My Birthday!

A big thank you to everyone who sent their birthday wishes overseas! It was so great to hear from every one…

I am a firm believer that birthday celebrations should not be limited to just one day. There is just too much to do (and too much positive attention) for a mere 24 hours. I normally try to extend the party for a full week… this year I managed to make it last two!

My birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so I spent the day shopping with Shannon, checking out the cute boutiques and enjoying a long lunch at an outdoor café. That evening was spent BBQing at a friend’s house…I am not sure if it is my new found maturity, the rain, or the fact that 4 out of the 6 woman there were pregnant, but the night was more mellow than birthdays past (meaning no beer bongs, dancing on bars, or getting into fights with a bouncer).

The birthday celebrations continued through the week and wrapped up this past weekend with Daniel’s present to me, a weekend away to one of 10 vacations he had planned (all described in my “Birthday Wish Book”). Trying to be low-maintenance, I picked a closer destination (rather than Paris or Egypt), which, it turns, out was the one of the more expensive option (ah, a woman’s intuition).

On Saturday morning, we took the train to Arth-Goldnau and then hopped on a 100+ year-old steam train to take us to the top of Rigi (a mountain in between Lake Lucern and Lake Zug, which also happens to be the same mountain where I had dinner in the cave, the week prior). The train stopped halfway up the mountain to get water, and again just before the top for breakfast and Swiss coffee (apparently the Swiss drink more than I had expected. It was only 11am and the bottles of wine were already being poured).

From the top of Rigi you can see both lakes and over two-thirds of Switzerland. Or so I have been told, it was completely white from the clouds…we couldn’t see anything! Lacking the view, we started our 4 hour hike down to Weggis on Lake Lucern.

By the time we got to the bottom, after enjoying a snack in a mountain chalet, we were both exhausted. But being thoughtful and a planner, Daniel had booked a private cottage at the Wellness Center (“spa” for Americans) in the Park Hotel where we were staying that night.

We relaxed and restored our tired bodies in our private lounge, hot tub, and sauna, while drinking champagne and eating the snacks provided to us. (Unfortunately, I would have really enjoyed a cheeseburger after the long hike, but that really didn’t compliment the healthy environment.) If the three hour session was not enough, we each enjoyed an hour long massage the following day.

To wrap up the perfect weekend, we took the boat from Weggis to Lucern and enjoyed an IMAX film before heading back home. Even my stressful day at work on Monday could not undue the effects of the weekend, unfortunately, nothing could undue the stress in my muscles from the hike either.

Cave Dining

Being a CPA, I am required to attend various trainings to keep up to date with current issues, policies, etc. As such, I just attended the firm sponsored Audit Conference in Brunnen, Switzerland. While Brunnen is a cute Swiss town located on Lake Luzern, and the hotel we stayed at had lake front property, the actual conference was about as exciting as one might expect…180 auditors and accoutants discussing, what else, accounting, for two solid days…snore. I was painfully bored, and this is my job. The low point of the conference was when one of the presenters thought it would be more appropriate to present in German, rather than English. And did I mention his presentation was the first one of the day at 8:30, on Friday, after a night out.

The highlight of the conference was dinner the previous evening which happened to take place in a cave… in the side of a mountain…behind a waterfall. Yup, it was true life Disneyland. Who knew these places actually existed!? We took a cog-wheel train up the side of the mountain and then “hiked” about 10 minutes to a beautiful waterfall, behind which there was a large cave lit with white lights and candles. The food itself was traditional Swiss: raclette cheese and alpine macaroni, but the ambiance more than made up for the lack of decent desserts. The dinner concluded with Swiss Coffee; a combination of coffee and schnapps which has to be “clear enough” to see the date on a 5 franc coin when dropped in. If the date is undeterminable there is too much coffee in your “coffee”. I am not sure if it was the bad lighting or my bad eyesight, but by the time I could finally read the date, my drink was more schnapps with a coffee chaser than a coffee with schnapps.

Bad Weather and Eating Habits

I have been informed, on numerous occasions, that in Swiss tradition, if you don’t clear your plate of food, it will be bad weather the following day. This concept, while cute, doesn’t hold a lot of water for me, especially since I NEVER finish all of my food. But, like everything else, with enough repetition and coincidences, you start to question the validity of such superstitions.

For instance, apparently it normally doesn’t rain that much in Zurich, however for some reason, the past two summers have been abnormally wet. In addition, it appears that everywhere I go, it rains, and while I am away, it is beautiful weather. Let’s re-cap my vacations….Munich for Oktoberfest (rained on Friday), Italy in October (rained 3 days), Prague (yeah, it rained there too), Dublin Ireland (well, that’s a given), Istanbul, Greece, Amsterdam (yes, yes, yes), Paris last July (oui). It even rained during my lunch in Liechtenstein. This coincidence has gotten so bad that my Swiss co-workers have started asking about my vacation schedule before planning their holidays and weekends.

If you still aren’t convinced, consider this…since I have left, CA has entered into one of the worst draughts of the past 20 years.

So, apparently I either need to learn to clear my plate of food or travel to draught ridden countries to offer my services.