Date: December 25th, 2008
We were flying on the 25th, so that could maximize the number of days we get to spend in Europe. There was hardly any crowd at SFO airport. For a change we were not rushing to our flight, we were at the gate 2 hrs before the departure time ( never happens to us). So we took some pictures, made some calls and wished folks Merry Christmas. It was raining heavily in SFO, here is a picture taken an hour before our flight took off
Even though we on 25th Morning we did not get in to Frankfurt till 26th afternoon, with time difference and flight connections. Our Flight was American Airline, SFO to Chicago and Chicago to Frankfurt. Both flights went well, our luggage arrived, we cleared customs with no issue. Got out rental car, with winter tires and GPS.
Our plan for Day 1 was drive to Zurich. We got in the car, put our Zurich address in the GPS and we started our 10 day trip. Driving in Germany was a great experience, the roads are very well kept, no tolls and everyone drives on or above the speed limit.
This being our first day we decided to take it slow, took couple of bre
aks in German Rest Areas, ate the Christmas cake I baked at home (that we never got a chance to eat at home).
The picture on the right was taken during one of the rest stops, it shows temperature of 3 Celsius, both Sherry and I were so cold (being in San Francisco has spoiled us you see). Little did we know then that 3 Celsius was going to be one of our warmer days.
As we crossed the German/Swiss border our passports were examined and we had to pay toll. Tolls in Switzerland – There is a one time fee of 40 CHF, and you are given a sticker that you stick on the windshield of the car. This sticker is valid for a year. There is no way you can get one for a month, 6 months. So we ended up getting a sticker for the whole year (lucky are those drivers who get to rent this car again for the next year. )
We got to Zurich around 8.30 PM, checked into a Courtyard in Zurich, had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant (we were cold and tired to venture out), and we called it a day.
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