Tour de Friends

In 2009, Martin came to the US and we went on a proper Tour de California. In 2010, Martin and I spent 2 weeks in September travelling around the French countryside on our Tour de France. And this year, Martin and I embarked on another adventure…Tour de Friends. With a little over 10 days, we did it all: dinners with friends in Zurich, sightseeing with family and a day of fun with friends in Germany and catching up with a co-worker in London.

Speaking Hillbilly in London

It was recently pointed out to Martin that he speaks proper English, not the Hillbilly English you hear in America. And for better or worse, I have come to refer to Californian slang as Hillbilly. What can I say, it makes for a good story.

So after 10 days of travelling around Euopre, speaking proper English to alleviate the language barrier- having to focus on my annunciation, grammar and word choices - I was more than thrilled to get to London to see my old co-worker and protégé Jenny and speak some Hillbilly English.

Jenny just moved to London for a 2 year rotation with KPMG, similar to my rotation in Zurich and we already had plenty to catch up on…life, work, family, living abroad, etc. So like all proper catch ups, we spent the day gossiping over brunch, shopping and cocktails, all the while feeling completely like we were back in San Francisco and not in London. Ah, the simple pleasures in life.

Working in a Coal Mine

While staying in Martin’s home town, visiting his friends and family, we decided to go check out some of the local sites and history of the region. Specifically, we took a day trip to Zollverein, once the world’s largest coal mine, and now a completely renovated museum. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was excited! I would finally be able to use my favorite Zoolander line in context - “I think I am getting a black lung Pop, it’s not very well ventilated down there.”

We signed up for the tour, including my individual headset to provide me the commentary in English and went for a stroll around the grounds waiting for the next group tour to begin.

I even found a miniature version of the site which had an uncanny resemblance to dozer buildings from Fraggle Rock.

At 1pm our tour began and I went to work…while Germans are normally process driven and incredibly organized, my headset and the corresponding markers on the tour were anything but. We began the tour at marker #31, jumped to 15, up to 26 and then back to 11, and those were just the markers I was able to locate. I would have normally just given up, but I felt obligated to try given that Martin’s parents paid extra for the headset and the tour guide was publically trying to assist me (the only non-German speaker on the tour)... After 2 years of living in Europe and countless travels across the continent, it finally took a German tour to highlight the fact that I don’t speak any other languages. My frustration was only exaggerated by the fact that it was 2pm and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast…at least the emergency snickers bar helped out there.

Overall the museum and surrounding area was amazing and very well restored/maintained. And other than the headset, I was only slightly bummed that we didn’t actually get to go “into” the coal mine.

Smoke Free at Oktoberfest

My only two requests for our trip to Europe was at least one night in Zurich to see old friends and one day in Munich to properly introduce Martin to Oktoberfest. Yes, this American was introducing her German boyfriend to Bavarian culture. I was excited and not just for the beer and general good cheer, but also because we were going on a weekday, which meant plenty of time to walk around, play carnie games and experience the festival without the obligation or fear of getting into a beer tent. That plus in the past few years, Munich has banned smoking in the tents which meant clean air for all!

We took the train from Zurich and arrived in Munich to find the rain and clouds even darker and more miserable…so much for walking around the fair grounds. We quickly hurried to the hotel (an overpriced tenement) dropped our bags and got changed, at least I had to get changed, Martin refused to wear lederhosen.

We spent approximately 17 minutes walking through the fairgrounds, checking out the empty rides and vacant beer gardens before ultimately admitting defeat and heading inside the Lowenbrau Tent. 7 Masses, 2 pig knuckles and plenty of new friends later we were having the good time I always expect from Oktoberfest.

At 8pm it was time to introduce Martin to the true craziness of Oktoberfest. While our Tent had begun to fill up and the band was amazing, it was Monday night after all and therefore not as ridiculous as on the weekends. That is, at least our tent wasn’t. But there is always one that is beyond chaos– the Hofbrau Tent, home of the rowdy Americans and Australians.

We were able to get in, but that is where the fun ended. The place was packed as expected and not willing to battle it out, we called it quits before even ordering a beer. At 9pm we called it a night and headed back to the hotel, slightly buzzed but excited for a good night´s sleep. And there was the rub, while Oktoberfest was finally smoke free and we left feeling healthy and happy, our hotel room was anything but. The placed reeked! What we had originally mistaken for a musty smell turned full evil nicotine. The smell was so potent, even with the windows open, neither Martin nor I slept the entire night. We were in fact happy and excited for our 6 am train to Martin’s house the following morning.

Martin and I in the Lowenbrau Tent

Back Home in Zurich

We landed in Zurich Saturday night just in time for a quick shower before dinner at Eisenhof with all of our friends…at least those still living in Zurich. With less than a week’s notice we were able to get Petra and Sean, Erin, Esther, Bianca (minus Pete) and Charlie (minus Robin) all together for a reunion dinner at our favorite meat on a stone restaurant. True to Swiss form, it took over 3 hours from start to finish, with some slight confusion as to ordering, but overall the meal was perfect. It was so good that Martin and Charlie both felt the need to order another round of meat to end the evening. We capped off the night at a nearby bar with those still standing and Martin and I had a quick dance at Nelson’s for old time´s sake.

The next morning, true to Zurich form, it rained – a hard, cold miserable rain. Good thing we weren’t there to sightsee. And due to the rain Martin, B and I spent the afternoon indoors watching movies. We did make it out for an American brunch at our old American dive bar Iroquois, which has sense been remodeled and renovated to classy French Country decor bistro…if we didn’t know what it used to be and could have been, I would have loved it, unfortunately it was a little too surreal to see the once smoke filled dingy restaurant all dressed up, light and airy.

That night, Martin and I went to have dinner at our old apartment building, hosted by our favorite landlord Helen. The whole building showed up (including new arrivals and old friends) and it felt like old times. After swapping stories and making new memories, I wished we could have just gone downstairs to our old apartment and called it a night.

I could have stayed in Zurich at least another 2 weeks. But we had more important things to do…the next day I was taking Martin to Oktoberfest!