grüß Gott - guten tag (southern german dialect)

dan endulges in cheesiness - and eats some fondue too.

so which of friday's 3 options did you choose? here are how the scenarios play out:

1. after many hours of internet searches, international phone calls to your mother and grandmother, and unreturned emails from your apparently famous, understandably busy, and notoriously bad-at-keeping-in-touch uncle, you decide the trip to sweden is just too complicated to plan. you arrange to see them all later this summer in the US.

3. your husband laughs loudly for about 5 minutes straight when you suggest clubbing. and while it would be fun to do something berlin is famous for, you've never been the club type. especially when going out with a large group of good looking girls. you decide a night of yelling broken german over loud music and self-conscious clothing adjustment, so you don't look too much fatter than your friends, is not your bag.

2. congratulations! you've chosen correctly! you decide a cheap flight to zürich is just the ticket!

friday started like any other day - dan went to work, i went to class. but at 11:15am we met at home to begin our adventure: we were going to spend the weekend in switzerland. we leave slightly dirty, a bit confusing berlin for incredibly clean and easy to navigate switzerland. the airport is easy, the train to lucerne is spotless, and the lucerne train station is the nicest station we have ever seen. as we exit the station and make the quick walk to the hotel past the gorgeous lake and snowcapped alps dan laments his company's decision to send him to berlin instead of bern. switzerland is ideal. and of course you pay for that ideal... more on this in the next couple of posts.

our goal for today was to explore and have fondue. we accomplish the exploration, and in traditional dan and jordan fashion we pass up the first fondue place because the receptionist recommended a different one. we walk a little too long, get grumpy and hungry, and finally find the place that was recommended. it appears to have either removed fondue from it's menu or the receptionist was dead wrong. we turn around and head back to the first one.

the first place "fondue haus and chinesiche bistro" proves to be a tiny, fun place with a rustic look and friendly waiters. the table next to us is full of aussies from melbourne just finishing a tour of europe. a few seem determined to get some action and there is much wine and flirting. we amuse ourselves by watching them. we order the classic fondue with bread, potatoes and veggies, get a pitcher of beer, and we are set. our dropped dunk rule is to tell the other a story about ourselves that we have never told before. after 10 years together this proves to be a little difficult.

we spend the requisite 3 hours at dinner, take a leisurely walk back to the hotel, and immediately crash. we say good night to the lake and mountains. it's a good life.