And So We Cause an International Incident

After Church we went for a drive. We headed into the French speaking portion of Switzerland. We saw a beautiful field of daffodils and a cow getting a massage. (Seriously. It was this big rotating brush thing and the cow stood under it. If we were cows, we'd want to be Swiss cows.)

We were very close to France, so we decided to go home through France. We had our passports, so everything should have been fine.

Except it wasn't.

We got to the border and presented our passports. The border guards only spoke French. Fortunately, Jason's high school French really paid off and he was able to communicate clearly with them. (Or at least, clearly enough that we didn't end up in jail.)

The children and I have not yet been to the Munchenstein police station to register. The border guards told us that if we left Switzerland we would not be allowed back in. It was all very confusing. Becuase we have a visas, we are under different rules then we would be otherwise. You don't need a visa to enter Switzerland, but if you have one, you have to register.

Jason was discussing this in French and the guards took our passports and disappeared into the building. When they came back, they mentioned that Jason worked for Novartis, so they must have looked us up in their computer and discovered things about us.

They asked to see Jason's driver's license, and that's when we discovered that he had forgotten his wallet. We got a little nervous at this point. Nothing like conversing in a foreign language with an armed man who has the power to put you in jail for attempting to illegally leave the country. Yeah! Welcome to Europe!

Fortunately, they let us turn around and we went back home through Switzerland.

And We're Off

We just flew across an ocean (Business Class, thank you very much) and landed in a strange land known as Switzerland.

We flew out of Rochester, NY, which made all the difference in the world. First of all, we had a ton of luggage and there was a handy skycap who helped us. (And got a $20 tip for his effort. As I said, we had A LOT of luggage. Heavy luggage. I should not be allowed to pack.) Then, as we were checking in we discovered that someone somewhere had made a mistake and there was no reservation for Daniel.

So we decided to just go ahead and leave him with Grandma.

Just kidding. Jason got that all straightened out. (Turns out there was a reservation for him, it was just lost.) It took about half an hour and this is why we were glad we were in Rochester, rather than Newark. There was no one in line behind us and the Continental employee was as helpful as can be.

Our flight from Rochester to Newark was delayed an hour, as it was snowing and we had to wait to be de-iced. So, maybe Rochester wasn't the greatest. But, Daniel slept and Sarah ate a surprise whistle pop that I had procured before leaving.

Upon arriving in Newark, we had a 3.5 hour layover. Because we were flying business class, we could go into the "president's club lounge." Despite the fact that that sounds like a strip club, there were no strippers, but several Budhist monks. Which made me wonder about that whole vow of poverty. But, let's throw vows out the window, because there was FREE CHEESE and nutella and Fritos. What more could you ask for?

Our flight to Switzerland was also delayed an hour and a half on the runway. But, this wasn't as bad, as we were in our luxury seats and had sparkling water to drink.

We didn't, however, have a seat for Daniel and he was getting a bit punchy on my lap. When we did take off and they began serving dinner (appetizers were spinach somethings, crab cakes and mushroom soup), he began showing all signs of terrorizing tiredness. Jason took him, turned him away from me, so he wouldn't know I was available (advantages of short baby memories), and he fell asleep.

Sarah had a delightful time. She got to watch movies on her personal t.v., had an ice cream sundae for dessert and a refill of Sprite, everytime she got halfway through her glass. (Until Jason made her switch to water.) She stayed awake long after we fell asleep, but we figure, what's the harm in that? It's not like she's going to go anywhere.

When we arrived in Zurich, we sailed through immigration and customs, got our baggage and the kids and I went to play on a slide area while Jason went after the car.

Sarah then proceeded to fall down the slide and bled all over. Hey, welcome to Switzerland!

Amazingly, the luggage that barely fit in our rented SUV in America, fit easily into the rented Passat Station Wagon, and we were off to Basel.

The kids slept and we listened to Swiss Radio. They, apparently, like Alanis Morrissette and Barry Manilow Sound alikes. This amused me to no end.

We arrived in Basel, lugged the luggage up, walked to the gas station to get a little food and then we were home. Totally weird.

Jason had to go to work (ironically to participate in a meeting that was taking place in NJ). But, he got home at 5:30 with good news: It's Easter this Sunday.

Yes, we knew that. What we didn't know is that that meant he had Thursday, Friday and Monday off work. Who could ask for a better start?