August 29, 2018

Today I traveled by train from Lenzburg to Geneva (247 km) and back. I bought a pre-used camera on the internet and went to Geneva to get it. The picture shows the bridge in Geneva where the Lake Leman ends and the Rhone River starts.

August 27, 2018

Today Karl and Ester drove us around Lake Constance (185 km). It was a three-country drive. We started in Switzerland, drove through Austria and Germany to come back to Switzerland. The picture was taken at the farthest point away from St. Gallen in Ludwigshafen in Germany. It shows one of the parts of Lake Constance which is called Lake Überlingen.

August 26, 2018

Tonight Thomas, Katharina's brother, drove us up the hills in Appenzell to the Restaurant Leimensteig (15 km) where we had dinner with a view. The picture shows the view to the Alpstein mountains with Mt. Säntis as the highest peak.

August 23, 2018

Today we visited together with Karl and Ester the Sand Sculptures Festival and the Beach Volleyball Tournament in Rorschach (13 km). A few moments later it started to rain. But nobody complained. The rain is needed after a long hot and try summer.

August 20, 2018

Today I went hiking with my buddies Karl, Hans, and Paul. We did a hike I did last time about 45 years ago. The tour was the following: Brülisau, Plattenbödeli, Bollenwees, Saxerlücke, Staubern, Hoher Kasten, Brülisau. Brülisau is about 24 km away from St. Gallen. The length of the hike was 18 km. The walking time was about 5 hours. The picture shows the Hohen Kasten about 2 hours before we reached it. 45 years ago the hike was easier to do. But I did it again now!

August 19, 2018

Tonight we hiked up the Freundenberg. The way starts just behind our house and leads up the hill on a staircase. In about 20 minutes we were up on the hill and had a nice view over the town. After an ice cream with a view, we hiked down on another staircase which led directly to the monastery district. On the way, I made the attached picture of the monastery district with the towers of the cathedral and the spire of the Protestant church and some lights of the city in the background.

August 18, 2018

Tonight we went again to the St. Gallen Festival. We had again some good food. Tonight there were about three times as much people in town as yesterday. I didn't like to always squeeze through this mass of people. Therefore we searched some lonelier places as at the cathedral. And we went home before midnight.

August 17, 2018

Today was the St. Gallen Festival. In the downtown area were a lot of food stalls and music stages built up. The picture shows the stage of the band «Tears for Beers». They played nice rock and blues music.

August 15, 2018

Today our daughter Jennifer came to visit us. Together we visited the town of Appenzell (20 km). We didn't know that there is a holiday in the Catholic regions as Appenzell is one. Today they celebrated Mary's Ascension. I think therefore there are so many flags flying at the town hall building.

August 14, 2018

Today we traveled by train from St. Gallen to Dietikon (97 km). We had to buy some small things for our RV and this shop here is the best we found in Switzerland so far. When we arrived at the train station in St. Gallen an acrobatic show was going on. The train station was renovated and now they start the reopening with some activities and parties.

August 5, 2018

Today we met Katharina's brother Thomas to dinner in Rorschach (12 km). This is the town where we grew up. After dinner, we walked at the shore of Lake Constance. The picture shows the port of Rorschach and the Kornhaus (grain storage from 1748) at sunset.

August 1, 2018

Today we went to the Reuss River in Niederwil (Gnadental) to swim. It is unusually hot in Switzerland (35 °C) even horses go swimming. And hundreds of people let them drifting down the river in their rubber boats. Since the hot weather is here for weeks now the woods and the meadows are very dry. The government, therefore, banned fireworks and bonfires for the National Holiday of today. This was my first National Holiday without fireworks and bonfires. It was a weird feeling.