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.