Zurich, Switzerland

German is one of those languages that no matter how slow they say something, or how good the hand gesture- I have no idea what they are saying. It is indecipherable and that, to me, just makes things all the more interesting. It is pretty cool to be "all alone" in such a huge land. We will spend most of the first part of the tour in Germany- but today, we are in Switzerland.

Oh Switzerland... I could live here. 

We get up yesterday in Dusseldorf, Germany which for some reason totally reminded me of Prague. Prague is like a movie set, everything looks fake. We drove about 6-7 hours to make it to Zurich, I was behind the wheel most of the way until I was hit by the inevitable jet lag. It is like a sneak attack almost, I'm driving things are fine and then all of the sudden if I don't close my eyes, I feel as if I will just drop dead. Jet lag is funny that way, when you travel this far, it lasts a good 4-5 days, sneaking up on you at odd times to  make you feel a little bit crazy.

I gotta go now, we are getting the boot out of this htl. But first let me say, the Coronado rocks! If you are ever in Zurich, stay here. It looks like a dump from the outside, but we are on the top floor, it's an A frame style room with giant sliding doors on the ceiling/wall that reveal a very huge window that overlook a park and train tracks- which by the way, goes by so often you hardly notice it. The bathroom is all glass, frosted so no one can see you shower but glass all the same. After Eddie and I showered, Q got in and I found a switch next to the bed that turned on this awesome blue light that ran up and down the glass walls of the shower- a shower for Q to remember. I asked him if I could take a picture... you'll know the answer when you scroll down and don't see it.

We were promptly given the boot at 12. Well, they started calling at 11 and then again at 11:30, the lady said to E on the phone "I have told you already about checking out at noon, right?"... we walked out of the room at 11:59- Daly style.

So what to do? We have the day off, tomorrow's show is back in Germany, Stuttgart to be exact, so we walk. Well, we drive back through the tunnel to the city center. It's magical here- if magic to you is primo shopping district. I could be here a month and probably not go into every store. The one good thing about this particular tour? I won't spend all of my earnings (yes, I'm getting paid) on clothes... I'm 7 months pregnant and I'm only getting bigger by the day. I think I'll only buy if I actually grow out of something along the way- but this place, this place has the good eats too.

Last night our very gracious hosts told us about a place, "Johanniter" and that is where I sit as I type up the last half of this blog. First part was in bed this morning in my 10 minutes before I had to get out of it, they wanted 57 Swiss Francs for us to stay later, ouch!

The food was delicious. I had a ham and cheese on crusty bread and a califlower soup. Homemade and totally what the baby ordered. Eddie had this crazy chicken cordon blue, but it was with pork (we think) pomme frites of course, they come with everything. And then there's Q.... he was saying he wanted a hamburger, I told him "when in Rome..." so when he got the menu he was happy to through back in my face that in "Rome" or Zurich, they too have hamburgers on the kids menu. The little girl next to us was eating a hot dog... so the similarities are there for sure. The kids are universal eaters of "kid food". I was fine with it, ordering off the adult menu would have cost three times as much, the Swiss ain't cheap.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about last night! So we show up, straight off the highway, tired, hot- it was their hottest day yesterday, 32 I think (celcius of course) which you do something like times by 1.8 and add something else. I know that 25 is god, 30+ is warm/hot and 16 is perfect for sleeping. It's the little things you have to learn when you are a broad- temps are good for when you are setting the thermostat in your room and how to order some coffee. WHich I have been drinking WAY too much of, I guess I'm hoping for a low birth weight. I'm totally kidding... well, mostly.

Q and I knock on the door of the Kontiki Club. It's located on this adorable street. Brick walking streets, lined with restaurants with tons of outside tables. There are so many, they all blend together, you can't really tell where one place starts or stops. I love it, this is my thing, if I were not pregnant I would be sitting down immediately and ordering a bottle of wine while E and Q unload the merch and guitar... alas, I am with child. I'm not against wine while holding, I am sharing a glass with Eddie right now actually but you know, the other me... bottle of wine, I don't mess with the glass.

I'd like to thank Danny right now for cooking us this fabulous BBQ. Not only were we on a rooftop, in Switzerland with a giant church directly in front of us, we were welcomed by people that at home they'd totally be our friends. Just really cool, down to earth people, covered in tattoos. I felt immediately like we were in a good place.

I'm forgetting the name of our hosts right now, I'd probably butcher the hell out of them anyway, I would tell you all about the dog bite but now I feel bad because the owner (who was really, really nice and good to all of us), I heard she didn't come to the show because she felt so bad. I'm so bummed, I wish I could tell her (hey, maybe she's reading!) that there are no hard feelings. This stuff happens, so real quick I will only say Q still thinks your dog is really cute, sure, we call him "Kujo" now but half in part because we can't remember his name either.

The show was lightly attended, but it didn't sound like it. I was in the backstage most of the evening, feeling very comfortable in a backstage on the nights that they are super nice, I take advantage. But every cheer, you'd think there were a couple hundred people, which is great and sometimes it's nicer to have a small crowd who are really into it, than 300 people who are so out of it wasted. Listen to me, I sound like an old person. But I'm not, I'm all of a night of dibaughtchery but this is a family tour, so that's where my head is at. 

And what a great time it's been so far. We are 5 days in, 16 to go and we are really just taking it all in. Getting to roam around today really made it feel complete, 

Our fellow road dogs, the Pace Shifters and family just walked up, they too are getting their roam on. They read my last blog, didn't love that I called them babies but I'm sticking to it. They should enjoy it, I too am the baby in my crowd, it's good, it beats the alternative.

It's time for me to shove off, Eddie just spotted a sign for "Hooters", so that means it is time for a change of scenery. Last night we noticed a McDonald's right in the middle of that cute walking street with all the restaurants- there's just something about it. It really takes the majesty out of it all. I boo it. I mean, I've eaten it, but over here- I boo it. In France, now that's a McDonald's I can somehow get behind, they have the good "moutarde". France has some great food but when you are on tour, sometimes there's only time for fast food.