Ladies Night

Tonight my church had a ladies friendship dinner and I was able to sit with my new friends, some of whom are deaf. I finally am able to use my many years of American Sign language I had in Jr. High and High School.  This was our theme.

The decorations were brought from all different countries, courtesy of yours truly.

This is Miriam.  She can't hear or speak, so I'm learning a lot from her because I can't cheat!

I wore my traditional dress (and hair) as part of the decorations!

This is the group.  The two signing are deaf.  The rest of us can hear.

Lindau on Bodensee

I visited a new location on my layover this week in Munich. . .

. . .with my new friend, Suzie, a flight attendant of 30 years.  Not only did I appreciate the company, but she also treated me to breakfast every morning because she had gold status at the hotel we were staying at.  I felt pretty spoiled!

There was a lighthouse there!

This blimp kept flying overhead.  I bet it offers an incredible view of the lake & surrounding villages.

We sat and enjoyed the view at a cafe. . .

. . .and I enjoyed a "Bodensee" Eis Becher (Ice cream Parfait)

While enjoying my ice cream, I felt I needed to climb up to the top of the lighthouse, so I did.

Inside each stair level were paintings on the wall of the history of Bodensee and Lindau

The view was definitely worth the climb!

This was a funky house. . .the paint job matched the flower boxes.  The fish hanging outside was cool, too!  It was some sort of gallery, but closed the day we were there.

These two churches were built side by side. . .one for Evangelicals and one for Catholics.

This organ was inside the Evangelical one.  I also loved the ceiling, which had these all over it.

200 year old pews

This was inside the Catholic church & their organ

It was a lot more gaudy, not to my liking.

 This tower, which held prisoners, had Rapunzel's braid hanging out of a window!  Funny!

 It was a great day.  Beautiful weather and great company.

Missing Montana

While I was working a trip to Munich, my friends in Montana were celebrating our pastor and his wife on their retirement from 40+ years in ministering to our church.  I tried so hard to get there, but it never worked out.  I had the chance to listen to the farewell service online, but it's just not the same.  So, here's some of my "framily" from Montana that I'm missing this week.

I'm so thankful I got to see them earlier this summer.  

Tierpark Hellabrunn (Zoo in Munich)

I've had the great privilege this month of having longer layovers on my flights to Munich. That hardly ever happens anymore.  This past layover, I went to the zoo!  It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed seeing so many of God's fun creatures all in one place.  

My friends own a Bison ranch in Montana.  This one is for you, Lyle and Carla!

This guy climbed up on the telephone pole right as I was heading into a building.  Good timing!

I was actually quite impressed with their "aquarium" exhibits.  They even had some sharks!

This one's for my nieces.  It's their favorite zoo animal. . .or it was last time I checked!

I loved this guys face!

The elephant house was under construction, but you could still see them from a distance.

The Arctic House was under construction, too, but they had some great lookin' penguins!

This guy looked too hot.

This little goat got stuck and couldn't figure out how to get his legs in the right place.  Mama had to come nudge him along.

This guy was my lunch companion.

This bird aviary was HUGE!!  I was very impressed.  See that tiny little red speck on the tree?

That's this guy. . .from a distance!

Nice visit!  I didn't get to see a whole lot of the big cats because they were hiding/sleeping, which was a bummer, but not a bad choice for things to do on a layover!