Airportman

Generally speaking, I’ve been very fortunate throughout all my travel in the past two years. I’ve only had a handful of delays and aside from the Budapest strike incident, everything’s been smooth sailing. Leave it to my trip home to be one of the biggest hassles.

Normally, to get from Geneva to Columbus I would have flown with Continental straight through (with a layover in Newark). However, prices for that trip have been cost-prohibitive this summer so I found a deal on a one-way British Airways flight to Chicago O’Hare via London Heathrow. I had never actually been through Heathrow before but most of the stories that have been relayed to me have been of the “horror” variety. I was a bit concerned about making connections and having my luggage since I’d be landing at the infamous Terminal 5. However, all these fears were completely unfounded as my BA flight was great and everything went off without a hitch.

No, it was the final piece of my journey that proved the most difficult. To get from Chicago to Columbus (only about an hour by plane), I had booked a United flight at 6:45pm. There were earlier flights, but my other flight didn’t arrive until 2pm and knowing I’d need to make it through passport control, baggage claim and customs before check-in and security, I opted to give myself plenty of time. Well, being cautious ended up folly. I opened my e-mail around 5:30am on Sunday morning in Geneva to a message saying my United flight had been cancelled and they’d booked me on a flight this afternoon at 2pm (There were several other United flights that day making the same connection; mine was the only one cancelled). Naturally, news like this isn’t the best when you’re about to spend the whole day in the air and just want to make it home.

Fortunately, my brother (the night owl) happened to be online when I made the discovery and I gave him the information I had. Despite spending the morning with my stomach in knots (from stress, worry, or beer from the day before? hard to know...), when I landed in Chicago I had a message from a United rep with information for an NWA flight they booked me on. My mom was able to call during my transatlantic journey and work something out. So, as it was, I spent a few hours in Chicago before flying to Detroit and then, finally, into Columbus at 11pm Eastern Standard Time (about 23 hours from the time I’d left my apartment in Geneva).

Making the trip somewhat less distressing was a visit in Chicago from Scott who is finishing up his summer vacation in the city before heading back to Japan this week. It was great to catch up, if only for a few hours, especially since it was New Years 2007 that we’d last seen one another. Photographic evidence:


So, long story short, I have made it back safely from Geneva despite some uncertainty going into the journey. Now come a few months of relaxation and organization as I regroup to figure out what comes next. Let’s hope it’s a time of “great opportunity,” to quote from the R.E.M. song which gives this post its title.

Thanks again to all my Geneva friends for coming out last week to help my say goodbye. I will miss you all and look forward to when we meet again.

Despite the fact that I am no longer in Europe, I’ll keep this blog going for a few more months at least since I still have a lot to cover from my final weeks and months on the continent. Hopefully I’ll have the time to do so in the near future…

Parent-Sitting

As these things sometimes/always go, I am very very behind on updates. Hopefully I’ll have the chance to prepare a few more entries before my re-entry to the US. Even if not, I’ll try to keep this one relatively succinct for your benefit and mine.

A bit over a month ago, my parents finally made it back to Europe to visit me. Their previous trip had taken them to the UK sometime before I was born (and maybe even before they were married?), so this was actually their first time in Continental Europe. Because I had to work during the week of their arrival, I sent them on a few day trips in which they got to visit Bern, Lucern, Lauterbrunnen and various others. Finally, on the weekend after their arrival I began my vacation and was able to accompany them to some places in the country I hadn’t yet traveled.

Basel

It seems kind of crazy that it took me almost 2 years to make it to Basel, one of the country’s design centers (home of a world-renowned design school where two of my professors studied). When I finally did visit, it was during ArtBasel, an international showcase by various galleries and artists at the city’s massive convention center. We spent the better part of a Saturday browsing some great (and exorbitantly expensive) contemporary art.


Entrance to ArtBasel

On Sunday we returned to do more traditional sight-seeing including some nice museums and the zoo. The city is quite beautiful with some great Medieval architecture. That, coupled with the thick Eurocup atmosphere made it a great day.


the Rathaus at the city’s main square


an amazing door relief


detail of a Rodin sculpture


sweet birds at the zoo


street scene

Broc

On Monday we traveled to Broc to tour the Callier chocolate factory which has technically been owned by Nestlé since the early 1900s, but still retains its own recipes and name. It was a nice visit, compounded by the fact that it was free and included a room full of chocolate for unlimited tasting. Yes, please.








So much chocolate, so little time.


Sampling some of the goods

Gruyeres

Following Broc, we made our way to the cheese-making village of Gruyeres. We were able to do the cheese-making tour which included some delicious samples of differing ages of the namesake cheese, but missed out of touring the Chateau or H.R. Giger museum (devoted to the artist behind the aliens in Alien, which for some reason resides in this otherwise quaint little place). Even so, it was a fun trip and I think my parents enjoyed the spectacle of the Raclette we ate.


Cheese aging in the cellar


Entrance of the Giger Museum




Dad preparing some raclette (in which you melt the top of a block of cheese and scrape it onto a plate of potatoes)

Vevey

On Tuesday we stuck around Lake Geneva, venturing just an hour away to Vevey. This lakeside city offers fantastic views across to the mountains and has a nice little statue as a tribute to Charlie Chaplin who lived in the area after he fled the states during the McCarthy Era. We wandered around in the morning and enjoyed the views.


Mom and Dad


Chaplin as the Little Tramp


There’s a Museum of Food near the lake, thus it’s only logical that this giant fork would be there.



Lausanne

Our Swiss tour ended with another trip (for me) to Lausanne, one of my favorite cities in the country. We did the standard “attractions” as well as some shopping and a last dinner at a great pizza place/microbrewery I try to get to every time I’m in town. Since I’ve covered this city pretty well in other posts, I’ll just leave you with one final image to haunt your dreams.
My new vote for scariest mannequin ever: