BBQ: "Awesome!"

For the first time in weeks we actually DID get up early! Renzo had the day free to hang out with us and took us to the Verkherhaus (sp?) Museum, which is a huge museum of transportation. It has separate buildings for major methods of transportation including trains, cars, planes, and boats. It also had exhibits on gondolas, space shuttles, zeppelins, hot air balloons, and different methods of communication (radio, TV, etc). It took about 45 minutes to walk to the museum which was a nice way to start the day. We also stopped to feed ducks and swans some bread which was fun.

The museum was a little expensive by our standards, but we knew we were going to be there all day. Also, in my reading about Switzerland I read that you should ask for student discounts even if they're not advertised. We asked, and they had a student discount - so yay for reading ahead about countries! Each of the major buildings of the transport museum surround a large open area. In this paved square there are tons of interactive things to do. There's an area that's like a really cool sandbox for kids where they can pretend to work on a railroad, there's a large trampoline, miniature go karts, and free scooters and bicycles that were being ridden all over the place. They definitely had a tandem bike and I definitely made Renzo ride it with me! So much fun - I really want a tandem bike! I love them.

The museum also had a really cool planetarium where we watched a presentation on the zodiac constellations. Pretty cool. There were a lot of interactive things and we pretended to be children all day. There are tons of learning games that either teach you something or simulate something. There are also lots of things that you can touch or climb on or under. In the communication section, you could record yourself with a green screen doing a fake news article or something and then email it to people. It was pretty creative as far as a learning platform. I'm always impressed when museums find ways to use technology and other methods to really bring people in and get them engaged.

Around 3:30 we headed to a grocery store because Renzo was throwing a huge CS BBQ at his flat. We picked up some essentials and began the food preparations. Laura and I helped peel and cut potatoes for a delicious potato salad, and when not in Renzo's service we worked more on the puzzle. We were getting so close! I really wanted to finish it before other people showed up because I'd worked so much on it and I didn't want somebody else swooping in and finishing it. Finally most of the food was ready to go and people weren't there yet, and Renzo and Laura and I put in the final puzzle pieces! We win! So many other people have been working on that puzzle for seriously like 4 months. The American Girls get some points.

The BBQ was awesome! So much fun! There must have been around 20 people there. Most of them CS hosts, a couple other CS guests (I think), plus some other friends. Everybody there was really cool. I don't remember most of their names....but it was great fun talking and laughing with new people all night. I'm constantly impressed with how easy it is to hang out and have fun with new people from all over the place. And by all over the place I mean Germany, Norway, Estonia, Poland, and probably some other places. I ate entirely too much food. I don't know how else to describe it...it was just really fun having so many cool people around eating, drinking, laughing, sharing stories, travel tips, contact information, etc. I couldn't even really tell you what I talked to most people about, nothing super substantial or life changing, just fun. Sometime during the party, we got talked into staying in Luzern another night. We had a CS host set up for Munich, but we had to use the Emergency Request forum so we didn't think he would be too heart-broken if we didn't come tomorrow (we have another host set up for Sunday and Monday night so being 'a day late' doesn't affect our plans with her at all). And that, once again, is the beauty of CS. No cancellation fees, just room for flexible traveling. Plans change, we meet people, we have fun, we have space in our itinerary to get talked into staying longer. I love it. We partied until 1 or 2, I don't really know. Finally everybody was out of the house and we crashed after another great night.


Quotes:
"Are you actually hungry or just addicted to chocolate?" - Renzo to me (eating chocolate) at 11:25 AM.

"Americans..." - Renzo, dismissively introducing us to his guests. We were a little shocked; good thing it seemed funny at the time.

Laura: "Awesome!"
Somebody at the BBQ: "Oh; you're American, aren't you?"
(In Europe they say "Super!" not "Awesome!". "Awesome" is a dead giveaway...note to self.)

Accomplishments:
Finished the puzzle!
Had the first BBQ of the Spring/Summer 2010 BBQ season.
Got talked into staying in Luzern another day.

Travel Tip:
Get contact information! Travelers know other travelers and can give you helpful tips or information for further down the road, and then you also have a network of travelers around the world. This is a good thing.


So....looks like we're here another day!