Not a good-bye, but rather a "see you in a few"

With my rotation at an end, and my reflections per day at an all time high, I thought the easiest way to come to terms with the move was with a list, just as it began. Here are just a few things I will miss about Zurich (and will look forward to when I come back to visit in September)

• Sushi at Yoojis with Shannon, Anna and James (our favorite waiter)
• Emergency martinis after (and sometimes during) work with Kim
• Son of Coco shows with the entire crew
• Sunday brunch at Iroquois followed by a day at the lake
• Spending a week trying to coordinate a lunch or dinner date with a friend three weeks out (okay, I probably won’t miss that one, I am actually looking forward to making spontaneous plans and still seeing everyone).
• Seeing the local kids walk themselves to school at age 4 wearing the triangle reflects over their shoulders and 80 year olds hiking up and down the mountain faster and with more grace than I could ever muster
• The always on-time, always clean public transportation
• Khao Soi noodles at Tiffins
• Street Parade, Orange Cinema and all of the other great summer festivals
• 5 weeks of vacation, over 12 days of national holidays and endless sick leave

Unfortunately a list just can not even began to do justice to summarize these past two years, and so I won’t even try. Have a great summer Zurich, I will see you soon! And for those in the US, I will see you even sooner.

Lisapolooza – The Swiss Edition

What a difference two years makes! Looking back at the SF version of Lisapolooza two years ago, I can say a lot has changed, but some things remain the same. The decision to leave Switzerland, like all of my major life’s decisions, was a defining moment, and one I knew was right. But at the same time, it is definitely bitter sweet. I have made so many great friends in Zurich, who, without them, this experience would not have been the same. So in order to celebrate those friendships, rather than me leaving, I had another week long celebration of dinners, drinks and parties…although this time around, things were a bit more mellow.

The week began with dinner at Madrid, the restaurant, with Team A6 (the Blocks, Marks and Gimbel/Breuers), and the eating binge continued with lunches with various friends and one last sushi night at Yooiis with Shannon and Anna (including the required bottle of wine each and our favorite waiter James).

The weekend quickly arrived and I was ready for the final blow out. While I would have loved to celebrate the end of an era with Son of Coco (my Swiss version of Tainted Love), Martin and I instead hosted a BBQ at our place including bratwurst, German potato salad (Oma’s recipe), beer, babies and babysitters. To round things out, and remind ourselves that we were still young, we ended the night with dancing at Nelsons, my favorite “dive” bar (quotation marks necessary as even the most seediest bar in Zurich couldn’t compare to a standard dive bar in SF).

The following evening, Helen had us up for Sunday dinner, including prosecco on the roof terrace and home made pizza Standing up on the balcony, enjoying the evening warmth, it was crazy to believe that it was less than two years ago that I was having a similar dinner with Helen and the previous tenants.

And finally, my last night in town was spent with Martin, learning to cook Wienerschnietzel, drinking champagne, reflecting on the past two years and looking forward to the many years to come.

7 Countries in 10 days

This past Monday I returned home from a 10 day Baltic cruise, which took me from Copenhagen to Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallin, Gdansk, and Oslo. We, the Marks, Jason and I, chose to see the Baltics via a cruise as it gave us the ability to see so many cities in so many different countries in such a short period of time. Being a first time cruiser, I had no idea what to expect.

In summary, the trip included 7 countries with 7 different types of currencies, 4 course dinners, karaoke, trivia nights, stunning views, immense history, all you can eat food binges during the day, spa treatments and a full gym to counter-act the all you can eat food binges, an average age of 55, owning the dance floor on the ship and dancing like such idiots that the other 2 customers actually left the bar thanks to our mad skills, Bizzaro Jason (the alter ego of our friend who, on land is a presidential hopeful, but on the seas was a booze hound, party animal) and, oh yes, some tours of the cities we visited.

After such excess in a mere 10 days, something was bound to give. Unfortunately, it was the button on my pants. I might have hit a new low, but the decent was well worth it.

The following are the stories from each town visited. I have posted them on the day we were in port, so I would suggest starting at the bottom with Stockholm and working your way to the top. Enjoy…because I sure did.

Editors Note: To avoid any confusion (and trust me there was plenty on the cruise) Jason is just a good friend and Martin is definitely still in the picture.

Copenhagen – Same, same, but different

After 7 cities in 10 days, we had officially perfected the standard condensed European city walking tour. We left the boat for the last time Monday morning and had the entire day in Copenhagen before our flight back to reality later that afternoon.

First stop, the main train station to drop off our luggage, then past Tivoli park, down the main pedestrian street (with a quick stop for an overpriced coffee in one of the countless cafes), a hard right towards the river in search of the old harbor (followed by 3 hard lefts – we apparently missed it by a few blocks), lunch in the old harbor, a drive-by of the town hall, a view of the opera house in the distance…

And then we crossed the river, through the looking glass, into the borough of Christianshavn. In a mere 3 blocks were found ourselves in the hippie, shanty town of Christiania, located in the middle of the island. Talk about a completely different world compared with the past 9 days. Imagine a commune of punks, hippies, and rockers all living together in a make shift shanty town that was previously old military barracks. The “town” had plenty of make-shift bars, BBQ “restaurants” and all the weed money could buy. While not dissimilar to certain parts of Berkeley, Santa Cruz or Humbolt, it was shocking to see it in the middle of a European city. Christiania was hands down the most unique thing I saw the whole trip, which is sad considering the culture, history and cuisine each city had to offer…clearly my perceptions are a bit off.

Time for a new dose of reality.

Oslo and the Fjords

After so many European cities, especially those in the same region, they, I hate to admit, start to loose some of their charm and uniqueness. Each town we visited had at least two museums, one of which was dedicated to ships, at least one massively ornate church, a town hall, main square, main pedestrian street and imperial castle/fortress. So when we arrived in Oslo, we sacrificed all churches, museums and town halls for something different. We left the boat, quickly passed all things city and headed straight to Vigeland park, home to over 200 bronze and stone statutes all created by Gustav Vigeland and representing the different stages of life. While somewhat touristy, we were still able to enjoy some of the peacefulness of the gardens by wandering down some of the more hidden paths.

After the gardens, we hopped on the metro and made our way up to Holmenkollen, Oslo’s ski jump arena, a mere 500 meters above sea level and only 10 minutes out of the city center. And although most visitors might have been disappointed that the ski jump was under complete renovation (a fact known to us before we began the ascent), we found the views from the top of the hill worth the visit. We had found a direct look out point onto the Oslo Fjord. It was refreshing to be able to get out of the “city” and enjoy some nature. I only wish we had had more time (dare I say, more time for a hike…I clearly had been on the boat too long).

With a mid-day departure, we made the obligatory hot lap past the city hall, palace and main shopping street before heading back to the boat. The remainder of the day was spent under the sun on the boat’s rear deck, drinking cold American light beer and watching the stunning Oslo Fjord unfold before our eyes.

We were officially heading back to Copenhagen and home.

Gdansk or Gydnia –Is there a difference?

Apparently yes. While I thought these were just two different names for the same city, apparently they are very different cities, about 45 minutes apart. Our boat docked in Gydnia, and Gdansk, the cute picturesque Polish town that I was looking forward to seeing was a 10 minute bus ride and 35 minute train ride away. Thankfully we found this out the night before our arrival, allowing us time to plan. Unfortunately, the cruise provided us only a map of Gyndia, not Gdansk, leaving us completely blind once we arrived in the correct town. All we knew was that the town was home to St. Mary’s church, the world’s largest brick church, and based on past experience, where there is a church, there is normally a main square with restaurants and shopping. So we set off in search of St. Mary’s.

From the Gdansk main train station, we spotted the highest, oldest looking brick steeple and began to walk. Apparently, Gdansk has numerous old brick churches, all with very high steeples and the first two we found had in fact been completely renovated on the inside and now contained modern shopping centers, which was cool, but not really what we were looking for. After our second miss, we decided to track down a map, which didn’t help much as the St. Mary’s church was not clearly labeled. However, being resourceful, and using our powers of deduction, we some how found the appropriate direction and stumbled upon the main attraction, St. Marys. After 30 minutes of searching, and 5 minutes of appreciating, we continued on our tour of the town and found the anticipated quaint pedestrian street with, surprise, plenty of restaurants, cafes and shops. And the more we explored, the more we began to fall in love with the town. The feelings of relief (we finally found the town center) and awe (I still really love Polish towns with their brightly painted narrow houses and buildings) were only enhanced by the perfect polish lunch of pierogis and barszcz soup in a great restaurant off the main square.

Once again surprised by our ability to navigate a completely new town, in a foreign country, sans map, I realized that I am beginning to get the hang of traveling. I was looking forward to testing out my skills and ability in Oslo next.

Museums visited – 0, Churches visited – 1

Tallin – Old World Charm Combined with Present Day Pubs

Tallin is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe and the largest city in Estonia. And with only five hours in port, we knew we had to make the most of the time. Thankfully the old town was small, so while Jason went off to explore, Braden, Anna and I did what we normally do to experience a city…we found the most promising café in the square (and in the sun) and ordered coffees to enjoy the morning and town atmosphere.

Based on what we saw, it was our kind of place. While at the café, we noticed some local girls drinking beer and we concluded that they must be trying to rid themselves of last night’s hangover. It wasn’t until we passed three additional streets, all lined with pubs, each with at least two patrons outside drinking beer (did I mention it was 9:30 on Thursday morning) that we finally did away with all prejudices and joined the locals by ordering our own round of beers. We also ordered a basket of deep fried garlic bread and chicken wings with sweet chili sauce, because, well, why not… we were on holiday.

Where St. Petersburg fell short, Tallin was able to provide us the exact experience and pace of life I was looking for. This town absolutely deserved another visit later in life.

Next stop, Poland, for some much anticipated barszcz soup and Pierogis.

Museums visited – 0, Churches visited – 0

St. Petersburg

Approximately 8.5 years ago I read Crime and Punishment and approximately 8.4 years ago, I decided I had to visit St. Petersburg. And whether I would like to admit it or not, the main driver for the cruise was it gave me a chance to see the city that had captured my imagination for so many years. To make the experience even more memorable, I dedicated myself to re-reading the 600+ pages of the classic Russian novel while on the trip.

We arrived early Tuesday morning, made it past immigration and met up with our private guide, Natalia, the Russian bulldog, for a full day of sightseeing. We were immediately whisked out of St. Petersburg and to the countryside to visit the Peterhof palace, Peter the Great’s summer palace built to rival Versailles. Upon arrival and throughout the rest of the day we continuously encountered ridiculously long lines for each site, but thanks to Natalia and her bulldog nature, we pushed our way to the front of each and every line. We toured the inside of the palace first and then headed outside to see the famed gardens and fountains… true to form, we walked outside just in time for the rain to begin.

With our tight schedule to adhere to Natalia corralled us back into the van and we began our driving tour of city, with great commentary from Natalia about the history of St. Petersburg and the current culture of the city (including Natalia’s pride of the Metro system, unique as St. Petersburg is built on a marsh, and identified throughout the city by the letter M, or as Natalia described it, an upside down W in the English language). The highlight for me however, was driving down the narrow street that was the main stage in Crime and Punishment. The tour with Natalia came to a close with another long line at the Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum in the center of St. Petersburg. Exhausted from the day and lack of lunch, we were dropped off outside the ship, completely dazed from the whirlwind day.

Due to the excessive cost of the private tour, we decided to participate in a group tour for our second day in St. Petersburg, this time focusing on the canals of the city and the craft market (also referred to as a tourist trap) in front of the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. The tour was the best confirmation that group tours were not our style. Herded like cattle, we boarded the bus, then the boat, then the bus, let out to graze at the craft market and final hustled into an overpriced souvenir shop.

Overall, the city was impressive, however with the tourist limitations (we had to stay with a guide the whole time due to the lack of the extremely expensive tourist visa) I was disappointed in not being able to wander around the city, enjoy a beer in a random café or really experience the city outside of our tourist bubble (whether it was the bus, van or guided walks). I guess I will have to wait until my next visit to truly experience the Russian lifestyle.

Museums visited – 2, Churches visited – 0 (although we did have photo opportunities the outside of 4, admittance inside was additional Rubles)

Helsinki - Day 3 and 3 Churches

With Anna down for the count with a migraine, I headed out with the boys to explore “the daughter of the Baltics”, Helsinki, Finland.

Jason and I began the day alone with the “quick” 2.5km walk to town and the antique flea market (Note, another trend that developed, instead of waiting for public transportation, we found it easier to walk into town rather than waiting the 10-15 minutes for the bus. I would hate to imagine my waist-line at the end of the trip without these daily walks).

The flea market was not on the list of sites to see provided to us by the cruise, however, it was on the map and I figured it would be worth a hot lap… while the outside was nothing more than a flea market of used clothes and household goods, the antique market inside had great finds, including old nautical equipment, sterling silver and funky furniture. I thankfully made it out without buying anything, Jason wasn’t so lucky….With Jason’s newly purchased WWII compass in hand, we left the flea market and walked along a tree lined street towards the main promenade and square (the more touristy option). Upon arriving at the square, Jason and I found our way to the Havis Amanda fountain (a statute of a young naked, virgin girl claimed to be the young city emerging from the see, but called a common whore by the locals upon the unveiling) to meet up with Braden. After another hot lap of another square with food and craft stalls, we sat down to a lunch of reindeer meatballs and reindeer sausages.

And then the real tour of the city (all three main churches to be exact) began. We began with the Uspenski Cathedral, identified by its onion shaped dooms and ornate gold paint, followed by the stunning whiteness of the Cathedral of Helsinki in Senate and ending the day with the merging of rock and spirit in the Temppeliaukio “Rock” church, a crater in the center of a granite hill created via dynamite for the very purpose of creating a church. All very different, but beautiful in their own way.

Exhausted from the day, I opted to take the bus back to the ship for a much needed nap. At this rate, I would double the amount of churches and museums seen in my entire two years in Europe in just 10 days.

Museums visited – 0, Churches visited – 3

Stockholm and the Vasa

I rarely research the cities I plan on visiting ahead of time, and only after, do I realize or appreciate what I had seen and/or find out what I should have seen. Thankfully for me, I normally see all of the “sites” through dumb luck, but every once in awhile I do miss out on something cool. While on the cruise however, I no longer had that risk…each night, before arrival at the next port, the ship provided a summary of the next city we would visit, including sites to see, history of the country and town, and practical information such as public transportation etc. And it was through this program that I heard about the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.

Under normal rules, I would not even consider visiting a museum while on holiday, but this one proved to be worth the time and price of admittance. But before we made it to the museum, we wandered our way through the old town with standard cobblestone streets, past the grand palace (where Jason and Braden went on a tour and Anna and I enjoyed hot tea in the courtyard café…this would be a trend that continued throughout the rest of the trip), past the opera house, along the rivers and a quick pit stop for hot dogs and water. Two and a half hours later we were finally at the museum.

The Vasa Museum is home to the Vasa Ship, a 17th century ship meant to be the glory of the Swedish people, however due to bad calculations, the ship immediately sunk after leaving the dry docks. The ship lay under water for over 300 years and was eventually discovered and raised again, in almost perfect condition. What little areas needed restoration, were restored and the ship is now on display in the museum. Being a big fan of both Goonies and The Pirate of the Caribbean, I was in complete awe; it looked exactly like a pirate ship. We were off to a great start! Hopefully the rest of the cities could capture my imagination the way the Vasa did.

Museums visited – 1, Churches visited – 0