We ate lunch at Mcdonald's the other day. Don't blame me, it was my wife's fault. I've only been to Mickey D's twice while living here in Switzerland, and that's pretty much as often as I frequented them back in the States -- about twice a year. Too much Mcdonalds is definitely not a good thing, on many levels, but every once in a while, I do crave an order of fries, and an ever-shrinking Big Mac. Does it not seem that the Big Mac keeps getting smaller and smaller? -- Or maybe I'm getting bigger and bigger! I can down one in three bites, no problem. I know they keep furtively making them tinier, thinking that we won't notice. They're wrong. I know what you're up to Mcdonalds!! Don't think you can pull a fast one on me!

I've got a little nugget for everyone, excuse the pun. They really do call the quarter pounder over here a 'cheeseburger royale'. If you don't get that pop cultural reference, than you're too old -- or too young -- and I won't explain it to you. Another thing they do differently here is to put very little ice, if any, into drinks. You order a Diet Coke, and you receive approximately three small chunks of ice, floating oh so pitifully and lonesomely -- and quickly meltingly -- in the top of the drink container. They don't have enough siblings to do the job! They're overwhelmed by an insufficient drink-to-ice ratio! They just don't do ice here. I spoke once to a guy who worked for Coke, and he said that it was designed for a certain amount of ice, that you are supposed to drink it with a decent amount of ice in order to optimize the taste combinations. Europe just doesn't get this. If you ask for extra ice, they either look at you with a blank expression, or one that implies that you are nuts.

The other day at work I found myself having a daydream while dealing on blackjack. I dreamt that I blew a player's cigarette smoke too forcefully back into their face, and a live ash broke off the end of their ciggie and caught their hair on fire. Then, when I yanked out the paddle from the money drop to help fan out the flames, I 'accidentally' hit him in the face with it, causing him to bump into the smoking player to their right, thereby catching that one on fire as well. The fire quickly spread to their clothes, and as they desperately -- and moronically -- ran screaming around the casino, they subsequently ignited most of the other smoking guests, resulting in all the smokers dying, appropriately, in flaming agony, and the casino burning to the ground. The vision really improved my mood for awhile. Analyze that.

My wife is on a vendetta. Anyone who knows my wife, knows that when she feels that she has been wronged in some way, or betrayed, or disrespected, then you better damn well watch out and get out of the way! As should be obvious by now of all the readers of this blog, my wife feels that this casino has wronged her. Myself, I am a very laid-back Oregonian, who generally lives and lets live. If someone disses me, then I usually just sever contact with that person, or quit the job, or never do business with that establishment again, or whatever. I don't like confrontation, or ruffling feathers, unless you push me really far. My wife, on the other hand, if you mess with her, will strike back so quickly and so devastatingly, that afterwards there will only be scorched earth remaining. She will make you rue the day you ever met her. She will crush your spirit, your mind, and your life. You will regret ever being born. This is what she is attempting at Grand Casino Luzern. Of course, one can certainly go too far with this, as my wife often has in the past, and will again in the future. She often burns bridges that don't need to be burned, or takes issue with something that, in my opinion, maybe isn't such a big deal, or creates negative situations that don't need to be created. I have already gone over most of the things that they have done, including their policies, procedures and rules, their discriminatory attitude, inequalities, favoritism, negativity, etc, etc. We have already put in our notice, but this is far from enough retaliation for my wife. For her, quiting is just getting started. She is sowing dissent, discord, and dissatisfaction at every opportunity. If she senses discontent from some other employee, then she pounces, drawing them out, getting details, emphasizing their complaints, encouraging them to take action. She spreads poison at every opportunity. When she drops off her dry cleaning, she asks the lady who organizes it if she thinks it is fair that they charge more to clean women's shirts than men's, when there is no difference between them, and when women's shirts are usually smaller than men's. If some female dealer mentions that it's unfair that women can only wear skirts, regardless of the temperature and draftiness in the casino, my wife is there. She encourages people to think and act on the discrimination inherent in this company. If other dealers are unhappy with the smoke, or some other aspect of their work, she offers solace, understanding, then encourages them to take their problems to management. She prints statistics off the Internet and brings copies into work and spreads them around. She follows members of management around, haranguing them for not being more effective at looking out for the employees well-being, for being unfair, or for not caring. She pours over the contract we had to sign in order to accept working in the smoking side of the casino, finds discrepancies, then brings them to every one's attention. She wants to sue for breach of contract, recklessly endangering employees lives, and sexual discrimination. The casino, in it's eternal naivetè, gave her an exit survey to fill out. She has written volumes on her dissatisfaction and disappointment with every aspect of this casino's management. She is attempting to create wholesale protest, to wake these people up to smell the coffee. Since we put in our notice, three other dealers have put in theirs as well. This in a casino with only about twenty dealers! Only two others have quit in the last several years all together. Several others are considering talking to management about the smoke and negative work conditions. She is encouraging them to band together in strength and force a change! If she had a few more months, I think she would organize and initiate a class action suit, and shut this casino down. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." No truer words have been spoken. My wife has definitely missed her true calling. She could have been a product liability attorney, forever trying to force huge corporations to be more responsible, or perhaps a divorce lawyer, going after dead beat spouses with ruthless ferocity. She would have been a ball-buster. I pity the fool that crosses swords with my wife.

We are in the process of selling our car here. We are doing this because it costs a lot to ship it back, and because we can get quite a bit more money for it here than back in the States(about seven or eight thousand more)-- two very good reasons in my opinion. In order to sell it, though, we have had to go ahead and register it here, and buy insurance for it in Switzerland. Until now, we had just kept our old Nevada plates on it, and insured it through an international insurer in Germany. The registration process was interesting to say the least. On the bright side, the government bureaucracy here in Switzerland is very efficient. Back in the States, when you are told something is going to take a certain amount of time, it generally takes even longer. Here, just the opposite. If they say you'll probably get an appointment in two to three weeks, it instead takes two to three days. If they say they will have your new license to you in two weeks, it will be in your mail box in less than half that. Very impressive and efficient. On the not so bright side, but still so incredibly interesting that it was worth the hassle, is their inspection process. First of all, you have to take the vehicle to an independent garage, and get the emission, or smog, check done. Not too much different there than in the States, except it costing 5 times as much. Then, the real fun begins! After bringing all the necessary paperwork to the "Strassenverkersampt" (DMV), which usually includes every document ever associated with your vehicle including receipts for gas, five different proofs of ownership, your birth certificate, marriage license, residency permits, working permits, number of children, driver's licence translated into four different languages, your parent's marriage license, high school diploma, library card, gym membership, proof that you've never been in an accident or arrested, proof that your vehicle has never been in accident or arrested, proof that you don't drink, use drugs, or dance on Sundays, your grandparent's marriage license, 4 witnesses, and a letter of reference from at least 8 people including your elementary school track coach, you can get an appointment for the "Inspection".

The "Inspection" is a fascinating hour and a half long procedure that takes place in a large, warehouse-like structure connected to the DMV. It is, of course, spotless, organized, and streamlined. It is also like a medieval torture chamber slash dentist office for cars. Our car was actually trembling in fright as we drove it into the building. What happens is that when they are ready for you, they open a cavernous door into the ominous interior of the building and direct you to drive your vehicle up onto tracks suspended over a pit in the floor. Kind of like at some oil change places, but much more complex looking, with various and assorted tools and devices and machines hanging from the ceiling and built into the floor. Then the inspection technician directs the driver to activate all the different lights on the car in succession and in various combinations, and proceeds from there to inspect every square inch of the car inside and out, on top and down below, with a flashlight and mirror, just like the kind dentists stick into your mouth but bigger. Then he raises the car on the tracks, but these aren't just any old tracks! They're torture tracks! The track under each wheel of the car can move independently of the others in every way, so they move the car, and each wheel, simultaneously in many different directions, checking suspension, brakes, traction, pushing and pulling the poor car every which way. Then the car is directed over rollers that spin the wheels in different directions. It goes on from there, with the technician recording everything about the car, combing over the engine, the wheel hubs, behind the brakes and discs, making sure you have all the proper emergency equipment, and on and on. Then they take it for a test drive on a performance course and check its steering and braking capabilities under different conditions. Quite the experience and really fascinating, very Swiss and very un-American. Half the cars able to get away with driving around on American roads would never, in a million years, past muster here. Switzerland does not allow jacked-up vehicles or low-riders, no rusted-out relics, cars with missing pieces, trucks without beds, home-made cars or drastically changed cars, no dramatic paint jobs, no custom license plates, no special lights or devices of any kind. Conformity in the pursuit of safety for all is the name of the game.

I hope I will be able to get another blog written and posted within the next couple of days. I've got a lot more to write, and I'm running out of time! See ya.

The Swiss do what?!?!

Okay, we have been so incredibly busy as of late that I have gotten well away from the original intent of this Blog, which was to record my experiences, analysis, and thoughts regarding Switzerland, not everywhere but Switzerland! I suppose there is really nothing inherently wrong with that, but I really do want to continue describing things about the country I am currently living in. So although I do want to relate all that I can about the various trips and activities we are doing outside of Switzerland, I will try to write a little bit about my short-term adopted country in each blog as well, and then continue with the original intent of the post.

The Swiss Federal Ethics committee on Non-Human Biotechnology has written a treaty titled "The Dignity of Living Beings with regards to Plants", which puts forth, in simplicity, what the Swiss government feels should be the proper treatment of plants......all plants. It expresses the different moral stances according to which it is unanimously held that plants may not be arbitrarily destroyed, have their reproductive rights violated, or their dignity infringed upon. It posits that any arbitrary harm done to plants is morally impermissible, as well as reprehensible. Such damage would include, but not be limited to, e.g. "decapitation of wildflowers at the roadside without rational reason." As a result of this treaty, no one in Switzerland cuts down weeds and/or wildflowers before they have had the chance to finish their blooming cycles and have germinated, so that they're continued existence and health is reassured, and their fragile dignity is morally upheld.Once this process is completed, they proceed to groom all public areas, but continue to leave small "islands" of weeds and flowers uncut for a few more weeks, just in case they weren't quite finished. I'm not kidding. This is not a joke, but the actual way in which the Swiss feel and think. Personally, I think it's wonderful. They have such a beautiful, well-kept but chaotic profusion of weeds and wildflowers here, and I think that it would be tragic to just cut them all down before they have a chance at life! It may make for a short period of what would appear to be very un-Swiss like lack of maintenance, grooming, and upkeep, but I think their feelings and thoughts are in the right place with this, and the flowers really are pretty. This inspired my wife to say, a few weeks ago, that in the future she always wants to live in a place with "nice weeds". How about that, we live in a place with nice weeds!

Along the same lines as the "plants rights and dignity" treaty, Switzerland also has very progressive laws regarding the rights and psychological happiness of animals, especially pets. In 2008 the Swiss parliament, the Bundesrat, passed a series of laws that provides for the compassionate care of animals, particularly those that are considered "social" animals, such as guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, and fish. Under these laws, any social animal will be considered a victim of abuse if it does not have frequent contact with others of its kind. You must prove that the rabbit you buy your daughter for Easter will have other rabbit buddies to hang out with, and that your daughter doesn't spend too much time picking it up and snuggling it(or your son shaving it and throwing it around by it's ears), as this is considered an inappropriate treatment of rabbits if done in excess(especially the throwing it around by it's ears part). All caged animals must be kept in government-approved domiciles, have enough space to roam, enough nesting material, exercise equipment, and must be cared for appropriately. Fish kept in tanks must have at least one opaque wall for privacy, and the natural cycle of day and night, in terms of light, must be maintained. Depriving your pet fish of proper sleep cycles is considered abusive. Anglers have to take a certified course in "fish compassion", in order to insure that they treat their water-dwelling prey humanely in the catching process. After all, fish can suffer, too! Anyone who wants to own a dog must attend a two-part course on dog ownership responsibilities -- a theory section on the needs and wishes of the animal, and a practice section, where new owners will be instructed in how to walk their dog, and react to various situations that may arise during the process! Farmers are not allowed to tether horses, sheep, or goats, and cannot keep pigs or cows in areas with hard floors, among other things. The cows here in Switzerland seem to be some of the happiest, well-kept feed and dairy animals I have ever seen. They're beautiful. Apparently, the Swiss spend more annually on each head of cattle than they do on their children! By the way, I think all this is great(well, except for spending more on cows than human children, perhaps).

This year, however, voters here overwhelmingly defeated a measure that would have provided free lawyers to represent animals in abuse cases. Maybe even the Swiss think the current laws accommodating animals are sufficient. At current, their is only one free animal rights lawyer in Switzerland, and he is based in Zurich. Woe be to those poor fishies down in Geneva! A recent case that went to court involved a fisherman accused of torturing a "massive"(in the fisherman's words) pike that he caught. He had actually bragged about taking a full 10 minutes to land the fish, and was brought up on criminal charges for causing excessive suffering to the animal. Honestly, this is a major reason why I am not much of a fisherman. The obviously distraught, panicked, and horrified actions a fish makes as you are pulling it in by the hook buried in its mouth, and then the process of removing the hook and either beating their head against something to finish the job, or allowing them to slowly suffocate, has never appealed to me. Call me a sissy, I don't care. Anyway, the case attracted more than 6,000 fans on Facebook -- in memory of the pike. The prosecuting lawyer pointed out that if someone had put a hook in the mouth of a puppy and dragged it around for 10 minutes, what would are reaction have been? Touchè. The fisherman won the case, but that'll teach all you anglers out there to stop bragging so much!

On the other hand, the attitude of the Swiss government does seem to be in opposition to some alleged practices of the Swiss people themselves. Apparently, again allegedly, their is a huge industry in Switzerland regarding the production and trade of cat fur products for their use in clothes, handbags, blankets, and to cater to the belief that cat fur aids in the treatment of rheumatism. The cats are skinned by specialized tanneries, which may explain the relative absence of stray cats here! Their have even been reports from France of cats disappearing along areas of the Swiss border. Poor kitties.

The Swiss National Council(they do like to keep busy)has also just recently passed legislation that will result in the complete banning of violent video games in the country. The exact requirements necessary to ban a particular game have yet to be codified, but they soon will be. The Swiss really believe in looking out for their neighbors, and communities as a whole. When it comes to passing laws, rules, and regulations "for the good of all", they invariably go for it. This is a cultural legacy that exists in only very small measure in the United States. The one huge, glaring, obnoxious, and deadly hole in this cultural mentality here in Switzerland is their attitudes about smoking. They are really in the Stone Age when it comes to this, but at least some baby steps have been made recently, and the examples and results of the UK and America will hopefully spur them to start making them bigger and faster. As I've mentioned before, the biggest, and rudest, demographic of smokers here are the young, from early teenagers on up. Not only do they smoke the most, but they have zero smoking etiquette, and don't even consider the consequences of holding cigarettes up so the smoke drifts into every one's nose, and then blowing it directly into your face. My wife has gotten so mad on a few occasions, she has almost had to be physically restrained from punching smokers gambling at her table in the mouth. She certainly doesn't hold back from telling them how she feels, and what she thinks of them! Customer service be damned!

Check out some of the pictures below of a church cemetery here in Switzerland. When we discovered this, we thought it was pretty unique, but we have since found several more examples. Just another way in which the Swiss are different than the rest of us humans.
You can click on each picture to make them bigger.

See you next Blog!

The French and Italian Rivieras

Just got back a few days ago from a 6-day trip down to the Italian and French Rivieras by car. It was all interesting, but we seriously couldn't wait to get back home to Lucerne! The main reason for these feelings was simply the heat and humidity. I guess it was a little naive and stupid to visit the beaches of the Mediterranean in the middle of Summer, but isn't that what Europeans do!? To put it bluntly, it was Brutal, with a capital B. Temps in the 90's with 80 percent humidity or so. The fact that Las Vegas' heat is more endurable because it's "dry" has become a cliche', but that doesn't mean it's not true! I will take 110 degrees with 2 percent humidity any day over 80 degrees with 80 percent humidity. I was wilting like a newspaper left out in the rain! We would get up early in the morning just so we could go out and enjoy the area a little bit, and I would still come back sweating like a dying cow! It was so hot I saw a funeral procession stop for Gelato's! It was so hot the taxi drivers were wearing oscillating turbans!

Seriously, though, it was hot and humid, in hindsight we shouldn't have gone, but we did, and it wasn't all bad. We stayed in the Cannes area for a few days and had a look around. I will say a quick negative about Cannes right now and get it over with: it is really overrated. I honestly don't know what all the mega-rich people in the world who frequent these places find interesting or appealing. It has all the same shops and types of boutiques, cafes and restaurants that one can find in any popular tourist area, the beaches are second-rate and cost a fortune for the privilege of sitting on them, as already mentioned the weather is brutal in the summer, and for the most part the town is dirty, poorly-maintained, over-priced, and unattractive, with a few exceptions. That's it for the negative.

We had a nice resort hotel off the beaten path a little ways, but still not far from the interesting bits. We had a great buffet breakfast every morning included in the price, a nice room with a balcony and a view of the pool, the city, and the Med, and free parking! For those of you who have never been to Europe, free parking here, anywhere here, is almost unheard of, like an Urban Myth. In Europe, you have to pay to park at the grocery store! So anyway, it was nice, other than a few glitches at check-in, which in countries like France and Italy are to be expected. First of all, they "lost" our reservation, which took a bit of sorting, but resulted in an upgrade for us. No probs there. Then, as soon as that matter was settled, the power to the hotel went out! We left our heavy luggage at the desk, walked up five flights of stairs in the stultifying darkness, and fumbled our way to our room. Twenty minutes or so later...after unpacking and arranging every thing...the power came back on, and the front desk manager knocked on our door to inform us that we were given the wrong room, and would have to move a few doors down the hall! Fortunately, he was very nice and apologetic, we still got a great room with a view, and my wife, having dealt with situations in countries like this before, was very understanding. If this had happened in America, she would have been contacting the local TV stations to schedule a news conference, and a lawyer to initiate a negligence lawsuit! Just kidding! (a little). The rest of our stay was smooth and relaxing, not including the humidity.

One little aside here: what is up with the shower configurations in France, Italy, and some other parts of Europe??? Let me give you a bit of background; you step into the bathroom to take a shower, and lo and behold, there is no shower curtain, and even better, there is no sliding or hinged glass door that closes off the shower area to prevent water from splattering all over the rest of the bathroom! What is there, you ask? There is a very narrow, head-high glass partition starting from the wall on which the shower head is affixed, which runs for about a foot and a half along the edge of the bathtub. This is about as effective in keeping water from splashing all over the rest of the bathroom as holding your hands above your head is effective in keeping you dry in a rainstorm. At least it provides a little comic relief in the lengths and contortions you have to go through in trying to keep the bathroom relatively dry.

The yachts are really incredible in Cannes and other parts of the French coast, just amazing multi-million dollar beauties, huge, with every amenity and luxury you can think of, and staffs to operate and take care of them. I thought that I saw Paul Allen's yacht, the Octopus, but when I googled it I realized it was a different ship. This is what my brother should have done with his career. I think he would have made an excellent crew member of one of these luxury yachts, he could have learned how to do everything on them, even become a captain, and who knows the people he would have met and rubbed elbows with? He could have travelled all over the world, met tons of interesting, and sometimes very rich, people, and who knows what opportunities he might have encountered? His personality and work ethic would have fit perfectly into this occupation, and that is not mean in any way as an insult, but rather a complement.

I think I may have mentioned on a couple of occasions that there are a lot of grumpy old people in Switzerland. This is true, although to be fair maybe this is one reason why Switzerland is so clean, perfectly groomed and maintained, and why it has so little crime. And to be honest, there just seems to be a lot of old people everywhere in Europe, and nowhere more than on the French Riviera! There are so many sun-baked old codgers here it looks like a convention for the California Raisins. There are literally thousands of often dilapidated, and often not, old apartment buildings filled with little old people soaking up the heat and humidity and whiling away their sunset years. Just like Miami Beach in the seventies and eighties. And they all walk around with little dogs on leashes, or in their handbags. To own a little lap dog that you take everywhere with you is de rigeur on the Riviera, you cannot be 'somebody' without one.

I've often wondered how there can be so many eating and coffee drinking establishments in Europe that survive financially. Everywhere you go in Europe, there is cafe after cafe, restaurant after restaurant, of all different sizes, shapes, levels of quality, and types of offerings. It's same in Italy and France, but the number of little 'hole in the walls' is much higher. There is an endless number of places to just grab a cup of espresso, many without even places to sit! You just walk up to a little bar or counter built into a wall, nothing else there, order a tiny doll-sized espresso shot, knock it back, and go on about your business. The French and Italians love their caffeine, the stronger the better. They are absolutely addicted. Coffee here is so strong it will curl your toes and scour out your insides. It's so strong that when you drink it, it'll wake up your neighbors. You can strip paint with it, it will make you lose control and make violent gestures. So how can all of these places to grab a bite or a drink of something survive? Much of the time, they seem to be empty, with the waiters and hosts just standing around smoking cigarettes. A far cry from many American restaurants, with their 40+ minute wait times for a table! I can't imagine that many of these places rent out on the cheap. Have they just been owned by the same family for so many hundreds of years that they don't need much business? Or are their markups so high that they only need a few customers each day? Honestly, though, it's a good thing the waiters are on a salary, cause they can't be making much in tips! In some places, they have people, whether they are the owners, managers, or employees, out roaming the sidewalks in front of their establishments trying to waylay people to sit down and order something. An example: My wife and I are cruising along a walkway, checking out the stores and quietly minding our own business, and suddenly a man jumps out at us and says, "Heya, how are you doin', it's a gooda evening fora some drinks and pasta, no? Sit here and look at thisa menu, and I'll bring you whatever you wanta, yes?" Us: "No thanks, we're not really hungry right now, maybe a little later, but thanks." Him: "Heya, this opportunity is too good to pass upa, here's a menu, here's a waiter, here's a table, and drinks are on the waya. Bon Apetito!" And before we know it, we're sitting at a table with something we don't remember ordering in front of us. Amazing.


Speaking of cigarettes, have I mentioned that Europeans like to smoke? Kind of like saying the rest of the world likes to breathe. Some countries here are worse than others, and France is one of the worst. Everyone smokes here, no kidding. We were walking down the street one day in Cannes, and we both look ahead at the same time so see a women well along in her pregnancy strolling along the street, with complete confidence and lack of self-consciousness, smoking a cigarette. In the middle of the sidewalk, on a busy day in Cannes. I was gobsmacked. Never in my life have I seen a pregnant woman smoking a cigarette. I know that 40 years or more ago this was not uncommon, but now? I can only imagine what would happen if this were to occur in the States. There would be a riot. The lady would probably be arrested and thrown into jail, and when the baby was born it would be taken away and given to more 'worthy' parents.


After Cannes, we headed on down the road towards Italy, with a very cool stop off in Eze. Eze is an awesome French medieval village perched on a round hilltop, looking out over the splendid Med. You have to park at the bottom of the hill and walk up, as there are no cars allowed in the village, and no room for them in any event. It's a major tourist stop, but still really beautiful and interesting, and I'm really glad we did it. It consists of a lot of narrow, winding walkways and stairways, wandering up, down, through, and around the village, with everything being built from the native rock, beautiful archways, buildings, flowers, and peekaboo views lurking around every bend. Also lots of little shops, cafes, and restaurants. We didn't stay too long here, but we took lots of pictures, and it went a long way towards making our trip much more worthwhile. Here's a few more pics of Cannes and Eze, followed by a bit more blog on Italy:











Let me start with saying that Italy reminds me a lot of Mexico.......but not as nice. We drove along the coast from Cannes on down to Genoa, thinking and imagining that it would be a charming, beautiful Italian city with awesome shopping and incredible old buildings built around an historic port. The only part that turned out at as we imagined was that it definitely was built around an historic port. As to the rest, I would have traded it with Tijuana any day. Italy is really a third-world country trying to masquerade as something else. If you get out of the city, though, the country becomes much nicer. The smaller towns and villages are much prettier, and much better-kept, and that seems to be where most of the money is. Portofino, Santa Margherita, and on down the coast, are very nice. The cities, at least in the north, are teeming cesspools, overflowing with stinking humanity, and exhibiting tendencies of a disturbed ant hill on cocaine. The old town of Genoa, close to the harbor, was extremely interesting, and extremely tragic. Absolutely filthy, dilapidated, surreal in its medieval poverty, I could barely believe I was in Italy and not in some African or Caribbean city. And again, even more brutally hot and humid than Cannes. We cut our visit short.


The freeway system is wonderfully fascinating in Italy and France. They are all toll roads, and instead of efficiently charging a one time fee every year like they do in Switzerland and most of the more northerly European countries, they make you stop about every ten kilometers, or every time you change freeways or exit, in order to stand in a long line with 5 thousand other cars while waiting to pay your fee at a toll gate. It almost makes driving on the old country roads faster, and it really makes you have an even more endearing feeling for the place, especially when the automated toll booths malfunction, or when someone dumber than average can't figure out how to operate them. Gosh, I really miss them! You also have to be sure and have plenty of cash on hand, because to drive about 100 miles cost around 20 euros. We spent twice as much in a week to drive in Italy and France as we do in Switzerland for a year pass, and the roads weren't as nice. In the cities, there are millions of mopeds and scooters, very few traffic lines on the streets, and apparently no traffic laws. People, especially on the scooters, drive wherever and however they want. It is complete chaos, survival of the fittest. A very far cry from the calm order of Switzerland's roads. On top of this, our hotel was bare bones, it stank, and it turned out to be located in an abandoned warehouse district. The breakfast wasn't too bad, though, and they did give us a refund for our cancelled last night. Parts of the port weren't too shabby, we saw a cool old replica of a war galleon, and visited a second-rate aquarium. My brother probably would have liked it. He would say it had grit and personality, or character, that it was "real". I just get tired of wiping "personality" off my shoes, and when a pigeon passes over, out of my hair. It wasn't all bad, but it was far from good, and we were ultimately pretty disappointed in Italy. But hey, it was another interesting learning experience in the journey of life. Next blog I will write a little about our great Black Forest and Europa park trip, and our fantastic expedition to the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau peaks in the Swiss Alps. We're doing so many things that I can't keep up! Here's a few more pics of Italy.