Since I get your emails occasionally, I wonder why I don't get more info on other things like this tour.
I'm one of the Illinois Zeissets and haven't had the opportunity to get to any family reunions do to late notices, no notices, and having other pressing business.
I do hope get to one of the reunion gatherings if I get the notices early enough to plan it in to our schedules.
Its good hearing from you.
 
Cheers,
Charles H. Zeisset, Sr.
Trenton, Illinois

We have a Chuck Zeisset in East Alton, Ill, on our mailing list. If that is not you, or your address has changed, please e-mail your address information to me at pzeisset@earthlink.net.
We would be happy to have Illinois Zeissets join us on the reunion tour to Germany. Many of the ancestral sites we will be visiting are yours too, and we will be meeting German Zeissets as well.

My name is Charles H. Zeisset of Trenton, Illinois, and have a son Charles, Jr. who goes by Chuck, he lives in Highland, Illinois.
It would be too late to make plans for a tour as we winter in at McAllen, TX all winter.
I would like any info on the German Zeissets and any plans for a summer reunion.
Thanks,
CZ

To Charles H. Zeisset,
 
As the keeper of the mailing list, I'd appreciate having both your email address and your street address so you can be informed of future reunions. This bulletin board doesn't reveal your address. The Germany trip in August 2006 will be the 2006 Reunion, so presumably 2008 will be the next one.
If there are other relatives who ought to be on our list, please let me know.
Ray Zeisset
_rzeisset@aol.com_ (mailto:rzeisset@aol.com)

Will do.....................CZ

In answer to one of your questions, yes, each of our hotel rooms in Germany will have a private bath.

Loretta and I learned details such as this in our visit with the tour leader, John Ruth, and the head of Tourmagination, Wilmer Martin, May 16.

Any other questions?

We have a question. Should one use a credit card while on the Germany Tour? Is there any credit card company who doesn't charge a fee for international transactions? Any suggestions concerning currency or forms of payment while on the tour would be helpful to us. We haven't traveled internationally for several years. Thank you.

Hello, Gary and Alta and all the rest going on the Zeisset Reunion Trip,
Having traveled to England just last fall and to France only a couple years ago I found that the VISA and MasterCard are readily accepted. Sometimes the people would not take American Express. I think all of the credit cards charge a transaction fee - one percent or so. It would be good to call your credit card companies and determine which charges the lowest fee. Also, the transaction is usually converted from local currency to US Dollars at the exchange rate when the charge hits the company computers here in the states. Do not take US Dollars thinking you can exchange there. The rate will be terrible and in some cases, they may not want to take US Dollars - we aren't loved all over the world as we would like to think! Also, it is best not to make exchanges of currency in hotels. The rates are better at the banks, or just use your ATM card and don't worry about converting.

By the way, the Euro is quite expensive now compared to a few years ago. Yesterday, the rate was something like 1.28 US Dollars for one Euro.
A recommendation would be to use your ATM card. I have found it
convenient to load my bank account with a sufficient amount and then use my ATM card for my daily cash needs. The Europeans have adapted to this machine much quicker than Americans. It seems that about every major street corner and every bank, etc. will have an ATM machine - some in England call it "the hole in the wall" and generally it is referred to as a "cash point". To use the ATM card in Germany you will insert your card as you would here in the States, the screen will then come up with a question as to which language you care to use - English is usually indicated with the British flag, but it may also show the American Flag. After pressing the language selection, all messages on the screen will be in English. You will be asked to key in your PIN - use the same one as you use at home - and the a new screen will ask for the amount of Euros you wish. Really, this is the same technique as we have in the States.
I do not purchase travelers' checks at all. I have found it convenient to have a few Euros in my pocket when I arrive. For this trip I had a friend who was visiting in France and Germany to bring me back a couple hundred Euros to get me started. I think most banks either have Euros on hand or can order it in within a week or so. If you use the ATM card, you may be charged a transaction fee (my bank here in Alabama - Compass Bank - refunds any transaction fees charged by other banks to me. The advantage of the ATM card is that you don't have to carry so much cash on you as you travel - just be sure you don't lose the card!

I will be traveling, along with my friend, Rod Hildreth, a few days ahead of the reunion group. We are flying into Amsterdam on the 25th of July and will join the family group in Frankfurt on the 2nd when you arrive in country. After the reunion trip, Rod and I are staying another eight days to visit more of Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, and maybe a little of the Czech Republic. Lots of miles in so few days!

Hope all of tis helps.

Looking forward to joining all in Germany.

Lee Swart in Alabama



QT - Gary & Alta Morris wrote:

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I agree with Lee's advice regarding money. We always use our ATM card..JUST BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A 4 DIGIT PASSWORD! I learned that the hard way one year. And know what it is by number (not letter).

I've had several questions about what clothes to take. I always recommend traveling light. Take clothes that can be "mixed and matched" and layered. And most of all, bring comfortable shoes! I pack one pair and wear one pair. It's good to alternate, as that seems to help with aching feet from all the walking. Since you have to take your shoes off going through security at the airports now, it's good to have something that's easy to get on and off.

For a 15-day forecast for Schwabisch Hall, see http://wwwa.accuweather.com/world-forecast...LL|&fday=1&metric=0

It has been hot in Europe, but it appears that the heat wave may break in time for our trip.

We are home safe after a wonderful trip. We were spared any special difficulties with air travel Frankfurt to Washington, even though air travel elsewhere was on high alert.

How did the rest of you fare on your connections through Kansas City and elsewhere?

Getting through Dulles was interesting to say the least! The lines where long and after claiming our checked bags we starting hearing that no liquids or gels could be taken on the plane, so we were repacking our bags in the middle of the baggage claim area to try to avoid having to throw things away and in order to avoid slowing down the lines any more. To make a long story short IT WAS A ZOO, but we made it through with 20 minutes to spare. We were sweating it there for a while. Hope everyone else made it home safely as well.

My experience at Dulles was similar to Gay's (and, I suspect, others), repacking on the floor of the baggage claim area - in my case a couple of bottles of wine! They made it home in good shape. My flight to Chicago left from the same gate area as our original flight to Frankfurt, so I didn't get to see much more of Dulles (not that that was a great disappointment). I'm still on German time, however!

I just tonight found time to get on the website and take a look at our diary of days in Germany. WOWOWOW! Wonderful memories flooded my mind as I read the words we had written. I just want to thank all of you for such a fun trip and I hope we do it again sometime---when I can take the rest of my family! :)

Lee, Rod, Betty and Allan,

How was the rest of your trip? :)

Enjoy Labor Day weekend, the last weekend of summer,
Nadine

Edited by author 08-30-2006 11:31 PM
Sounds like the Germany trip was a success. I got to see some of Lee's pictures when we gathered in Denver. What is the website that the pictures are on? I have missed that somewhere I guess.

At our home page (zeissetgenealogy.n3.net) click on "Germany tour site", then click on "Trip diary" to see more than 80 pictures interspersed with the text. If you are looking for something in particular, scan the itinerary on the "Zeisset History Tour" page and click on the date to jump to that part of the diary.