birthday (suit)

It's true, I turned 28 this week.  But, before I tell you all about what it was like to turn 28 in Zürich, I will share a few photos from Lucerne and area:

Kapellbrucke, Lucerne (famous covered bridge)

Lowendenkmal, Lucerne (commemorates Swiss guards killed during the French Revolution)

cow bells!

I took the train to Zürich. on Saturday evening, and was greeted at the train station by Cameron, nephew of my beloved childhood piano teacher and friend, Leslie. Though we had never met before, Cam and his girlfriend Andrea opened up their apartment to me with incredible generosity, and were also remarkably flexible with me while my estimated date of arrival in Zürich. changed numerous times (I sent him many an email that went something like this, "So, I'm actually STILL in Italy..."). Cam and Andrea live about a 15-minute tram ride from the city centre, in a cute little artsy apartment in a subdivision that has lots of character and cozyness.  Both students (Cam is doing his PhD in plant and soil ecology, and Andrea her masters in ecology and evolution), as well as musicians/artists, I have felt comfortable in making myself completely at home here. We've shared music, great food and wine, meaningful conversation, and have discovered several friends/acquaintances that we have in common back at home. 

Zürich., Switzerland's biggest city (with a whopping population of just under 400 000, I believe), is a blend of all that is Swiss and idyll (in its architecture, its location along a river and lake, and the view of the Alps in the distance), with an energetic and creative vibe, and also the "realness" of a true urban centre. I have seen litter here!  Imagine!  I have also seen poverty (albeit, not much - the city's unemployment rate is under 3%, and there is no such thing as the "working poor" in this nation, where the minimum wage is incredibly high), and even the occasional jaywalker. Never a disappointment though, I learned this week that it is actually illegal to recycle on Sundays (i.e. bring your bottles/cans to your local disposal bin) because Sunday is decreed as a "day of silence" and recycling is simply too noisy.  Similarly, Andrea and Cam cannot do laundry in their apartment building on Sundays.  Ahh, the Swiss. Noise bylaws aside, I can certainly see the appeal in being a student in this vibrant city. There is a great photo on they city's website: http://www.zuerich.com/en/welcome.cfm - better than any angle I have been able to capture from simply staying on foot:



Grossmünster Cathedral in the background

Fraumünster Cathedral and downtown Zürich

Food has been an important focus during this time in Zürich. Sunday morning, Cameron cooked rösti, a traditional Swiss dish that is essentially a giant buttery hashbrown with cheese. After a leisurely coffee at Henrici's (I was already a bit of a coffee snob before this trip - 3 months of European cafes is not helping matters), we went to the Kunsthaus, the well-known art gallery in Zürich. A special Picasso exhibit had just opened, and some works by Van Gogh, Monet, and Chagall also stood out for me. Sunday night was filled with glorious cheese fondue (also traditonally Swiss). Glorious glorious stinky cheese.  The Swiss really know what they're doing with the whole dairy thing - the cheese and milk here are astounding (and, unlike most things, not more expensive than home). So, in addition to giving me a comfy couch to sleep on and lovely company, my hosts are filling me with delicious food. 

And then, it was Monday, October 18th. For the past few years, my birthdays have been a source of the nasty kind of introspection. It was quite a deliberate act, that of celebrating my 28th birthday in Europe, one of "re-wiring" if you will: the path in my brain that had begun to associate birthdays with the things in my life that I don't have figured out was stopped in it's tracks. Kaboom. I'm living intentionally and fully, seizing every moment, loving myself, and surrounded by love from others. All that, AND, I'm living out my dream of backpacking Europe.  Take THAT, negative neural pathway.

How does one spend one's birthday in Zürich, you may be wondering. Well. I took the tram downtown for 11:30am, and headed to the Hamam, a traditional Turkish spa, which Fabi in Bern had recommended to me for a birthday treat for myself.  After some time in the jacuzzi, I doned my special Hamam towel...

Ahh! I have become a plaid rectangle!

...picked up my copper bowl and exfoliating glove, and progressed through the following series of rooms:

1 - "Sogukluk" - Steam room: LOVED the steam, sat and soaked it in, sweating and enjoying the dark heat of this little cocoon.  

2 - "Kese" - First exfoliation: Take off Hamam towel (now in birthday suit), fill up copper bowl from basin, rub body all over with glove, watch months of backpacking emerge from skin, rinse, repeat as necessary.

3 - "Sicaklik" - Relax in pool (Hamam towel back on)  

  
4 - "Binguel" - Herbal steam room: Loved the steam even more here - more intense and incredibly fragrant.

5 - "Lif" - Second exfoliation, this time with a yummy herbal gel.  (A note about these naked exfolitations.  There was a mixed room and a women's only room, and the first time, I opted for the women's only. This second time, I would have had to backtrack through the rooms to get back to the women's only area, and I peeked in the mixed room, which looked empty. Trying my hand at being a little less North American, I walked in confidently, only to discover that it wasn't actually empty, as the entire room was not in full view from the door.  Before me, stood an exfoliating man. And, it seemed that the worst possible thing to do at that moment would have been to turn around and hightail it to the women's area, and so, it's true, this 28 year old Liz, exfoliated on her birthday in her birthday suit (trying her best at being discreet, I might add) in the mixed area.

6 - "Nabelstein" - Sit and relax on heated surface.

From there, I traded my Hamam towel for a robe, sipped peppermint tea, and relaxed in a lovely room with mattresses along the walls. I laid down, dopey from the steam and warmth, feeling seriously detoxified and all zenned out.

The last step was a 20 minute massage, and when I was picked up from the lovely tea-room for the massage, I was surprised that there were 3 others that had a massage at the same time as me. I was even more surprised, when, upon entering the massage room, I realized that we were all going to be receiving massages in the same room, at the same time, side by side. The day was all about the experience, and so it was all good, but seriously?  Unlike my experience with Josef in the Czech Republic, which you may remember, I felt completely relaxed with this therapeutic massage woman, and I was still pretty zenned out from all the steam, so it really was all good. And, due to the experience with Josef, the sudden nakedness was less surprising this time around (even though I was in a room with 3 others...)

(A note also about nakedness and European culture. I love the fact that beautiful and tasteful sculptures/art abound in public spaces, proudly showing the human form, both male and female, unapologetically, all shapes and sizes, without shame. I can truly appreciate the European comfort with walking naked down a beach perhaps, and wonder why we are so scared of our bodies in North America, why nakedness is typically viewed as either shameful or sexual. I think we could learn a lot from these cultures. On the other hand, advertisements that are blatantly sexual and very objectifying of women are also commonplace here (things that would NEVER fly in North America), and so, I wonder if these two things go hand in hand: does this increased comfort with bodies and sexuality in a positive way also mean that sex gets exaggerated, abused, put-on-display more readily in potentially harmful ways? Perhaps my utopian kind of idea of nakedness without objectification and unwanted oggling is entirely naive.)

Ahem. So, back to the birthday.  I left the Hamam in a Zen like and oily state, and wandered both the Grossmünster and Fraumünster, cathedrals in Zürich very famous for their stained-glass (work by Polke and Chagall).  I was blown away by the art in both of these churches - stained glass like nothing I have ever seen before.  Absolutely beautiful and breathtaking - worth looking up the images on Google, if you're interested.  Then, a $6 capucinno (I really need to leave Switzerland), with a heart in the foam that gently said "Happy birthday", accompanied some intense journalling time, as I envisioned the next year of my life, and the ways that I want for the intentionality that has been a part of travelling to be a part of day-to-day living, no matter where I am. 

Happy birthday, Liz.  Love, your cappucinno

I returned "home" to a flood of emails, and a lovely meal prepared by Andrea. I am so richly blessed by the people in my life. Wow.  After dinner, Andrea and I baked a chocolate zucchini cake together, which turned out tasting like something for which a Swiss would pay at least 7 franks per slice.  Delicious. And, Andrea presented me with a gift, "Luxemburgerli" Chocolates from the very famous Sprüngli shop in Zürich: 




And no animals were harmed!

Yesterday I spent the day wandering the city centre, visiting more churches, imagining what it would be like to be able to purchase a $3000+ purse from the window of Prada on Bahnhoffstrasse (and thankful to be someone who couldn't actually care less), walking along the shores of  the Zürichsee, and secretly taking photos of old Swiss men smoking whilst playing chess in the park:

And today, I'm proud to say, has been the least touristy day of the entire trip. I had been planning on leaving for Munich today, and realized yesterday that I just didn't feel ready, and that I was needing a lazy weekend kind of day. After going to the farmer's market this morning with Cam and Andrea, I went for a jog, and then returned the apartment, where I have listened to music, done laundry, read, written emails, and blogged. As someone who values stability and home, backpacking is wonderfully exhausting. Today, this computer, my book, and my developing knack for flexibility, have been true gifts.