A Surprise Ending

I can't remember the route we took, but Switzerland is as beautiful and friendly as it's portrayed. I remember Lake Lugano, which lends it's name to seperate cities in both Italy and Switzerland. I've already described the San Gottardo Pass in my blog called The Alps. We were in Zermatt at the base of the Matterhorn. These are all along the border of the two countries. But, the route itself is not in my memory. G and his Mother planned that.

I'm sure of Bern, Switzerland. That is where I found a beautiful pair of shoes. I hadn't bought very much for myself. Most of my purchases were for baby J, or gifts for my family stateside. I couldn't resist the reddish, golden brown suade high heel shoes though. Since we were coming to the end of our trip, I felt it was ok to spend something on me. The only other thing I'd bought was for the home I hoped to have some day. It was two small picures using straw to design a mosaic scene of Switzerland. They are stamped, "Rattenberg-Tirol"

Bern is known for the Clock Tower that juts out into the street. It has an arch that can be driven through at it's base and the tower rises several stories above the street. Every hour the clock puts on a show of Bears and Jesters, Knights and a rooster to announce the time. Because of the River Aare and the mountains, Bern is full of curved and winding streets. Everything a Swiss city is suppose to be.

I remember three cities best. Besides, Bern, I remember Luzern (Lucerne) and Zurich. My most lasting impression of Switzerland was of mountains and lakes. Villages in the montains and the cities shared the valley's with lakes or rivers. I remember where one of the roads we were on turned into a long overland bridge that took us from one mountain top to another. There were several of these, but this particular one was so long and so high, all we could see below were clouds. One of the towns we stopped in had a track going almost vertically up the side of a mountain, and what looked like tram cars staggered on top of each other to climb the steep incline. I wanted to ride to the top, but they didn't. I also wanted to ride one of the suspended cable cars across to another mountain. That almost happened. Till R.B. got to the line and saw how much the car was swaying. Everytime they didn't want to do something, they made me feel like I was endangering baby J's life by even suggesting it. For the sake of peace, and after being given so much flak over my hissy fit in Florence, I always backed down.

Our trip was coming to an end. Once we'd crossed Switzerland, it would be a short run back to Siegelbach, Germany. That is, it would have been if another "DRAMA" hadn't been thrust upon us.

We were in Germany, on the Autobahn and scooting right along when we smelled smoke. It got worse very quickly and we realized it was coming from our own engine. Just ahead was a rest area and G made the decision to try to get to it before stopping. A busy Autobahn is not a good place to be stranded. A tour bus pulled along side of us and everyone was shouting from the windows and pointing at our car. G made it to the rest area and the bus followed us in. The smoke had made its way into the back seat and the baby was passed to me in front. G had pulled over as soon as we were clear of the road and in the rest area. The bus pulled on in and away from our car. Everyone already in the rest area was running to move their cars as far away as possible from us. There must have been a half dozen languages all shouting at once. As soon as the car stopped, I was out and ran with my son. B.B. was right behind be at first. Then she realized her Mother and Brother hadn't followed. R.B. was still in the car and throwing things out of the car. G was trying to get the suitcases off the luggage rack on top. By now there were flames shooting from the back of the car. R.B. was forced to get out, but she stayed to help G with the suitcses. B.B. had run back to help. They screamed at her to stay back. They were throwing things as far as they could and B.B. started pulling things back further. Meanwhile the bus driver had arrived with a fire extinguisher and was spraying foam on the engine compartment whos hood had popped open. Someone else arrived with a second extinguisher. They emptied both on the engine, but the fire had gotten to the inside of the car and the seats were burning. We had attracted quite a crowd, but no one else came near. Because of the language barrier, the only word that sank into my numbed mind was, "BOOM" Everyone was trying to get G and R.B. away before there was an explosion. It didn't explode though. It just kept burning. They had pulled all of our belongings over to where I had sunk down to the ground holding J. Everything had been saved except the car. We were safe, but stranded over a hundred miles from our apartment. The bus driver and his passengers were willing to take us to the next town, but didn't have room for our things. I don't even know what nationality they were, but we could have been in a real mess without them. G was able to make him understand that what he wanted was for them to notify an American Army base that was nearby, and have them come to get us and our things. We spread a blanket out on the ground and there we waited for help while our car burned itself out, and everything we had smelled like smoke.

Our trip of a lifetime had ended in a way we never could have imagined.