It is Tuesday, 22 November - I have to get up very early to leave for Dubai airport. I say my farewells to Basma - who got up especially - wave goodbye to the boys who are still asleep... and off I drive...
No drama at the car hire - I even find the correct parking level. I go to Emirates check-in and go through to the e-gate - can't figure out how to work it, so have to see the man in charge. I get through ok and wonder around the busy departure hall.
The flight is full and Hamdulillah uneventful; I pop my pill and sleep. I also manage to watch 'The Smurfs'... - I love the smurfs!!
We get to Zurich and have to circle a couple of times - it is very foggy and the plane can't land. Finally after about 3 circles, we can land... in foggy and cold Switzerland - it is 1C @ 3p.m.! BRRRR.....
I collect my luggage, buy my train ticket and have a hot coffee and a sandwich....not sure why I am hungry, just had breakfast on the plane....
The train takes 1 hour and then the ferry across the Lake of Constance is 1/2 hour. It is foggy everywhere and very cold! Thank goodness did I buy boots and a winter-coat in Dubai!
My first week at my parents is a very quiet week - I need to adjust to my new environment and the climate. I sleep in, we go for walks, into town for some shopping - I just relax. My mom is off to a meditation weekend away - so my dad and I have some quality time together!
Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance (the Bodensee) in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria. In the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Friedrichshafen has a population of c. 58,000.
Friedrichshafen served the Nazis as a resort for workers. The presence of Zeppelin, Maybach, Dornier, and Zahnradfabrik also made it an important industrial center for Germany during World War II. Between 1942 and 1945, these factories employed hundreds of concentration camp prisoners from Dachau and Dora-Mittelbau. The prisoners were also used to dig underground tunnels near Friedrichshafen to protect production sites from the repeated bombing.
Between June 1943 and February 1945, the city was the site for eleven Allied bombing attacks. The most serious took place on April 28, 1944, and destroyed most of the old town center. Approximately two-thirds of the city was destroyed over the course of the war.
Following World War II, Friedrichshafen was part of the French occupation zone before its incorporation into Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. The German aeronautics industry was again banned for many years after the war, and companies again failed or shifted production.
Lake Constance (Bodensee) is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee ("upper lake"), the Untersee ("lower lake"), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.
The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps. The Rhine flows into it from the south following the Austro-Swiss frontier.
Lake of Constance = Bodensee
A nice winterly walk to 'Berg'... uphill.
Another nice, long walk with my dad....
S & D
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