4th of July-Swiss Style!

Last Friday was the 4th of July; the day most Americans have off work and celebrate the independence of our country by going to some festival or parade or party…or maybe all of the above! Well, no surprise, 4th of July isn’t observed here as a holiday. So, I worked as usual that day and, since it was a Friday, I planned to go to the lake with some of my friends in the evening where we were going to have a little party. We planned to bring traditional American goodies and some drinks and after dark we were set to light our sparklers!

I arrived early and enjoyed just over an hour by myself eating a little bit of dinner and then reading my book. When the girls (two other Americans, an Aussie, and a Kiwi!) showed up we broke out all the goodies- we had chocolate chip cookies, marble cake with white icing and red and blue M&Ms for decoration, chips, and of course we had the American drinks. It was a feast!

The evening was going along nicely when on of my American friends got a call on her cell phone from a guy she knows here in Zurich. He was out on his sail boat on Lake Zurich and offered to dock and take us aboard…were we interested??? What kind of question is that…are we interested?! Of course we’re interested!! So we packed away all our things in the space of about 30 seconds and we were off to the dock.

You see, where I’m from the popular thing to do for all warm-weather major public holidays is to go out on one of the many lakes dotting the landscape of Northeast GA in a boat and stay there for the day. I’ve never actually done that…but this year…in a foreign country, as I celebrated the 4th of July, I got the opportunity! It was great. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a sail boat before and so I was very interested in watching how it all works. We sat and talked and after a bit everyone decided to jump off the boat for a swim…well, everyone but me. I was the designated picture taker. Deep water scares me a bit and really a lot at night, especially because I’m not a swimmer…I guess I can swim a bit but I’m not strong at it at all! They swam for a bit and I took pictures and talked to them as we (them in the water and me on the boat) bobbed up and down on the lake.

As we floated along peacefully, night descended upon us and the many lights of the city began to flicker on in the distance. Zurich at night is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever had opportunity to lay my eyes on. The city was like a mirage coming out of the now dark water of the lake. We were still sitting out there at 11:30PM. It was great! No big fireworks or parties and we didn’t even use the sparklers since we were out on the boat (nope, no sinking for us that night!)…just a few friends singing the national anthem of our country and enjoying our time together…lovely!

Well, Mom and James arrive here on Friday. I’m so excited to show them around my country. I think they have had a nice trip going all over Europe so far but I’m sure they look forward to coming to a place that is a little more laid back and less rushed (that’s what I’m hoping Switzerland will be for them!)

I hope all had a lovely 4th!

Love you all!

LuLu