November 29, 2015

These Swiss like to live it up on Saturday nights.  4 times I was woken up from loudness from the streets.  At one point I looked out and saw a group of people just hanging out at the street below, enjoying what I assume to be beer.  There is a club attached to the hotel, so that accounts, perhaps, for some of the action.  Loudness in the hotel, loudness all over, so finally I got up around 8 and made my fabulous Swiss instant coffee.  I ended up speaking with Ursula about our brunch plans and she let me know that it was ok, that I should meet with my two o’clock which was regarding work possibilities, that she understood the priority.   I was very grateful, yet also saddened as I was looking forward to meeting her in person after 35 + years (she visited my family in Texas when I was a young girl). I lay down again to sleep.  I hadn’t slept well and was so drowsy.  Just as I was beginning to fall asleep, a vision of a penis I used to know rocked me out of drowsiness and was awake again (and not in a good way). 

 I put on the cross-country ski world cup on TV and woke the kids.  My 2 o’clock date had been moved up to one o’clock, so I didn’t want to be late and we needed to get some flowers for our gracious host.  The wind was biting cold – just how I like it.  I spoke for a bit with the man at the front desk, whom initially I found to be rude, but as generally proves to be true, I was hasty in my judgement.  We discussed politics and the countries we lived in.  As the kids and I left, he told me he liked me,  that he hoped I would stay in Switzerland.  That makes two of us, buddy.  We headed in, rushing from here to there, I was concerned about being late (which I despise doing, especially when meeting someone for the first time). I never did remember the flowers

Our hosts were wonderful – the kids coming right up to us and stretching out there hands to greet us.  This is something I like about Swiss (Austrian, too)kids – very polite.  Andrea had a Swiss friend, Thomas, over with his son.  The guys were going to a soccer match later.  I got lots of information from her – many leads and her insight on what to do.  Tomorrow morning will be a busy day for me as I have lots of calls to make.  A son and Thomas had made cakes, so of course I had to try them – all three of them.  Fortunately I hadn’t eaten much of the lunch – delicious Thanksgiving leftovers.  It’s important to be polite when cake is made.  

We had an important date at 4 with my godmother and this is one I didn’t want to miss at all.  My Gotti is very ill and the prognosis from the doctors isn’t good:  2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, who knows.  Cancer & pulmonary embolism.  As if no time had passed at all, I remembered the oath to her apartment of 40 years (my earliest memories here were when she had just moved in and I was three or four).  It was so good to see her, and we stayed there two hours.  I do feel a bit for the kids – so often as a child I was dragged around to relatives which was boring as hell for me, but I at least understood the language.  

The kids were hungry, so our next plan was to go to the city and eat dinner.  This was, in essence, our last night out.  On the tram, there was some sort of message about the BahnhofStr trams shut down or closed or something…I dunno, so we got off the tram a little early and decided to walk which was a good thing!   There was such a beautiful scene with the lights glowing, Christmas feeling in the air.  My heart has been growing heavy today as the trip is winding down, but this was a wonderful tool of enlightenment.  Tonight is the first Advent – something I did throughout my childhood, and though I am not religious, the holy sacredness about this transcends all my anti-religious feelings, because this is about awaiting a Birth.  We walked and walked – the restaurant we had intended to go to was not only full but had a waiting line, so we explored AltStadt again.  We found a Spanish restaurant I thought I had visited when I lived here, but we were whisked upstairs to a fancy small room with lovely old furnishings and fine embroidered napkins and tablecloths. Oh, man…I couldn’t have afforded this as a 15 year old.  I can barely afford it now (thank you, AmEx).  It was here, somewhere that a straw broke that camel’s back and the picking on and arguing between the kids hit a boiling point with the boy.  He said he wanted to trade weeks so that he would be at dad’s when Mags was with me and then switch, so he wouldn’t have to be around her.  I get it, I know how horrible siblings can be because with me it was always one out – with three you never all get along.  And yes, I know Maggie’s perfectionist pointing out of shortcomings is grating, however.  Leaving it doesn’t solve anything.  I spoke calmly, rationally, and then I focused on my food and let him work on the tears flowing from his eyes.  I know it hurts, buddy, I thought, but you can’t run away!  It is tough, this Life.  We ate, paid, left.  The topic was not broached anymore and slowly, I noticed little signs of him getting over it.   At the river, he went down and sat near the swans and they approached him.  As he sat, I spoke calmly with his sister about not constantly picking out differences between him and her – he has his battles, she has hers.  They cannot keep a score tab because that doesn’t work.  We slowly made it back to the hotel and Ethan asked if he could walk around for a bit, so Mags and I headed up.  It wasn’t long when he came back, as the rain had started to fall, and he offered me a piece of cookie he had gotten from a vending machine which he enjoyed very much – a peace offering, which I gladly accepted.

Pictures:  The swan-whisperer a' whispering; Sechselaeuten Platz; Bodega Espanola fancy mouth-wipin' towels; My favorite church - Gross Muenster. Tanti was married here long, long ago; Shot of AltStadt.