Leaving Switzerland

Olgi is very sad when I tell her of my dilemma, she says she will miss me very, very much if I decide to go. Rosemary too, says she is sad that I may go home, and says that I must visit her home in Dornbirn, which is just over the border in Austria, before I go.

Got a postcard from Eugen - he is holidaying in Pompeii! The friend he is staying with in Holland is a steward on KLM Dutch airlines - so I expect Eugen got a cheap flight ..... ;-)

Whilst sitting outside the Neugasse café, an American boy came to ask if I was ‘the English girl’ lol! We chatted and he told me about his travels. His father is in the American Airforce and they are stationed in Tripoli - he has invited me to visit him there........ I am beginning to get itchy feet myself and I’m now getting quite excited about Jenny’s idea of travelling around the world. So I have written back and told her that I am all for it. The letters flow fast and furious between us as we make plans, so now I know for sure that I must go back to London to work, save and plan.........

As word gets around that I will soon be leaving, life starts to get quite hectic- saying goodbye was never so much fun lol! I will miss everybody, but I feel quite excited about our travelling plans and going back to London. I have decided that I am going to get a 9-5 job and live independently - no more shift work and being tied to the job.........Jenny has two friends, Pat & Dickie, who have a flat in Crouch End and have a spare room to rent - so that’s the accommodation sorted then!

My last month’s wages will have to pay for my plane ticket, which I have booked at the local travel agents. Freidel, Eugen’s sister wants me to go over to see her in Schaffhausen. She met me at the station and I spent a most pleasant day with her family, we drove over to Stein am Rein, which has the most beautifully decorated buildings. Whilst I was waiting at the station for my train back to St Gallen, Friedel said she’d had a long talk with Eugen about me, but he said he just wasn’t ready to settle down yet - well I knew that, and I feel horribly embarrassed that they are talking about me like this, although I understand how much they would like to keep Eugen at home........

Frau Niederer is very sad that I am going home, she doesn’t speak a word of English, but Friedel says that her mother would like to spend the day with me before I go home. There is an Exhibition just on the outskirts of St Gallen, so wehave decided to go there. Frau Niederer is such a cheerful person that not being able to converse very well doesn’t seem to matter, we have a very jolly day together, she sends off a card to Eugen, but puts it from the both of us.........

Frau Geiger and her friend took me out to sample the Swiss delicacy Cheese Fondue, she says we must drink white wine with the fondue as it helps to prevent indigestion. I have never been a great one for drink and barely managed to drink one glass from the bottle that Frau Geiger ordered - but she had no difficulty in finishing off the rest and more, boy could Frau Geiger and her friend put away the ol’ vino!  And she is so funny when she's feeling a bit tipsey lol!

Well as it turned out, I seemed to spend a lot of time at the Travel Agents changing the date of my flight home. Frau Geiger has gone on holiday and Hans-Uli wants me to stay on until she gets back, then Maria went home to Italy as a relative was ill. She was only expected to be a couple of weeks, but it turned out to be a month, consequently, I had to keep going off to the Rathaus to extend my work permit for a little bit longer and to the Travel Agents to change my flight - I ended up staying another two months!

Eventually, I managed to get a definite booking for my flight home - then right at the last minute - Eugen rang to say why didn’t I go by train and stop off in Holland and then catch the boat from The Hague?   So off to the Travel Agents again to change everything!  Luckily, the young man in there was very helpful and didn't seem to mind all the chopping and changing, he agrees that it will be far more interesting to go overland by train as I will be passing through various Countries.  As it happened, doing it this way was much cheaper than flying home, it also seemed like much more fun and I decided to stop off in Paris too, and meet up with my friend Janet, who has been working there as an Au Pair. She is very excited by my plans and is looking forward to us meeting up again - she says she has lots to tell me............