Ich Komme Aus USA: April 2013

Fine...I'll admit it. As the countdown to Good Friday and the arrival of our guests approached, I was getting a little anxious. No matter that we've been good friends for nearly 30 years and have vacationed together, worked together, and watched countless Packer wins and losses together...this would be an entirely different ballgame. This was not Door County - it was "foreign" Europe. It was not just Brian and Diane who were coming to visit. They were also bringing their three adolescent children with them, and they would all be staying here for a week! Don't get me wrong, I love them all dearly, but....there were the nagging, "what if's..." looming in the back of my mind. This was their spring break, their big vacation...not the same for me...I live here! What if they have terrible jet lag? What if they get bored with all the excitement that is Zürich? What if we don't have enough adaptors to charge all of the iPhones, iPads, and iPods at the same time?? What if it never stops raining in Zürich?????? Yikes!!! Fortunately, my worries were all for naught. We all had a wonderful time - and I think even the kids did too. They liked the food, enjoyed taking photos with whatever electronic device they had, loved "sledging" in the Alps, found the Swiss dogs adorable and so well-behaved, and of course, enjoyed our favorite Mövenpick ice cream shop almost as much as Mr. O'Hearn! Throw in a little ESPN America playing the NCAA tournament and "Morde Montag" for your American crime show fix, and all was right in the 8032! Despite the fact that worry #4 (What if it never stops raining in Zürich?) actually did come true - our side trips to Grindelwald in the Alps and Lugano in the Italian-speaking south proved that the sun CAN shine in Switzerland. We're looking forward to a return visit :)