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.