A Quick Synopsis

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By now, it's plain to see that

we're not the best bloggers this travel blog has seen.

But to be fair, we've been taking a great deal of wonderful photos that should be able to tell you more about the trip than any of my shoddy writing could.

Of course, we have about 2000 of those to sort out as well.

But just wanted to say a quick "cheerio!" to everyone at home and to let you know what we've been up to since our last REAL entry in Grenoble, France!

After our delightful stay with Vincent, we headed off for a short stay in Geneva (at a hotel, since we lost our host...!). The most beautiful and most elegant of cities, in my opinion, was well worth the price. At night, we explored the scene at the harbour with its international festivities, and by day, we took advantage of their amazing free bike rentals and visited the botanical gardens.

In fact, the day we spent in Geneva was on my birthday, August 8th! ... also the start of the Olympics.

Not bad for a birthday party.

The same day, we hopped on the train again to visit our good friend Sebastian in a small, small village near Basel. Gipf-Oberfrick - a charming collection of houses and gardens and hills and valleys... much like the rest of Switzerland... but of course, Seb made it all the more special. He invited some friends over and we had a gigantic raclette with so much cheese and veggies and tuna (not your traditional raclette ingredient!), I thought I might have an early retirement from

eating.

Afterwards, we baked a cake, and stayed up until 5 in the morning fooling around and having a grand ol' time in Gipf-Oberfrick.

The next day we followed Sebby to his Carnival music event - an amateur band that he plays (euphonium. we think.) in and parties with - to the wedding of a charming Swiss couple. Unfortunately, no one present spoke English. But heck, music is a universal language, and we understand that a bit.

What followed was a bizarre and somewhat distasteful tradition that should definitely be adopted in all ten provinces and three territories upon our return:
Sebastian, and the rest of the group, minus the bride and groom, went back to the apartment of the wedded couple, and proceeded to tear it apart. They reset all the clocks, misplaced all the laundry, hung out all the most embarrassing garments for everyone to see, filled their bed with fibreglas, switched all of their CD's and CD cases, put flowers in their bathtub, and saran wrap on their toilet seat (what a surprise that would be!).. basically, a party at the expense of the supposedly happily wedded couple. Ironically, the fridge and cooler were stocked for our enjoyment with beer, coolers, popsicles, snacks. Fantastic.

The crowning touch must have been Sebastian's though: he brought along two "red lights" to put in their window, and posted, in big, Swiss German, block letters: HEUTE GANG BANG.

"Gang bang today."

Vulgar as it is, we laughed. A lot.

Our night was spent with another friend that we met last year, Martin, in the city in the Basel - another gem of Switzerland. The laid-back atmosphere complemented a nice evening having drinks by the river, taking a short boat ride, and chilling out in interesting cafes. 4 am and completely drained, we returned to Gipf-Oberfrick, knowing that the next day would be a grueling one of travel to our next destination, Bad Bertrich.

Ah, Bad Bertrich. For now, we'll just say that it was two weeks of the most amazing human experiences one could have. The 12 of us became extremely close - partying and practicing and playing (piano) together everyday. The cast was a ridiculously talented one: there were the two of us, Michel and I, and another pianist from the U of Montreal representing Canada, two of Mr.(John) Perry's star students from the ultra-elite Colburn Institute in LA, two more extremely gifted boys from his studio at University of Southern California, one from the prestigious Guildhall in London (not far from where we are at this moment!), three amazing Aussies, and one incredibly talented (and wise) pianist from Mannheim, Germany.
The experience would be hard to describe to anyone who was not there to witness it, but to say that an incredible fusion of personalities and ideas occurred is to say the least. The pictures might help..

We stayed, in fact, a couple more nights past the course, in order to attend the final concert given by my teacher, John Perry, and his wife Mina Perry. An inspiring concert, as I think it's most important for a student to learn by example, and to see one's teacher performing is essential. We were treated too with an extravagant reception at the house of a wealthy German lady, whose recently deceased husband had been somewhat of a tycoon in the wine industry of that area of Germany. My, my. We had a great time, and it was a fitting end for the few of us who stayed behind.

The next day, we finally left Bad Bertrich, after what seemed like a lifetime of happenings, and got on the train towards Dusseldorf (after I almost went with our new German friend to Croatia on his bidding!) with a friend who was heading to Hannover.

Except that halfway through the train ride, we decided to go to Amsterdam instead.

Typical.

So we arrived in Amsterdam later that afternoon, and immediately were taken up with the spirit and utter dirtiness of the city. That is to say, a dirtiness that was heartily embraced by all who lived there, and all who wished they lived there.

It reminded me of an apartment that young, college kids might share. It's messy, but no one really minds, so it doesn't make a difference.

Heck, Amsterdam was a ride. So much visual and mental stimulation (in many different ways). It seemed like anything was possible. Yes, we did go to the red light district, yes we did..

you know.

It's all in fun, anyway.

The weather was what it should have been - overcast and gloomy. If it hadn't been, I would have lost all faith in Dutch painters anyway. Damn Cuyp. Speaking of Dutch landscape, we managed to pay a visit to the (partially open) Rijksmuseum - a marvel. The wonder of seeing so many Vermeers and Remlbrandts and Jan Steens in the flesh was stunning. There were so many choice pieces that I would have loved to snag off the walls and carry off on my rented bike. Too bad their security was still working.

And speaking of overcast and gloomy, we found ourselves on Wednesday night, plonked down for a 12 hour coach ride from Amsterdam to London. That's what comes of spontaneity! - sore butts. Not only that, but we were woken up at 4 am for not one, but TWO customs checks: French and English! And then, one lucky passenger got held back by British immigration, and we missed our train, so for an hour or so, Michel and I napped on the grass right outside the Eurotunnel in no man's land, between blazing bus and car lights. Sweet dreams.

But how great is London. Staying with my dear cousin Alex now in his flat in Central London. And when I say Central, I mean, it is right on top of the London eye. And across the bridge from the Big Ben. Dead centre.

London is what we expected: posh, expensive, British, green, red, white, and blue, and occasionally horse dung in the roads. Needless to say, it's a great time. We've visited all the usual sites, and seen some of the nicest parks that we've seen on this trip. Last night, Saturday night, Alex took us and his girlfriend out to Brighton (yes, THAT Brighton!) on the coast and we had a grand time on the pebbled beaches, at the night carnival, and getting our very own fish and chips by the sea. How charming.

Today we went through the Tate Modern Museum, which is fantastic, save for one exceedingly vulgar video
installation by Paul McCarthy (X him off your lists). But the photography by Malinese artist Keita more than made up for it, and the Picasso, Braques, and Kandinsky helped too.

Unfortunately, our stay in London is even coming to an end, as tomorrow night, we'll hope on the Eurolines again (oops, last minute transportation) to Paris and then a train from Paris to Geneva (I can't wait!!) to see a our new friend Fabrizio, whom we met at Bad Bertrich, and who teaches at the Geneva Conservatory. It's wonderful that we get an opportunity to spend more time in this glorious place, and visit a new amigo.

Then, on Friday, we'll meet with Sebastian in Geneva and head together to Paris, where we'll meet up with one of my best friends from California, Kelli! Together we'll spend the last couple of days of our trip frolicking in the city of lights once again.

ah, but how life is good.

Hopefully, this fills everyone in a bit (I know a few of you were getting worried!). I'll send out the word when the pictures are up.

love from London!

CC and MR

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Comments

[kels]

why didn't we meet up in geneva.......? would have been sooo much closer. I would have just walked there. jk. So excited!