Hey all! I hope that you had a wonderful weekend! Ours was pretty low-key... We stayed pretty close to home considering that Brian didn't feel very well this weekend. We did take a nice walk downtown on Saturday, and it was such a clear day that you could see the Alps across the lake... Gorgeous! :) I also found that walking downtown from our new apartment is much more scenic than the walk from our old apartment... From our new apartment, we have a trail that runs next to the lake, and it takes you all the way into the downtown area. It definitely makes the 40 minute walk downtown a little easier. :) Of course, Brian and I found the trail unintentionally, considering that we didn't actually intend to walk downtown on Saturday. In fact, our original plan was to take the train (which has a stop near our apartment). However, we weren't quite fast enough for it... Brian was trying to figure out how to work the ticket machine at the train stop when the train pulled up. By the time Brian figured the machine out, and started putting money in, the train pulled away... Nice! :) Needless to say, the next train wasn't scheduled to arrive for another hour, so instead of waiting, we took advantage of the nice weather and walked downtown. And that's pretty much how we ended up finding the new, scenic, walking trail! :) Here's a few pictures of the view...
This is a better picture of the view from our apartment's balcony... I love waking up to this every morning! :)
Brian with the Alps in the distance...
That's Friedrichshafen in the distance...
On Sunday, I went to visit Val in the hospital. She's doing quite well, considering she just had a major surgery. She is, however, getting very anxious to get out of the hospital so she can go home. :) The trip to the hospital was quite an experience though... It definitely wasn't like a hospital in the U.S. (and believe me, our family has seen its fair share of hospitals over the past few years...). In my opinion, the hospitals in the U.S. seem to be more inviting. I typically feel comfortable when walking into a hospital in the U.S. (well, as comfortable as you can possibly be when walking into a hospital... :))... They also tend to be decorated nicely and the atmosphere just seems more calm. On the other hand, I walked into the hospital here and it was the complete opposite of what you typically find in the U.S. The lobby was also the cafeteria, so it was extremely noisy. And, I have to say, that I was quite surprised at the amount of people sitting in the cafeteria area and all of the socializing that was taking place. After a slight communication barrier between me and the receptionist, I was finally able to locate Val's room. As I stepped into the elevator, I was suddenly very nervous... The inside of the elevator was all steel and somewhat intimidating. When we got to the correct floor, I stepped out and was immediately taken aback at how unfriendly the place seemed. It was very clinical looking... There was no bright, cheery decor that you would typically find in a U.S. hospital. It had a very sterile, rigid, clinical feel to it, and I immediately wanted to turn around and go back downstairs... :) But, I didn't, and after walking down a hall that felt as if it would never end, I finally found Val's room. I was caught slightly off guard when I walked into the room. I realized that Val was sharing the room with two other women and there were no curtains hanging to seperate the different beds... That just seemed strange to me that they should have no privacy. I did eventually find out that the type of room you are in depends on your insurance coverage... If you have public health insurance, then you get placed into a room such as that one. But, if you have private health insurance, then you get placed into your own room on another floor. Interesting.... Overall, the visit went well... Val was very happy that I dropped by and it was nice to see her again... She seems to be doing quite well, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that she continues to progress like she is. Seeing that she's going to be in there for at least another week, I figure I'll drop into see her a few more times.
Yesterday, I managed to stay quite busy. I met Eva downtown and we chatted and caught up over a coffee at Cafe Aran... yum! :) We then attempted to take a walk down by the lake because it was such a clear day and the views of the Alps were beautiful. However, once we got started, we quickly realized that it was chillier than we thought, so we decided not to go any further. :) We'll just wait until the weather gets a little more warmer! :)
Well, on that note, I have to get ready to go rock climbing with Brian and Maike... yay! I hope you're having a great Tuesday! Miss you much!
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