Our trip to Israel was made possible by a gift from an anonymous benefactor. They paid my way. The Texas International Bible Institute helped out with a portion of Carolina’s expenses. And we paid another part with hotel points and airline miles.

Because we were flying on miles, we had to get a bit creative with our itinerary. Flying directly from Abilene to Tel Aviv would have cost too much, so I began looking for intermediate stops that were within our price range. We finally settled on Zurich. I had enough air miles to get us there, and the ticket from Zurich to Tel Aviv was much more reasonable.

One complication was the fact that we would have to leave two days earlier than the group. We quickly saw the advantage in that: we could spend a day in Zurich, arrive in Tel Aviv the night before the group, and be more rested than they when we met up in Israel.

Carolina and I have been to Spain, but not to the rest of Europe. We were pleased to get to see Switzerland, even though we were warned that Zurich is the most expensive city in Europe.

If you ever go, look into purchasing a ZürichCARD. That’s especially true if you’re going to be there several days. The card pays for all municipal transportation (including a neat boat ride on the lake) and gives you discounts to many museums

We didn’t have enough time to do a lot. We walked through the old city, making sure to see the Grossmünster church where Zwingli led the Swiss Reformation (and where they don’t allow photos!), and did the half-hour bus tour. We also discovered that U.S. dollars aren’t accepted anywhere, nor are Euros; be sure and get your Swiss francs! (And make sure your credit card will work… we got into a very awkward, embarrassing situation without acceptable currency and without a working credit card)

Unfortunately, it was cloudy when we were there, so we couldn’t really appreciate the mountains around Zurich. But if you ever get the chance to go, Zurich is worth your time.