I have had a rather enjoyable time here thus far with my family in France. It is the first Christmas the family has spent together in three years! We were also here in France at that time, a little over a year after I graduated from my high school in Germany, just across the border from where my parents now. I give you fair warning for the long post ahead, dear readers.
I have to say that while I've been having a good time for the most part, it is more than a little odd to be all "living" under the same roof for a week. While it is
nice to have the family in one place for the holiday, it doesn't give me all warm and fuzzy feelings but the realization that the time of being together as a unit is long over and
can't happen naturally again. I think that because it seems unnatural, I have more of a tendency to feel pressure to "perform" or perhaps a better word is "restrain" in certain circumstances. That's rarely a pleasant behavior to enact. I have this desire that we could all relate to the place each of us are at in our lives and though I'm sure some families successfully navigate that process or make some semblance of that, it's seems impossible to do with those you left sometimes, especially when people treat each other as figures as they were in the past.
The past is something I always have to face when I visit with the family. This year is no exception. Last time I came it was my former alumni from high school; this time it is boxes. Twenty-some boxes of my life, from grade school onward. My parents want me to go through them and downsize all that I have in storage. They are full of papers mostly, personal and academic all jumbled together in a vague order. '98 in one box, '01 and '02 in the second, Biology, Statistics and Creative Writing in another. Sometimes it's not so simple and all kinds of writing falls out on my lap. Some of which are embarrassing, some cute, some useless now, and others...others I would care to forget. Then I realize that forgetting is the easy part, but there is a price in that some of what I wrote then stems from a world from anxiety and hurt. Writing regarding events or ideas that were certainly formative in making the man I am today, but that is too striking to read in the present. I was shocked to experience the feeling that I wish I never
had to write certain things about family, for school or otherwise. Some things are better addressed than forgotten, regardless of how strong the drive is to move on. My mom turned to me at one point during my adventures in filing and in a light-hearted tone asked, "So, taking a trip down memory lane, huh?" I swallowed the lump in my throat and mumbled a non-committal reply. Sometimes memory lane is a dark and twisted alley. I've thrown out old math and german tests or the like, some history notes, but I've saved all my writing assignments, journals and drawings. Most of these will remain in boxes, but some I
have to take back with me. I can't box them up again.
One of my favorite part of these days here may very well come at night when I can curl up on the couch with my yellow lab, Athena-how I've missed her- at my feet and touch my present life via the keys on my laptop.
That being said, today's trip to Lucerne, Switzerland was most pleasant and the weather cooperated marvelously-except for the temperature which was hovering above freezing with the wind chill. It is one of the most visited cities in Switzerland and for good reason. It is full of stunning architecture-castles, bridges, bell towers, monuments and stone walls. There's a great new vista behind every building. The bridge in the above photo is the oldest covered bridge in Europe. Being the day after Christmas, there were few people walking the streets. However, also being the day after Christmas, there were not many shops or restaurants open. We weren't going to the city for either particularly, so it was fine except when it came to eat. After looking up and down narrow streets, we found an open restaurant-a modern, sprawling three-floor McDonalds.
As I said to my dad, menus at McDonalds do differ quite a bit around the world, so it was a cultural experience. I made up for it by having a vanilla Berliner post-"Chicken Mythic" sandwich. I'll share pictures of the whole trip as soon as I can gather them from the couple cameras we used. On our way back we cut across the German border and back into France with a great meal by Mom and a viewing of
Iron Man with the family.
Tomorrow will be a quieter day for the most part. I will likely visit my old high school for a few photos along with my old dorm. I'll pick up a German pastry from the local bakery a few blocks from the campus. Tomorrow might also be the day I eat lunch at the best
Turkish döner kebab in the world-no joke. In the evening, we will be having my dear, dear friend, professor, drama director and choir instructor,
Michele, over for a dinner of Mom's homemade pizza! I'm very much looking forward to the good food and good company.
The Chapel Bridge-Kapellbrücke-at the heart of Luzern.
The Lion of Luzern-Löwendenkmal-a monument commemorating the Swiss Guards who gave their lives at the Tuileries Palace in 1792 during the French Revolution.
My sister and I next to a unicorn fountain and a pizza joint-which looked appetizing, but was closed the day after Christmas.
Standing with the enormous swans by the channel.
Regarding pictures, of the few I took on my personal camera-most have yet to be uploaded from another, better camera-here are a few of my activities at Heathrow Airport while I waited for my connecting flight. I was originally only going to have an hour to get from one gate to the other, but with the significant delays due to Seattle's snow storm last week, I had over two leisurely hours in Terminal 5, the newest and most modern at Heathrow. After spritzing myself with Calvin Klein Euphoria from the duty free store as I had been in some state of travel for the last two days I went across the way to my interim destination: the chic little bar in the middle of the terminal-good for relaxation and people watching.
I asked for a Perfect Manhattan and the bartender didn't know what it was. This should have been my first clue that perhaps I should order something different. I figured that drink wouldn't be an issue. He found the recipe in his little book and started to make it-which took him forever and a day. Yes, if the bar is not too busy (and it wasn't) I absolutely expect some time and car to be taken when my drink is being made. This was just shy of ridiculous. He was overly leisurely, watering down my drink by stirring the bitters with ice first for several minutes and then shaking my Manhattan for a minute more. When I finally took a sip, he asked me how I liked it and it was far different than I expected. He had used Scotch Whiskey and not Bourbon Whiskey. It was palatable enough and would do the duty, so I said it was fine despite the lack of Bourbon. He said they didn't carry 
Bourbon and I looked at the duty-free shelf behind me and pointed at the Maker's Mark. "Oh, I don't think our company owns the rights to serve that." But what bar, anywhere doesn't serve any Bourbon? I should have paid right away as it took fifteen minutes from when I said I wanted to pay to a mere three drinks later when he took my card. Maybe he was new. I really wanted to get behind that bar and do things myself!
A selection of Misty of Chincoteague novels by Marguerite Henry from my lengthy "horse phase."
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit, a book I remember quite fondly-not so much the 2002 movie, however.
Aaaand, Help!: I'm Trapped in My Gym Teacher's Body! by Todd Strasser. An interesting concept-kind of kinky. I liked this book as an adolescent. This explains alot of things.
That being said, today's trip to Lucerne, Switzerland was most pleasant and the weather cooperated marvelously-except for the temperature which was hovering above freezing with the wind chill. It is one of the most visited cities in Switzerland and for good reason. It is full of stunning architecture-castles, bridges, bell towers, monuments and stone walls. There's a great new vista behind every building. The bridge in the above photo is the oldest covered bridge in Europe. Being the day after Christmas, there were few people walking the streets. However, also being the day after Christmas, there were not many shops or restaurants open. We weren't going to the city for either particularly, so it was fine except when it came to eat. After looking up and down narrow streets, we found an open restaurant-a modern, sprawling three-floor McDonalds. 
As I said to my dad, menus at McDonalds do differ quite a bit around the world, so it was a cultural experience. I made up for it by having a vanilla Berliner post-"Chicken Mythic" sandwich. I'll share pictures of the whole trip as soon as I can gather them from the couple cameras we used. On our way back we cut across the German border and back into France with a great meal by Mom and a viewing of Iron Man with the family.
After literal days of travel-including cancellations, delays and flight connections, I finally touched down in Zurich, Switzerland around 2:00PM local time on Tuesday, December 23rd. On the way back to my parent's place, we stopped at the local butcher to pick up a ham for Christmas day and two baguettes from the bakery down the street. My dinner, was, naturally, bread and brie. And in fact, that may be what I have for the majority of my meals during my time here. 
There are still a few places in town you can get a cosmopolitan under $5.00 during happy hour. What about $2.00? Believe it or not, Bleu Bistro serves $2.00 cosmos and lemondrops during their happy hours-often bringing them to the table two at a time. You also can't go to Bleu without having their Wasabi Grilled Cheese sandwhich served with three dipping sauces. Bread, cheese and dipping. Yes please.
Here is the first of the lot: