the buildings, and finally saw a church – St. Michael’s – up on top of a hill overlooking the lake.  I decided to go there to see the sanctuary, and when I arrived, an organist was practicing. It’s a beautiful sanctuary, and I had my own private little organ concert while the rain fell outside. About a half hour later, I left the sanctuary to find that the rain had stopped. So, I continued to walk through the old part of Zug and over to the lake.  The lake is beautiful, with mountains at one end. Other people began to come out of hiding to enjoy the lake shore, as well.  It looks as if Zug is a resort community or a wealthy enclave. Very pretty. I found a restaurant with a covered patio on the lakeshore.  It didn’t matter to me what kind of food, as long as I could look at the lake.  It was Italian, and I ended up with a gorgonzola pizza that was delicious! I really enjoyed the view – AND the food! Then I made my way back to the bus stop and ultimately, to the conference center.

A couple of things have occurred to me throughout the trip.  One is swimming rafts in lakes.  When I was a kid in Michigan, we used to swim in lakes all the time. There was always a raft made of oil drums in the water, with a platform on top.  I haven’t thought of those rafts in years, but I used to love swimming out to them and lying on the rafts, or jumping off of them if the water was deep enough around them.  I’ve seen a number of swimming rafts on this trip, and they’ve brought back memories.  I guess I just haven’t been around freshwater lakes in MANY years! Everywhere I see them, they look so inviting!

The other is something I saw last fall in Germany, and am seeing again here and in Munich – crutches made really differently than we make them. In fact, I’ve seen more older adults with crutches than with walkers. And I’ve seen people clearly recovering from accidents who have the same kind of crutches.  They are poles that run from the ground to about the middle of the upper arm, where there is a band of steel that goes most of the way around the arm. Then there is a handle – like the handle on bicycle handlebars – that the person grasps. Made this way, the crutches would be unlikely to do any damage, as ours do if we put weight on them at the underarm.  I’m really impressed with these crutches, and I wonder why we don’t make them that way in the U.S.. It almost makes me want to bring a pair home with me to be ready when and if I need them.

I hope to get a good night’s sleep tonight to be ready for whatever comes up tomorrow!