The Dead Ipod/Zurich

My IPOD could quite possibly be dead and I think I may have lost a little sliver of me in the process. I'm not sure there will be any way to revive my poor mp3 player, but I'm going to attempt to when Kacey returns home from school. The tragic accident occurred at 6:48pm CST 10.4.06 & 1:58am Zurich time on 10.5.06 wheb the click wheel refused to operate. And then the play/pause & menu button stopped responding. This was about the time we began crossing over the Atlantic Ocean, we had just finished dinner and I was trying to put myself to sleep on the airplane. Of course this was also the time that the baby seated in the center row next to my row began to wail in disgust for my IPod too (ok maybe he was pissed his parents were making him fly, but whatever). So needless to say I too wanted to cry myself into a tizzy. Normally I would drown out baby noise, seatmate talk, etc with my selectively placed tunes. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen. So cooler heads prevailed and endured "The Breakup" with Jennifer & Vince, Delta Radio and desperately tried to sleep (oh why is Tylonel PM like a no-doze for me). Below is my last known shuffle mix before the Ipod went kaput:

1. African Ivory – The Samples
2. I Remember – Damien Rice
3. Chocolate – Snow Patrol
4. Punky’s Dilemma – Simon & Garfunkel
5. Another Lonely Day – Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
6. Three Of Us In A Boat – Jackopierce
7. 24 Hours – The Sundays
8. Set the Fire to the Third Bar – Snow Patrol & Martha Wainwright
9. Porch Song – Widespread Panic
10. I Don’t Need A Hero – Concrete Blonde
11. Water Is Wide – Indigo Girls, Jewel & Sarah McLachlan
12. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do – Abba
13. King Of The Mountain – Midnight Oil
14. Bartender – Dave Matthews Band
15. Emit Remmus – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Things did get better on the flight though. The baby slept way more then me (I just couldn't seem to get settled). We arrived a few minutes early, where I was whisked through Swiss customs (really they didn't do anything, but look at my passport and wave me in) and was greeted by Kacey. We journeyed to her place in the city where we deposited my stuff and enjoyed a chocolate croissant (YUM, YUM, YUM). Kacey then left for work and I explored the city. First stop was a museum, but I didn't have any Swiss Francs and their credit card machine was down (just my luck no Ipod or Swiss Funny Money).

So I set out to find a bank to get cash. Well that turned into me walking all over this city of Zurich. I went into some very famous and beautiful churches. This included a trip to St. Peter's where I tried to join a group of elementary age kids who were climbing the clock tower. I think the German lady from the church was not pleased with me tagging along. After we climbed to the base I believe she said "Get Lost" or "You're not part of the tour, Go Home you silly southerner", but alas I have no clue what she said because I don't speak German. So we will all have to leave it up to our imagination.

Finally after I left my faux tour group I decided to get some Swiss Money and I realized I was famished. So I stopped off at this little cafe that sold sausage and rolls. Oh my gosh it was the best sausage I'd eaten!. Again, there might have been some confusion because I know NO German, but pointing and saying sausage does the trick. And following people who speak German isn't a bad idea either. After lunch I went to yet another church - Grossmünster that has a very tall tower, which you are allowed to climb for a few Francs. This tower has an amazing view of the entire city. After walking all day, getting busted at St. Peters and a tower climb that was SO worth the wait, I finally decided to head back to find my friend.

I never ended up making it back to the museum. I guess I was caught up in the churches and the cobblestone streets. I could have gazed out of that tower for a while, but alas I decided to call it a day and meet Kacey back at her place. What an excellent way to explore the city. No plans, no worries, chalked full of adventures.

A Zurich night ended up being a lot of fun too. When Kacey got home we milled around the old city looking for some lollipops for her class. And I marveled at how well behaved dogs are in the city. They are allowed EVERYWHERE…fancy restaurants…trains...shops, you name it they can go with you. I was told that they go through strict training to be allowed in public.I quicky realized that Parker might not make it as a European dog.

Then we headed back home to meet coy and search for hotels (which we didn’t reserve –yes we like flying by the seat of our pants). Coy and Kacey entertained me at their house with dinner and wonderful chat about life and music. Coy even tried to revive my ipod, again unsuccessfully. But I so appreciated the effort and the hospitality.