Showing posts with label zurich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zurich. Show all posts

Sunday, September 30, 2007

catchin' up

to get caught up a bit:

the zurich show was at a little rock club. very smoky, but real nice peeps and a good time was had by all.

i tried desperately to get a photo of a crazy little dancing man who was getting DOOOOOOWWWN in the front row. his moves seemed to be a combo of burning man-esque hippie dips and waves, with the occasional tai-chi thrown in just to mix it up. a couple of times he twirled around on one foot.

shara had her own personal smoker in the front row. throughout the gig, he continually puffed a pouf of smoke right into her face as she sang. i counted his little pile of butts at his feet, and there were eight of them by the end of the hour.



shara believes that when they were in stonehenge, merlin put a hex on her and tried to turn her into a frog. it is quite possible, because despite a visit to a swiss hospital (which was free and during which she received the most thorough exam of her vocal chords ever) she has not fully recovered.

(aside: this is what came up when i looked up "merlin frog" on google images:)



from zurich we drove to geneva....an absolutely, incredibly, breath-takingly BEAUTIFUL city...all curves and archways and opulent wedding cake facades. i may have left my heart there...i've been longing for it ever since we left.





the band played in a traditional concert hall type of setting--this place. probably a bit of a departure (velvet seats, old fogeys, etc.), but i thought it was an amazing show regardless.



after geneva was a long ride through switzerland and france to belgium. we twisted and turned up and down the mountains, through foggy countryside of green. i peered through the window with tears rolling down my face. as a child, i loved the grimm's fairytales--really any children's book with beautiful illustrations of the french countryside: thatched roofs of heaps of straw, mossy stone walls, rolling hills


....i felt like i had awoken to a dream. even writing about it makes me misty and warms the cockles of my heart.

it looked a bit like this:







in a complete juxtaposition, we arrived at trix, a very modern dance club-ish type of place in antwerp.




antwerp seemed to me to be a very modern city...we were in more of an industrial area and we "bedded down," as bdub is wont to say, in a (lovely) backstage area from the time of our arrival until after the show. i think we were far from the city center, so exploring was not so much of an option. luckily, there was rooftop access, which was fun.

moon from the rooftop:



three words for the opening band, soy un caballo: "cute band alert".

they were like a lovely bit of stereolab mixed with camera obscura. good stuff.

Friday, September 28, 2007

i made it!

yes....i made it in one piece!

i would like to preface this post with a public apology to my love, bdub, who was somewhat hurt by my last post. the dub believes that i did not sufficiently convey how hard he was trying to make my arrival in zurich easy, and that many factors were out of his control. of course, i understand this.

however, we will be purchasing a blackberry world phone just as soon as we are able to afford it...if only for my peace of mind during times like these.

onward: i arrived in zurich without incident, but i cannot say the same for my bag. train service was reliable and accurate (after all, this IS switzerland) and getting to the hotel from the tram wasn't so bad either. once i freshened up, i ventured out to explore and was unable to navigate to the tram running in the opposite direction (towards the city), so i hoofed it, thinking only of h&m--my european mecca.

the walk along the river:




swiss bully!:


i stopped at a marriot hotel and tried to swipe their wireless--sadly, upon opening my little mac, it seemed to shut down on me and promptly go into sleep mode. nothing i did--including my simian-like pounding on the keys and various grunts and snorts-- seemed to have any effect at all.

i took my lil puter to a mac store i stumbled upon in the city center, and can now say that tech support peeps at apple in zurich are just as arrogant as those in new york. joy! as it turns out, my genius tekkie dude informed me that my battery had run out and needed to be recharged.

silly nowlze.

after purchasing a couple of cute frocks at h&m, some swiss chocolate pralines for the dub and a delicious lunch at the fresh market in the train station (of olives stuffed with orange rind, a pizza-like creation with a custardy cheese filling and fresh tomatoes as well as a fresh mango-banana juice), i took the tram back to the hotel and napped and napped.

lunch:



bdub's pralines:



i was awoken by my sweet dub, perhaps the best wakeup call in the history of wolfeinelli inc! i can't think of a better definition of "a sight for sore eyes" than le dub at that moment.

gig details to follow!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

au revoir! tschuss! auf weidersehen! see ya!

i am OFF to europe!

le petit bisquit is at the lil bro's and the lil firecracker's. he is having a heck of a time...he actually "rooted", as in rooted around burying his plump little body into brush and grasses along a pond. how cute is my little country dog? his cousin, jackson, is a shining example of an exemplary canine, and is not afraid to put him in line with a bark or two...i expect the biscuit to return to me having learnt all of jackson's tricks as well as his good listening skills.

not too much excitement to note about my weekend, which is just how i wanted it: a couple of trips to target (where i did NOT get into a "targument", as jen and i like to say, with any target employees. on my last trip, i engaged myself in a debate with a target employee --think the pimply-faced "i'll have to ask my supervisor!" clerk from the simpsons-- over whether or not i should have to pay for a trashcan lid, despite my not having the faulty lid with me to exchange.




i think i made a pretty good case for myself....). in addition to tarjay was lots of laundry, mending, dog romping, eating.

on the way back to new york, i stopped and visited my sweet katie swartz, who has transformed her culinary prowess into
quite the small business. she's, like, already famous and she hasn't even been doing this for six months (she has scored the catering/personal cheffing for a reality show in her area! crazy!). it is completely NOT surprising, i'm sure, to anyone who knows her that she would suddenly be thrust into something as insane as a reality show. and did i mention that it features sextuplets? they were all swarming around her like a little hive when she showed up: "are you our chef? is this your car? what's on your car?"




i think i am, finally, almost ready for my trip. the only loose ends i have are transport-related. i used a service called hitcher.com, which connects people looking to share rides to the airport with each other. if you don't get a match (which i'm pretty sure i won't, as i don't think many people use their site yet), they send you a regular car service. however, i haven't heard a peep from them, and this concerns me.

more concerns involve finding my way around zurich. i am a hot mess. i have to pray to the good lord above that i can manage an early check in ( very early, like 8 am ish), catching the train from the airport to the city center and then on to the hotel, and then navigating to the hotel by foot.

thank god i have a sister and a good friend who let me cry all over the phone to them. i think i am seriously in over my head, but atleast i'll be here:



i am trying to master my swiss german before i go....did you know that THIS is actually a word?

"CHUCHICHÄSCHTLI"

yes. that is the swiss german word for "kitchen cupboard". i am so screwed.

this post has been edited to be nicer to my dear husband.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

bring the biscuit to work day

large sherpa bag for 25 pound animal: $75
car service from williamsburg to cstv studios at chelsea piers: $20
having the biscuit with me at work: priceless

the biscuit has had a fun day so far. he loves to greet the talent who come into the makeup room, and there is a dog run a few blocks away from the studio. though small, it boasts a few man-made concrete hills, a running stream/puddle, and lots of nice critters.

the biscuit, a friend to all creatures, really had a swell time with the cutest little papillon named cowboy and his sister, cricket, a brussels griffon. i think the biscuit may need a brussels griffon brother or sister himself:



today's research (what can i say? i've had a lot of free time here!) has uncovered the following very important travel tips to many of my destinations:

"Zurchers tend to greet one another upon entering lifts, shops and offices. Be sure to return a passing grüezi (hello), even if it is in your own language."

this i like! and did not know!

re. the Zurich guilds:
"The guilds are exclusive, men-only bastions. They make one public appearance a year, in April, for a day of pageantry to ring in the Spring. During the lavish show, the head of a papier-mâché snowman is filled with explosives and placed on a bonfire in front of the opera house. Guildsman circle the fire on horseback until the head explodes."

in berlin:
"It is considered impolite to start drinking before everyone has raised glasses together, a procedure you usually repeat with each round. (According to German superstition, if you don’t look into another person's eyes when clinking glasses, seven years of bad sex will follow.)"

"Pets are often at the dinner table, fully accepted."

this i REALLY like!

more tidbits to come, i'm sure. however, all talk of zurich, my first stop, puts me in the mind of fondue. not good. i have been known to say to le dub "i want. cheese. now." and honestly, once i have a hankering for something as specifically creamy and cheesy and delicious as fondue, it will be hard for me to focus on much else. but i shall try.