Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with the Campbells

It is time to get caught up on the blogging!  We have had guests or been on vacation almost non-stop since mid-April, so I am quite behind.  I have about a week until our next guest comes and Brian is currently in Mankato, Minnesota for work so I have a lot of alone time to work on the blog for the rest of the week.  I will only put up a few pictures here, but you can check out our Share site (http://ponsteinpictures.shutterfly.com/) for more pictures of our adventures.  If you'd like to become a member to see when I update the site, let me know and I'll add you.

On May 21, Laura and Ben Campbell arrived in Friedrichshafen to spend almost 2 weeks with us.  This was the first time either of them had been in Germany!  Brian took some vacation time while they were here and it was the Easter holiday, so it was wonderful to have a bit of a break from normal life and be able to spend it with such great friends!

The day they arrived, we hung out in Friedrichshafen since Brian was working and we still had German class.  We did manage to stumble across a market in town and got some yummy ice cream in the evening to celebrate some birthdays back home.

The next day, Brian didn't have to work so we made our way toward Switzerland.  We made a stop at the Hohentwiel Fortress just before leaving Germany since Brian had never been there before.  It was a beautiful day with great views of the surrounding area.  We had a great time exploring and having a picnic lunch in the fortress.  We then headed to Rhein Falls in Switzerland.  This was another first for both of them since neither of them had been in Switzerland before!

On Saturday, we headed to Austria (another first for both of them!) and went to the top of Pfaender.  Brian and Ben climbed the mountain and Laura and I took the cable car.  I think our ride was much more enjoyable!  We had dinner at the top of the mountain and then took our respected ways down the mountain.

Sunday was Easter, so we kind of hung low for the day, but did work on making a snack for church in the evening.  I tried something new which was quite fun to make.  They are called Resurrection Rolls because the marshmallow you put inside the crescent roll disappears and makes the end product look like an empty tomb.  We had quite a lot of fun making them and watching them bake.  Check out our Share site for a movie that Brian took of us watching them bake.

We then spent the next week in Italy which I will write about in future blogs.  The following Monday, we went to Neuschwanstein on their last full day with us.  This is someplace that Laura has always wanted to go, so it was fun to go with her!  I did the castle tour again with them which was fun since it had been a year and a half since I had done it last.

Stay tuned for more about our trip to Italy, our latest visitor, Joel, and our trip to Copenhagen!