Thursday, 4 May

Lights came on in the airplane cabin about an hour and a half before our scheduled landing at 7:40. Time for yogurt for breakfast but because of anticipated turbulence, no coffee 🙁 I received a text from our chauffeur, Nicole, that she was running late because of traffic. Dolora and I waited about 20 minutes to get through passport control. Nicole was able to met us as we cleared customs.

Nicole is a good friend that I met while hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2017. Dolora and I had visited Nicole and her friend Frank back in 2019 and I have been scuba diving with Nicole in Egypt. We chatted while Dolora and I enjoyed that long awaited coffee at the airport. Nicole made it a little bit of an adventure finding her car, “The Frog”, but it was nearby. Out of the airport and to Kaufbeuren where Dolora and I are staying for a couple of days. Rush hour was over so traffic moved well.

We stopped at the grocery store to pick up items for a late breakfast and for dinner. We enjoyed breakfast of breads with cheese and some homemade jelly while catching up. It was about a 3 mile walk up the Wertach river to a lake with a small hydroelectric station and a fish ladder. There were flowers and a bee motel along the way. It was a beautiful 70 degree afternoon with many people walking dogs, fishing and kayaking in the lake.

After our walk, Nicole made a delicious dinner of potatoes and eggs with gravy, a meal from her family recipe. A few text messages were exchanged with Greg back home. More chatting after dinner and breakfast plans were finalized. Nicole was off to Frank’s apartment for the night while Dolora and I have the use of her apartment. Early to bed to help adjust to the six hour time change.

Tomorrow we plan to go on a morning hike after breakfast with Nicole and Frank. The weather forecast for the afternoon is not looking to good, warm but possibly wet.