August 24-25, 2018
Friday the 24th is a day of transit. I meet my hosts, Butch and Joel. Joel is one of my Mom's old classmates from Philippine Science High School. They live with their sausage doggie daughter, Leela, in the city of Basel on the River Rhine, a nexus linking Switzerland with France and Germany. Leela was impossibly cute, but my first impression of her was a liquid whip of pee as she rolled on her back, shot like one of those cylinder garden sprinklers. She is easy to forgive. Joel and Butch are pro hosts. They have a whiteboard calendar with all their guests for the next month. To be a traveler in capable hands, hosted by guides who know the city AND how best to show it to you in a limited amount of time--I hope everyone gets to experience that at least once!
The next day I wake up early, mid REM cycle to a welcoming space--unfamiliar, yet welcoming--the reality of a once-in-a-lifetime trip. It was brilliant, and I urge you to remember that more mornings like that are waiting for each of us, someday.
I love Basel and will talk about it more, but it doesn't look like your typical Swiss fantasy storybook town. My first full day in Switzerland is a day-trip to Lucerne, where I first experience that "real good alpine shit." It's a crowded tourist town, but still pretty cool. It's got a weeping lion statue that brought Mark Twain to tears. It's also probably even prettier in snow. Also in Lucerne, a lifelong SoCal boy discovers the joy of L A Y E R S. My umbrella was broken, but I keep warm and dry with a real-deal Fjällräven jacket I'd bought specifically for the trip.
I took a nap in a church on the north bank of Lake Lucerne to wait out some of the rain. I bought lots of chocolates, and explored the old city's Renaissance walls, its modern center, and everything in between.
