How was that trip?

So yesterday we started off, catching a train headed for the state of Schwyz in Switzerland.

Stopping along the way, first in Neuchatel where we had a lovely walk in the Spring sunshine along the lake, then on to Bern where we decided to have a delicious lunch in one of the many just as lovely restaurants near the Federal buildings.

In the afternoon traveled along several lakes, stopping at whim for coffee in one of them before arriving at our goal of the city of Schwyz for the night.

A cocktail on an open terrace, a stroll around the Old town, a great meal in a colorful restaurant we then went to bed in a delightful hotel and slept the sleep of the just.

This morning, a lovely breakfast then we went to the Forum of Swiss History – our main goal – to see the charter from 1291 that was the beginnings of today’s Confederation of Helvetican states – better known as Switzerland.

Lunch along the lake of Lucern, in Brunnen, better known to locals as the Vierwaldstättersee or the Lake of the 4 Cantons,

Then it was time to catch yet another train: we traveled with what is known as “day cards” both days. This allowed us to go where we wanted, when we wanted, staying as short or as long as we wanted. Even to backtrack or take side trips. Highly recommended!

This time and just because we could, we went through the alps instead of around and returned via an entirely different canton and scenery. The cherry on the cake was having cocktails in the dining car – antipasti with Prosecco.

What was the occasion, who the guest? One of my dear friends had a special birthday last fall and this was what I gave her as a present. We duly researched, settled on a date (about half-way to the next birthday) and were really excited.

However, what I have just described was a virtual trip in my dreams as, due to Covid-19 we were not able to undertake it at this time.

When we do finally get to, I am sure that it will be even better than what I imagined!

Bits and pieces or…

 Finally, a half-hour to look at “stuff” and catch up on words, sayings and other forms of communication.

After a trip across town to pick up my housemate’s work computer (3 weeks after she was banished to home office) and to hand over documents and other necessary items to my younger son, I actually found that the word-a-day was one that I had never heard!

I started reading at 6 and never stopped: won the prize for most “books” read in first grade, i.e. 62 (I still have the pen on a pin that I received as a prize), my first library card is still one of my most memorable “gifts”, I have a subscription to the local daily, to the English-speaking library and there are never less than two or three other magazines on my main desk.  All that to set the mood: I know a lot of words, so finding a new one was like finding a treasure. Pelion.

Pelion, pelion, pelion, rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Meaning? A huge or difficult task, based upon Mont Pelion in Greece. Who knew? I won’t be forgetting anytime soon and it is a very good word for today’s world. A world that encompasses some indeed huge and difficult tasks, the first of which is survival.

On that subject, so far, so good.

And I even know two older persons than me who celebrate birthdays today. Yeah for them, yeah for us.

Linked to the current pandemic is the necessity to be even more cautious than usual with hygiene. I took to washing my knobs, door handles and anything metal with a cloth dipped in water and bleach. I knew that it was a good disinfectant, but didn’t appreciate just how aggressive it is: below is the picture of the cloth after several days of being left in the water/bleach mixture!

Hope that everyone I know is surviving well. Stay in, stay safe!

No joke….

The Coronavirus is no joke, no hoax, and nothing to be taken lightly, however, there are other things that go against the traditional April Fool’s Day thoughts.

And one very positive one at that: my oldest son met his wife-to-be an April 1^st and this year they celebrate – and we with them at a distance – their first year.

So much has happened in that year, things that are stressors beyond belief. Within 7 months they married, had their first child and moved. And that was all last year.

This year they have enjoyed settling into their new apartment, gotten used to a different path to work and in general got on with life. Then the virus hit! They both have had it and are currently on the mend, but what a roller coaster ride it has been.

The rest of their lives will surely be less high stress!

So I raise my glass to a daughter-in-law who has brought only good into our small family, to my son who was smart enough to pick here and to their baby, obviously the best grandchild in the world!

leftover wedding cake