What a long week this past one has been. I dropped the kids off
with their biological mother and headed on off back to RTP to gather some
more of my things. I also sent off a box of the kids Durham Bulls
souvenirs. 
They
wanted to have their things sent up to them as it'll probably be a while
before we get to Durham again. Glenn and Cherrie have done wonders
with the house. Especially the fish tank! It is looking fantastic!
Although they are still trying to work out some problems with some small
sharks that keep dying. But otherwise the tank seems to be quite
healthy and full of life.
We spent a couple of days hanging out together and then I booked on off for Chicago. Spent the day there with Dick and Shu Yi. We ended up seeing Sugar Blue once more at Rosa's Lounge . His show was disappointing. Although it seems the past number of years that he has been mellowing out and the music doesn't have the drive and rhythm it once had. The last time I saw him was in March of 1996 in Raleigh where his show also was less than what I had come to expect of him.
I stayed at the Hyatt on Printer's Row and that is a very nice hotel. 
I
highly recommend it if you ever need a place to stay in Chicago.
From Chicago I caught the direct flight to Zurich. I went there
to meet up with my good friend and Wipe #1 Greg Babb and his beautiful
Swiss girlfriend, Jacquelyn. 
My
buddy Dave was flying in from London to spend the weekend too! So
this was going to be a great weekend of seeing friends. As you can
see, Zurich is a very picturesque town on the north shore of Lake Zurich.
Most of the streets are cobble stone. Dave and I stayed at the Hotel
Limmathof which is a nice hotel and well placed in the town centre.
It was also considerably cooler than what I would have expected for the end of August. I was actually wearing my jacket even during the day.
The first night Greg, Jacquelyn and her friend Linda and I got together for dinner at a Thai restaurant. The food was delicious and the company was great. We headed off afterwards to what was being dubbed the 'longest table in the world.' Apparently this is some record setting event held once a year, and what luck that it was the same weekend I was there!
All along this table were pubs and bars. The Weitzenbeer is highly
recommended. Reasonably priced at 7SFr for the half litre! 
We
caught up with Dave later in the evening as he came in after 22h00.
Surprisingly enough we were walking down the street and he saw us walk
by from a restaurant. 
We
stayed in an small piazza that was jam packed with Swiss people.
I actually found some Two Dogs Lemon drink that comes from Australia.
A very tasty treat. At about 02h00 that evening we finally had partied
ourselves out and we all headed back to our respective lodgings to recover
for the next day!
The next day Greg, Dave and I bummed around Zurich walking around.
There was an English language bookstore where I stopped to purchase a few
books for my long train ride back to Trento. It was going to take
me 7 hours to get back to my apartment. 
That
and three seperate trains. I had to travel via Milano as the line
to Innsbruck is undergoing some construction work. 
We then headed off to Jacquelyn's house for a dinner that she had prepared. Not before we purchased a 1971 Chateau La Tour for dinner. Jacquelyn met us at the train station and drove us up to the house. We had the extreme pleasure of meeting her father and his girlfriend before they headed out to dinner and theatre. He is a tall yet gentle looking man who seemed genuinely pleased to meet us. That is one thing I like about the Europeans is the openness you find amongst the population. They soon departed and Jacquelyn served up an exquisite dinner that was truely a feast. From start to finish we had dined well.
Afterwards, we drove in towards Lake Zurich and went to a bar/discotheque. We hung out there for about an hour and then moved on back to the 'longest table' event. But the evening was getting late and we all headed home soon thereafter.
The next morning we all got together for a late breakfast and then I caught the train(s) back to Trento. The ride back through Switzerland was incredibly picturesque. I wish I had taken some photographs of the ride home. But I was busily engrossed in my reading. We crossed the Italian border and had our passports checked. Well, at least only some of us were checked. I don't know but for some reason I always get checked -grin.
I changed trains in Milano and once again in Verona. We passed by the Peischiere stop where only a couple of weeks ago me and the kids were on our visit to Gardaland. What a bunch of memories that brought back.
I arrived in Trento around 21h00. I caught a taxi home as the
long train ride had pretty much exhausted me. The weather here too
was cooler than it had been only a couple of weeks ago when the kids and
I left town. 
And
it was darker than normal for the hour. I guess we are headed into
the autumn/winter season here now. Although I can't complain.
I like cooler weather myself.
I dumped my bags in the apartment and after a couple of hours promptly
fell asleep.
The next morning (today) I woke up early for some reason. Most likely it was the owners roosters crowing early in the morning. It was 06h00 and I had nothing to do. So I got dressed and when I saw the early morning light hitting against the mountains I knew this was going to be a rare photo-op so I rushed out and headed into the office. I took my camera along so I could catch the photos you see here. There is something about mountains and an early morning sun that makes you appreciate the little things in life.
The rest of the day went pretty much uneventfully. I left the
office earlier as I had arrived around 07h15. And I had a bunch of
errands to run like dropping off my laundry and doing some grocery shopping. 
Nothing
like regular daytime chores to occupy the afternoon. All the girls
at the supermercati and the magazinne were asking about the kids.
Apparently it was obvious they are not with me anymore and I think they
genuinely miss the children. So do I. Things are simply not
the same here anymore without them. But soon, once again, for Christmas,
they will be here with me again.
The only interesting, and sad, news that evolved over the weekend was the passing away of Princess Diana in a tragic car accident in Paris. Oddly enough, she died in a spot that I had travelled many times in a Paris taxicab myself, not far from the apartment the kids and I used to live in a couple of years back on avenue Suffren. Only a few years older than me, she has left the earth prematurely. Makes one wonder about one's own mortality. May we all live long and happy lives.
Copyright @ 1997, Alexandre POLOZOFF. All Rights Reserved.
