Since it’s now 7 PM and I haven’t posted yesterday’s pictures and blog yet, I might as well throw in today’s activities.

The day started well: we lay abed until 9 AM, showered and had toast and juice on the balcony overlooking the castle. I don’t know what we did after that but by 2 PM we were getting hungry and headed for the waterfront. I, Judy knows, we both took a nap!

Not three houses down the hill we found a museum, open from 2 to 4 on Saturday and Sunday. A nice lady, a docent dressed in period clothing, showed us around, but since her English was limited, she enlisted the help of a man who might have been a caretaker. The house was the built in 1711 and was the home and workshop of a cooper – a man who made casks for the wine trade. There were a number of interesting exhibits about Spiez history, all in German but much of it we could guess: the coming of the railroad, auto road and ferry service. Everyday life in Spiez. An original manual wine press. That sort of thing.

As we left, the lady told us she was 81 years old and studying English on the computer – DuoLingo, of course. I told her I used DuoLIngo for Spanish and we had a good laugh.

Finally, down to the dock and an outdoor restaurant where we shared spare ribs and roasted pork. Good, if not expensive.

As we finished lunch, a trolly train, just like the one in Salzburg, pulled up. The lady handed us tickets. “How much?” I asked. She struggled trying to remember her English, “Zhen . . .” I said “Ten?” Using what little German that remains from my half-semester of German from 1965. I only did a half semester due to pneumonia over Christmas break. “Das ist nicht sehr gut” is the phrase I do remember since that is what the professor invariably said when addressing me. That’s the reason I dropped German and not some other course.

But 10 francs later we were on a nice city tour. The driver enjoyed going around traffic circles not once but twice to turn it into a thrill ride.

Jeff called, so we chatted with him while watching the harbor and mountains across the lake. That brought us to 6 PM and the other part of our survival plan: ice cream. You may recall that grocery stores are closed on Sundays here and starvation was a real possibility. By eating breakfast late, pigging out at on a late lunch and topping the whole thing off with ice cream, there’s a good chance we’ll make it.

So now, that’s it, I promise (fingers crossed just in case I weaken). No more blogging until we leave for Vevey on Saturday.