American Music Night & Zurich

Friday, the Gemeinde (town hall is the closest term I can think of but it is so much more) put on an American Music Night.

We were not prepared for how much fun we had. we sang and danced for hours!

I also got to meet a couple of new people and pestered them for German lessons. I finally know how to make comparisons!

Afterwards we went out to eat/drink with the locals. Another adventure in ordering food.

First I ordered “meat and cheese” which was exactly what it said it was, but much stinkier than I imagined.

After being unsatisfied with the meat & cheese, I searched the menu for anything else I could understand.

I saw kartoffeln which means “potatoes” and I was like, yes, thank god, I love potatoes in all their forms, this will definitely be a good thing to order.

So I ordered the potatoes. And the potatoes were delivered.

They were literally just steamed, unseasoned potatoes. On a plate. (I’m not complaining but I’m curious: why are these on the menu and why are they $9?)

And you know what? I ate them all because I love potatoes. But now I know for next time to ask for salt and pepper.

Saturday we went to Zurich. We paid about $5 to walk to the top of the tower in this church.

I cannot accurately convey in words how terrifying that experience was. And I don’t have any pictures to show you of why it was terrifying, just the view from the top.

First you walk up a spiral staircase that is exactly as wide as your average American person. The steps are about 4” deep, so you walk on your toes. It turns so fast you get dizzy.

Then you get to the top of the stone staircase and you’re like “hooray, I reached the top!” But the joke is on you because now the terror begins.

You have not reached the top. You’re just done with stone staircases.

Now it’s time to walk up a series of delicate wooden stairs. Sometimes there’s a railing, sometimes not. The stairs are still only like 5” so you’re either walking on your toes or walking sideways. You suddenly develop an appreciation for OSHA.

At some point, you look down because you’re about to lose your footing. This is a mistake, because this is when you will see the spiders.

The entire time we were walking up, we didn’t see anyone walking down, so I was thinking to myself there’s obviously a different way to get down, which is good, because there’s no way I can walk down these stairs. Hold on to that thought.

Just when your face is sweating under your mask and you’re getting light headed, you get to the top! you spend a few minutes looking around (and catching your breath).

And then you realize there is no other way down. So you begin your descent, but here’s the thing: people are still coming up.

And nobody is taking turns.

They’re just pressing their bodies up against yours on a narrow staircase made from wood, literally held together by spiderwebs and prayer.

I have never thought of myself as claustrophobic or afraid of heights, but today I learned that my limit is when I am forced to become human sandwich meat between a stone wall and a European.

Jokes aside, the city is absolutely gorgeous! We spent the afternoon walking and had so much fun.

It’s been raining non stop for approximately the entire summer, so the river is overflowing. That means you can’t walk on the docks down by the river, but it didn’t stop the children’s kayak soccer league from playing.

The water is also incredibly clear. You can see straight to the bottom of the river. They pump water through decorative public fountains, which are also safe to drink from. So every now and then when you’re walking you’ll see someone just put their face under a gargoyle to get hydrated.

Another weird thing: the Swiss love to put your picture on stuff. My bus pass in Liechtenstein and my rail pass in Switzerland both required passport photos. So everywhere you go in Switzerland, there are photo booths so you can take a fresh ID picture.

The problem is that they don’t have these anywhere in Liechtenstein, so I used the same terrible photo for everything before I found my first photo booth. Now I know.

We got some Thai food (exquisite!) and macarons (I will never be able to eat another macaron because none will ever be so good).

Then we stumbled across a park with a beautiful view, that also had a sign reminding people not to be drunk, or loud, or sexually harass people, or litter.

We had to hurry up and get the train home but we will definitely be back, especially to see the National Museum.

And of course, while walking the dog tonight we saw that the local cows had been moved.

Every week the cows are moved to a different field. Every field is just an empty lot in the middle of the town, between two houses.