Aloha all,
We feared the worst when we abruptly ended our road trip and rushed to Europe in early July. Sandra’s mom, Emma, was in the ICU, and the doctors were wondering whether emergency surgery was reasonable—or even feasible—for a 91-year-old.
But Emma survived and recovered surprisingly well. In fact, considering what we had expected, we ended up having a surprisingly enjoyable three months in Europe.
When we rushed to Europe, we weren't sure
we'd make it to Lac Bonlieu, our familiy's Happy Place;
or whether it would even be a happy trip at all.
And this was not the only time things turned out very differently than expected. Europe was apparently determined to keep us guessing:
- A boring airport connection became my favorite layover ever.
- A local brass band became an unexpected punk-rock alternative.
- I ended up on a Munich tram with 200 wet boys and girls in swim trunks and bikinis.
- An easy afternoon stroll around the Mindelsee turned into a precarious obstacle course.
- After almost dropping out of high school, our nephew won an award at his graduation.
- A Queen-themed tour in Montreux taught us about Deep Purple.
- A choir concert in Zürich turned into a surprise Hawaiian concert.
- And a quick skinny dip almost turned into an international cultural incident.
Confused? I’m afraid you’ll have to do a little reading if you want to find out what the heck I’m babbling about.
The Emergency Begins
The surprises started right off the bat, before even arriving in Europe.
After we got the call from Sandra’s sister, I had dropped Sandra at the nearest airport before heading back to Oregon to put Joy into storage for the winter. I then had a layover in Seattle. What should have been another boring two hours at the airport turned into my favorite layover ever.
By pure coincidence, I discovered that my buddy Bern had a layover in Seattle at exactly the same time. He was on his way to Colorado to deliver some rescue kittens.
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| Surprise company on my layover |
We didn’t have time for a game of Viticulture, but we did have time for a beer and a bite to eat. Not exactly the worst way to spend a layover. We could not have planned it better if we had tried.
Of course, Sandra and I would have preferred to spend the time with my brother and his wife in Sweden, as originally planned, rather than in a hospital and rehab facility for several weeks.
But at least physically, we got to see Emma improve almost every day after her surgery. Unfortunately, the anesthesia gave her dementia a major boost.
After visiting her for several hours every single day for four weeks, she complained that “nobody ever came by to see me.”
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| Emma's first steps after her emergency surgery, one of the many times Sandra did not visit her mom in the hospital |
A few days later, she had forgotten the surgery—and the entire four weeks in the hospital and rehab—altogether.
Her impatience has also taken a big leap forward. It is almost comical how impatient Emma can be. Probably less comical if you are dealing with it 24/7 year round.
A typical restaurant outing goes something like this: Even though she has no idea when or where we are going, she insists that we have to leave NOW. As soon as we sit down, she expects Sandra’s sister to know what “they” are going to order, regardless of whether anyone has even seen a menu yet. And as soon as someone stops chewing for more than a second, she demands that we get the bill.
At 91, you might assume she is simply exhausted and wants to go home. But the next question is usually: “And what are we going to do next?”
On the bright side, Emma still has the brightest smile. She greets you with the biggest grin, sometimes repeatedly within the same minute.
She looks genuinely happy. Either she is truly that excited to see us, or she has figured out that this is the best way to keep her staff—mostly Sandra’s sister—motivated.
It seems like most of our friends are dealing with senior-care issues one way or another. I am very grateful to report that my own parents are doing great.
I spent many days with them during this trip, mostly playing games. But even helping in the garden, running errands, or giving iPhone lessons was a pleasure simply because they are doing so well.
The only downside is that spending more time with my parents often means spending less time with Sandra. Which is not a pleasure. I’m really starting to like that girl.
The Most Improved Nephew
Thanks to our unexpected early arrival in Europe, we were able to attend the high school graduation of our nephew Hannes in Friedrichshafen.
After struggling in his Swiss high school, Hannes improved a lot. A big lot. He transferred to a public boarding school on the German side of Lake Constance and really turned things around.
When it was time for the awards, however, we knew he wasn’t exactly in contention for “Best Student” in any class. Fortunately, this school also gave out an unusual award for the Most Improved Performance. Hannes won easily.
I guess almost dropping out of high school a couple of years earlier can be considered a bit of a head start in the race to become Mr. Most Improved.
I also got a kick out of his yearbook entry: “Hannes — notoriously late — but always in the best of moods!”
I suspect that is probably a pretty accurate summary of his life philosophy. Just an example: After a spontaneous trip to the Carnival in Rio earlier this year, he’s now heading to Brazil for a year. Because, why not.
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| Congratulations, Hannes! |
My Replacement for the Toten Hosen
Because of the graduation, I missed the concert of my favorite German punk-rock band, Die Toten Hosen.
The alternative seemed somewhat less promising: We went to the Waldfest in Sandra’s village.
We expected the local brass band to play traditional German “oompah” music. Fun, perhaps, but not exactly a substitute for a punk-rock concert.
When we arrived, there were only four other guests. But we were assured that the kitchen was open, so we ordered food and drinks. Clearly, this party was going to be a spectacular failure. At least we would get some surprisingly cheap food and drinks out of it.
Six of us ate and drank for roughly the price of one appetizer at Mama’s Fish House on Maui.
By the time the band started, there were maybe 60 people. Judging by the size of the stage and the setup, they had apparently been expecting about ten times that many.
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| Not your normal Oompah band |
And then the music started.
We quickly realized this was not an ordinary brass band.
And the 60 people who had shown up were apparently the 60 people in Germany most determined to have a good time.
From the second song until the last hana hou three hours later, everybody—everybody—was dancing, singing and, yes, occasionally drinking. We were blown away by how much fun it turned out to be.
The best way I can explain it to our Maui friends is:
“This band had a larger repertoire than our beloved Willie K.”
And the best way I can explain it to our German friends is:
“Das Waldfest in Eigeltingen war tatsächlich ein echter Ersatz für das verpasste Konzert der Toten Hosen!”
I never thought I would say that.
Munich: Beer, Birthdays and Wet People
We continued our tradition of spending an extended weekend in Munich with our college friends. This year, we timed it around our friend Uwe’s 60th birthday.
Being the party animal of the group, Uwe celebrated all week. We joined him for the main birthday celebration and the pre-party the night before, which featured a live ska band and dancing late into the night.
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| Pre-Partying into the night: Not bad for a bunch of people who are rapidly approaching senior-citizen discounts. |
One of the hottest new activities in Munich is floating downstream in the Eisbach through the English Garden.
During the five years I lived in Munich in the 1990s, I don’t remember anyone doing this. Now it seems to be the number one activity for locals and tourists alike.
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| Floating in the Eisbach - Munich's new #1 activity |
Thousands of mostly young people—and me—ignore the warning signs, jump into the river, drift downstream, climb out, and then take the regular public tram back to the starting point to do it all over again.
Getting onto a tram with 200 dripping-wet people is a somewhat unusual public-transportation experience.
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| Getting onto a tram with 200 dripping-wet people is a somewhat unusual public-transportation experience. |
For those of you wondering: The nude bathing that used to be very common in the English Garden is apparently no longer part of the activity.
Thank goodness. Or perhaps unfortunately, depending on your perspective.
The rest of our time in Munich was spent at beer gardens, museums, and a traditional Weißwurst breakfast for a friend’s mom’s 95th birthday.
Of course, we also went to the Olympic Park. Being a tour guide there during college is still the best job I ever had, so it was great to see that the park is still so popular.
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| I still love the Olympic Park in Munich |
Munich recently won the bid to be Germany’s contender for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Olympic Games. Let’s see whether they need any help from their former student tour guides.
Friends From New Zealand and the Devil’s Table
For one week, our friends Annett and Scott from New Zealand came to visit us in Eigeltingen.
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| Our Kiwi friends are always good for an adventure and never particularly good for our sobriety. |
On one of our hikes along Lake Constance, we came across the most notorious dive spot in the area, the Teufelstisch, or “Devil’s Table.”
I had heard about this place for 30 years, but because scuba diving there is extremely dangerous—and has been banned after several fatal accidents—I had never actually seen it.
Then came the silver lining of climate change: Because of the drought, the water level in Lake Constance was so low that the Teufelstisch was visible from shore.
In fact, it was an easy and safe swim to stand on top of it. It is kind of exciting knowing that the water drops to almost 100 meters right next to it. But I have absolutely no desire to check that out. We prefer our easy, shallow dives on Maui.
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| At the notorious "Devil's Table" |
The Mindelsee Obstacle Course
Another outing with Annett & Scott and other friends was supposed to be an easy afternoon stroll around the Mindelsee.
It started off exactly as advertised. Then we encountered a few fallen trees. No problem. Easy to climb over or duck under.
Then there were a few more. That’s when we remembered the storm from the day before. We just hadn’t realized how badly it had hit this particular area.
By the time it became clear that turning around would have been the smarter choice, it was too late. There were so many trees across the trail that we could no longer see the trail at all.
Our relaxing afternoon stroll had turned into an obstacle course.
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| There's a trail here somewhere... |
We climbed over trees, crawled under trees, squeezed between trees and generally wondered whether we were still hiking or had accidentally signed up for an extreme-sports event. But eventually, we were rewarded with a beautiful spot for a swim in the lake.
So, as usual, getting lost was worth it.
The International Skinny-Dipping Incident
Are you still waiting for the international skinny-dipping incident?
On a sunny day, we went for a walk along the lake in Überlingen. It was hot, so at a very remote spot I decided to jump into the water—even though we had left our swimsuits in the car.
There was nobody around, and nude bathing is hardly considered shocking in Germany. So: no problem. Or so I thought.
Just as I was about to get out of the water, the most inopportune people appeared.
A Muslim family with three young girls wearing full veils had apparently decided that this remote spot was exactly where they wanted to take a break from their leisurely stroll.
They seemed to be in no hurry whatsoever. Meanwhile, I was getting colder by the minute.
The Seinfeld fans among you know about ‘shrinkage’ and will understand when I say:
“Pretty soon there wouldn’t have been much left to see to shock these innocent girls.”
They finally decided to move on just as I was beginning to wonder whether Sandra should throw me some clothes—or whether I should embrace the situation as an unexpected German cultural-exchange program.
The End of an Era at Les Alpages
Avid readers of this blog will remember our family’s traditional trips to my parents’ favorite little hotel, Les Alpages, in the lake region of the Jura in France.
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| Fun group for "Our Last Jura" |
This is the place where we know in advance that the dinners will be the best meals we eat all year. It has been that way for 18 years. And this time, finally even two friends from France were able to join us for the first—and unfortunately last—time at Les Alpages.
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| So many memories after 18 years at Les Alpages |
This trip was bittersweet. We learned that the hotel will be closing soon, making this stay the ‘End of an Era’ for our family.
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| Finally our French friends were able to join us! |
So we swam in the lakes one more time, drank the best Aperol Spritz, and ate the best food in the world at our family’s happy place.
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| Even my parents joined us for one last dip in the lake! |
No more Les Alpages. That means from 2027 on, we have no idea where the best meals of the year will come from.
Queen, Freddie and the Smoke on the Water
We spent the last three weekends in Switzerland with my brother and his family.
Perfect for an old Queen fan, the first weekend was “Freddie-themed”:
My brother had picked Montreux primarily because our niece Ronja was playing in the semifinal of the Swiss Ultimate Frisbee Championships nearby in Lausanne.
And yes, they won. Or, to stick with the Freddie theme: “They are the Champions!”
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| Ronja is a Champion! |
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| Freddie just sings about it;-) |
I knew Queen had recorded some albums in Montreux, but I had no idea they actually owned a studio there or how much time Freddie Mercury spent in this town.
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| Beautiful lakeside promenade in Montreux |
Apparently, I am not the only one curious about Queen’s Montreux connection. There are regular “Freddie Tours,” based on stories and information recorded by Freddie’s personal assistant at the time.
Ironically, Freddie initially hated Montreux. He thought it was a boring Swiss town with practically no nightlife. At one point, he apparently ordered his private plane to fly him to Munich so he could continue partying.
Later, he grew fond of Montreux’s peaceful atmosphere and spent a lot of time there, especially after he became sick.
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| At the original entrance to Queen's studio in Montreux |
We learned a lot during the two-and-a-half-hour Freddie Tour through this beautiful lakeside town. But the most surprising fact for us had nothing to do with Queen:
In 1971, Deep Purple was in Montreux to record an album. The casino had a concert hall where Frank Zappa was performing when some genius in the audience fired a flare gun into the wooden ceiling. The casino burned to the ground.
Deep Purple watched the smoke rising over the water. Yes, THAT “Smoke on the Water.”
We must have heard that song 200 times in our lives, but apparently never listened to anything beyond the title and the chorus.
We had to go on a Freddie Mercury tour to finally learn what “Smoke on the Water” was about. You can’t make this stuff up.
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| Scenic Lake Geneva |
A Hawaiian Choir and a German Freddie
The next day, we went to two concerts in Zürich.
The first was a choir concert in a church where a friend of my brother performed.
It was almost perfectly designed for our family: It had a water theme for my hydrologist brother and a bunch of Hawaiian songs from Moana and Lilo & Stitch for Sandra and me.
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| Hydrological-Hawaiian choir concert in Zürich |
The only thing missing was a Queen song. Or at least “Smoke on the Water.”
We made up for that in the evening at a Queen tribute concert featuring Valentin Findling, a gifted German Freddie Mercury impersonator.
A few years ago, Sandra and I saw the remaining original Queen members with Adam Lambert. Adam was great, but he never tried to be Freddie.
Valentin Findling, on the other hand, was channeling Freddie with every move, attitude and item of clothing.
If my brother had bought cheaper tickets in the back—and if Valentin hadn’t spoken such perfect German between songs—you could almost have believed Freddie was actually on that stage.
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| Closest thing to seeing Freddie Mercury on stage anymore |
It was a wonderfully bizarre flashback to 1986, when I saw the real Freddie on Queen’s last tour.
Our New Happy Place
The following weekend got even better and became the high point of our three months in Europe.
For my sister-in-law’s 60th birthday, the whole family met at a “hut” in the Swiss Alps. After driving into a remote valley, we took a gondola up the steep mountainside to our new favorite family retreat.
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| Gondola ride to our family's retreat in the Swiss Alps |
Calling it a “hut” is a bit generous. This hut had beds for 16 people, a big kitchen with raclett sets for all, a sauna and a deck with spectacular alpine views. Or, as Emma put it: “I’ve never seen so many mountains!”
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| It doesn't get much more Swiss than that... |
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| Family Reunion in the Mountains |
Since we had the place to ourselves, we could play games for as long as we wanted. Some of us until 3 a.m. That would have been frowned upon at the quiet and dignified Les Alpages.
So let’s hope this beautiful alpine retreat becomes our new happy place—and a new family tradition.
Simon, Garfunkel and Dylan
On our third weekend with my brother’s family, we went to a hydrological art exhibit, played one last round of disc golf, played a bunch more games and saw a Simon & Garfunkel tribute.
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| One of many family game nights |
It was a fun evening, alternating Simon & Garfunkel songs with stories about their careers.
Apparently, they had a heckler in the audience on the very first night they performed as Simon & Garfunkel. That heckler was Bob Dylan. Apparently, Dylan did not think much of them at the time.
He must have changed his mind over the decades. Many years later, Bob Dylan toured with Paul Simon and even covered “The Sound of Silence”—the very song he apparently made fun of all those years earlier.
Even Bob Dylan is allowed to change his mind.
How did this all fit in?
Our travels and activities within Europe were somewhat restricted by the limitations of Sandra’s mom. It often felt like we spent most of our time on senior-care planning, eating too much, playing games, going for walks, and visiting friends and family.
But looking back, we realize how much more we actually got to do.
Here are just a few examples:
We visited Campus Galli, where dedicated staff and volunteers are building a medieval monastery according to a 1,200-year-old blueprint, using only tools and materials that would have been available in the ninth century. It is exactly the kind of place we seek out on our U.S. road trips—and it is only half an hour from Sandra’s hometown. About time we made it there!
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| We celebrated Sandra’s birthday with a garden party |
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| Our college friends Bärli and Uwe came to visit us in Eigeltingen for the first time since we got married 31 years ago |
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| We spent a fun afternoon on the Mainau, the flower island in Lake Constance |
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| I got to reconnect with my childhood friends Georg, Birgit and Markus. I don’t get to do that every year. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time to keep in touch with all the friends you want to keep in touch with |
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| For the first time in more than 30 years, I visited my uncle and aunt in the house where my grandparents used to live. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time to keep in touch with all the family you want to keep in touch with |
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| We spent a day in Saig in the Black Forest with Sandra’s cousin and her awesome family. Too bad we didn’t get to golf with them this year. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time to golf with all the people you want to golf with. |
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| Burgruine Rötteln |
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| Walk in the French Vosges |
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| The Munot on a day trip to Schaffhausen |
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| Beautiful Stein am Rhein |
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| Ravenna Schlucht - Usually I just look down at it from the train |
Emergency in Europe, Surprisingly Enjoyable
So overall, despite all the challenges, our three months in Europe were surprisingly enjoyable.
We obviously would have preferred to skip the hospital and rehab part of the trip, but we got to spend a lot of time with family and friends, reconnect with people we hadn’t seen in years, and stumble into far more adventures than we had expected.
And that seems to have been the theme of the entire trip: We never knew what we were going to get.
A boring layover became a great reunion. A local brass band became a punk-rock concert. A stroll became an obstacle course. A Queen tour became a Deep Purple history lesson. A choir concert became a Hawaiian concert. A swim almost became an international incident. And an emergency trip to Europe turned into three surprisingly enjoyable months.
We hope to continue our annual pilgrimages to Europe next year. The timing might depend on Torben and Linnea, who just got engaged. We certainly wouldn’t mind spending more time at wedding parties than hospitals next year.
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| Congratulations, Linnea & Torben! |
But first we need to make it back to Maui. We are on our way, but we will take our sweet time: We talked three friends into joining us on a repositioning cruise back to America on Virgin Voyages: First, we have 3 days in Barcelona, then 14 days at sea, then 3 days in Florida, finally 3 days in Evergreen before we make it back home. Are we lucky or what? I better get this blog posted before we have more fun to write about.
And that’s the news from Lake Europe, where all the food is delicious, most of the beer we drank was non-alcoholic, but the Schnaps definitely was not.
Aloha,
Chris & Sandra
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