Three chairs, one theme

It's saturday morning, everybody sleeps late. ME setting the table for whoever wants breakfast. One after the other THE THREE TEENAGERS scuff out of their rooms. Normally its very likely that they want to turn on the TV and watch some cartoon or Disney movie or whatever is on saturdays and sometimes they are allowed to. But today its No3 asking if anybody cares to know what happened in the last chapter of the book she's reading. SHE and HE roll eyes but I wanna know. So No3 recites one complete chapter of "Madita".

I know SHE has to read "Der Schimmelreiter"

in school, so when No3 is done, I asked, how SHE's getting along. Of course SHE complains about all those charakters and different angles in the story, I very well remember the turmoil up in northern germany, north sea coast, and can litterally smell the wind and the sea. No3 is impressed and compares Madita and her friends with Hans Mommsen und the people he meets. HE thinks its too much to think so much about any characters in a book. He likes to read the books from Werner J. Egli and finds the heroes clear, easy to understand, very close to real life. And without noticing THE THREE TEENAGERS are in the middle of a discussion about LITERATURE. For almost an hour. Now that's DELIGHTful....

One at a time

So what do you do, when little babies turn into smallkids turn into bigger kids turn into teenagers turn suddenly over night into young people? You try to treat 'em like that. SHE earned herself a treat and choose Venice, what a joy! In order to keep things lowkey we set off for Lake Garda the day before, stayed overnight at bf (which is best friend I learned) and left the peaceful mountain site of San Zeno di Montagna early morning heading for Venice.

Smooth 90 minutes later we turned into the parking at the airport (Darsena, not very expensive to leave the car there!) and took the ferry over to Venice, another 90 minutes drive. SHE slept most of the way. Coming this far - schoolwise - needs strength and even though beautiful sightseeing lied ahead the way was not the goal. Arriving was.

Found our recommended Hotel/Pensione in less than two seconds, a most pleasant place on Dorsoduro. Pure Delight about the tiny rooms, a slight reminisence of Paris days.

And then we walked. SHE had to agree to culture in order to equal shopping time which SHE gladly did. So we visited Peggy Guggenheim Collection, gave the most important wishes in our lives a chance and then walked Venice. Amazing to see that the beautiful city still has her impact even on facebook spoiled kids, sorry: young people. ME just following where the city lead her just smoothly trying to point out the breathtaking architecture and layout of the old place.

Lunch where not many tourists gather for the city is a pain with herds of umbrella-followers. More walking, Piazza San Marco, Basilica, and back via Ponte di Rialto. Taking the long walk back to Dorsoduro leads you through the university quarter where we took a first glimpse into exhibition for La Biennale. The atmosphere of these wonderful campusses didn't miss the target to sway a breeze of how the future could smell and feel like on SHE.

Its getting dark when we reach the tiny Hotel, it's still warm outside while hometown is wet and cold. Time for a nap and then Harry's Bar. Yes, you have to do that, take the chance while there, you never know when you will be able to make it back. Bellinis later exploring the city by night adds another dimension to experiencing Venice.

The last Pizzeria open is close to the Hotel when ME and SHE finally get our long awaited pasta and then our feet definetly deserve a rest 'til morning.

DAY 2

ME being up early takes the chance to have the first coffe outside with newspapers of the day, enjoying the busy Canale della Giudecca at start of a normal business day. SHE needs more than one wake up call and joins when the sun is already warming the pavement.

Today is Biennale day. Again we walk the distance, feeling already quite at home, passing some points for the third time since we got here. All we manage because there is so much to see is Giardini-Arsenale. Theme of this years Biennale is People meet in Architecture and its amazing to see the various approaches. Not all of it understandable, not all of it agreeable but thrilling in the mixture.

Time to say good bye, to get some souvenirs and take the boat back to mainland. Difficult to say what will last and what not. An impresson and an idea about what more there is to explore might sunk in. We'll see...

Back to normal?

We made it home alright. Home. We fell from heaven seventeen into reality landing in Zurich the next day. While we stretch and yawn and wait for our luggage we realise we will come home to a pile of boxes because just short before holiday we had to move appartement. From a fairy big part of a whole house into a four bedroom one floor appartement in an appartement building. New village, new neighbourhood, new kids on the block. And yes, new schools too. Times three. I don't know if any of you have ever done that, but those who did know what was waiting for ME and The Three Teenagers. Besides unpacking boxes.

Still two more weeks of holiday left us enough space to get done as much as possible. Astoningishly HE is the first one to completely finish his room. All set. SHE wants a pink wall.

Or two. Fine with me. ME being very happy that SHE starts to arrange herself with the new situation, it's been tough to leave the neighbourhood and The Three Teenagers have a hard time going back and seeing all their friends. Even though its just over one hill, exactly 7.5 Kilometers from where we used to live. There is no direct public transport. So SHE and HE take their bikes downhill and ME picking them up at night, because I don't want them to ride their bikes in the middle of the night. There is no bike trail alongside the street either. Mama taxi with bikes on top of the car....

Slowly but surely we adjust to the new situation. There is much lesser room in the new place, so we had to get rid of furniture during moving.

Leaves boxes with stuff that has no desk, no board, no basket, no cupboard anymore. Yes, I know, chance to throw out stuff. But I am a confessing collector and do need alot of things for work. Like papers, magazines, ideas, souvenirs. And the archive. And and and....

Lots of work is waiting too, welcome home!

Last day...

Even after travelling for more than ten years with all three kids I'm still nervous on the departure days. So ME setting the alarm double because I hate to check out last minute. The alarm goes off. Sounds weird, its dark, ME probably dreaming and mixing together all kind of happenings ME and The Three Teenagers had the past 21 days. Because I cannot remember that the alarm on my iPhone ever talked to me. Puzzled I check the alarm clock. It reads 2:34! Exactly! Did we slepp in? No, the cleaning ladies would have swept us out of the beds by now. No, its MORNING! And here goes the alarm again, a steady ennervating blast. And then it hits me: Fire! Thats a fire alarm!

Sure enough a voice is giving out orders how to behave, follow the signs, immediately, walk down (yes, all 11 flights), do not use the elvator. The Three Teenagers are wide awake by now. Is it real? I don't care, I tell them, we do as if. Put on some clothes please, don't panick, grab your most important thing (Plüsch animals of course...and the MP3 players/iPhones, okay!) and get out of here. ME putting on jeans, shoes, a sweater and grab my bag whith passports, tickets, money.

In the hallway we can detect nothing, no smoke, no fire. Still the voice tells us to proceed leaving the hotel. We join a group of others making their way slowly downstairs, following an old man who can hardly walk. The Three Teenagers keep asking me if its fake or real. ME answering that I do not know, but we better get out of here just in case.

In the lobby a fairly small group of people is gathered together, some outside. The stuff looks at us amused, I ask them about the reason for the alarm. They do not know, but they do not move either. Obviously they never had any emergency training. The reception desk is deserted, nobody there to give any information.

But now there is movement in the group. The mostly pyjamas and jogging pants wearing group of families, old and young people, men and women is joined by a pair of giggling very young looking girls, twenty maybe. They wear nothing but Victorias secret lacies, the latets arrival I can tell, nice bright colours. And high heels and their clutches. They can hardly stand upright and my son is impressed. ME trying again to find somebody who knows the reason for the alarm and I see a completely exhausted lady in hotel uniform yelling something in a walkietalkie and flying through the hall. She shouts at everybody to calm down (all of us are very calm, except of course the two very blond girls in High heels) and to go back to the elevators and back to our rooms. Does she know the reason for the alarm? She says no, but they are working on finding it out. Wow! So there could be a fire somewhere, you just don't know after about 15 minutes, where? No, she says, its false alarm. But if you don't know if there's a fire... I give up. And tell her, that she forgot that the elevators do not work. So she yells in her walkietalkie to operate the elevators in one part of the hotel.

Nobody really is moving, I mean, if you don't know if there is a fire or not, you don't want to get stuck in an elevator in a burning house either, right? So we wait. Finally the alarm stops and the sweating supervisor is POSITIVE that there is no fire. The elvators work and luckily for my son we get into one with the giggling lacie-girls. Only, that they start to have problems obviously with beeing able to hold back their body fluids. One is absolutely SURE she has to go right here in the elevator. I can tell, my girls can't wait to witness that. But before the elevator stops in every single floor, the Miss Victorias going crazy with each stop. We get out at floor 11, the high heelers had pushed the top floor button. Still wondering if they made it.....

No3 is not sure if she wants to sleep again at all, she rather stays awake, sure. ME falling back into bed, gulping down water (no drinks served or water offered in the lobby...) and sleeping like a rock (so did No3, of course, HE and SHE anyway).

At 9 the real waking call goes off and we do the whole routine, this time only throwing together what we had spread out everywhere in the room. ME bringing an extra suitcase are greatful I did so. No way you fit in dirty clothes the way you did the clean ones before. Plus it gives us extra space for the last shopping task: Supermarket!

We check out, ME half expecting some "we are sorry for the inconvenience last night, can we offer you breakfast?" or something, but sure enough that did not happen. My questions about the source of the alarm remain unanswered til today. Maybe the two blondes were guilty? Never mind...

So, yes, its again a fast food Starbucks breakfast and we leave this very comfortable hotel. Next stop: Hershey kisses, marshamallows, biskuit - stuff, we don't have in switzerland. We spent the last dollars on this and squeeze everything in our suitcases. Done. Almost. There is one more thing: Rodeo drive. The most overrated street in the world I guess. We walk down one side, back up the other, explore the real nice Ralph Lauren Shop and then back to the car. The picture with the kids in the Beverly Hills sign is taken, nothing more left to do. And yes, we skipped the Hollywood sign all together. Next time..........

Finally 21

In most of the US 21 is the legal age. You're allowed to drink, go to bars, these things. And our day 21 really is the day when The Three Teenagers and ME start to wonder wether we ever want to go back home or not. You get so USED to living this way, maybe its time to get out of here. On the other hand: Who wants to go home to a broken bank account?

Our last day is completely The-Three-Teenagers-got-to-do-what-I-want day. This time its an earlier wake up, but instead of indulging in the no doubt georgious breakfast buffet (which does cost extra, there is a family special, where the kids have breakfast free of charge, but only with TWO paying adults....an experince I kept making ever since ME travels alone with The Three Kids and later Teenagers. A couple gets all kind of freebees, a single mother doesn't...) its some crackers and water, because I want to hit one special place I visited loooooong ago (the last time, I was five month pregnant with my first babe, having diner with the kid's dad and some friends) for breakfast. That small shopping area still is small but always attracted the most beautiful people (like ME....) and sure enough VIPs and Hollywood celebrities. VERY good coffee too and nice doughnuts, rolls, everything. This is where the Mileys and Ashleys and Jacks of this Soap Opera World get their Coffee on weekends. Without Make up. So you just do not recognize them at all.

Later on we do see Paris Hilton with a friend, shopping for frozen food in a supermarket. The Three Teenagers and ME just HOPE she knows how to defrost the food before biting her teeth out. She looks plain normal, thank god.

We only hit that supermarket to get some food and drinks for the beach and a beachball and a magazine. Then we walk to the beach, which is only a surfers beach here, lots to watch. Our last day in sunshine, drifting away, taking a walk, play with the ball, explore the shore with the tiny riffs, watch pelicans, and beautiful unmakeuped people (I know, that word does not exist, but it fits!)

The Three Teenagers and me leave well done and medium rare, heading back into the land. We are invited to a barbecue, more friends from long ago. The Three Teenagers get to visit one of the newer neighbourhoods around here, they can jump in a pool and enjoy a real american barbecue. Thank you, Joy! We sit long and talk, lots to touch up on. This area is very often hit by fires and ME wondering how you can live in such a dangerous place without going nuts each hot and dry summer.

When we leave, its pitch dark of course and we drive back into the glittering city in our glamorous hotel for another luxury night. We are a little burned from the sun, had a sizzling barbecue, talked about bushfires - and have no idea, what lays ahead.......

Hitting the TWENty

Good morning, Hollywood! Sure enough its too late again to have a regular breakfast, so its again Starbucks at the pool. The Three Teenagers and me feel sooooo america doing that. ME actually reading a newspaper this morning and even in LA there are still discussions about the desaster in Duisburg (we were in Trinity, TX, when we saw the news online). ME watching The Three Teenagers splashing in the pool cannot imagine that its actually possible that you wave your kid goodbye because its going to a happy and friendly just a little crazy event and never comes back again. But then again you can't pin them to your bellybutton, right? Hopefully they have enough common sense to stay out of trouble BEFORE it even occurs. The sixth sense so to say.

Okay, because we missed the big A&F shopping yesterday (Why would everybody wanna go there: The clothes are average, the shops too damn pitch dark and icy cold, the music deafening?) we look for the nearest shop and find The Grove. Turns out to be another beautiful shopping center with a little tram running in the middle of the inner street, looks like a filmset to me!

We park the car get out of the parking garage and get stucked in the first shop. The customers, a huge amount of customers, are making phonecalls. The whole hour The Three Teenagers spent in there to explore the latest gadgets a chinese guy was obviously talking to aunt Simsungsang or something, presumably in Shanghai. The Three Teenagers and ME sent text messages around the world.

While the kids have their fun ME getting a cup of coffee, sit down on a bench and - yes, sorry folks- light one of the very few cigarettes I smoked in the US. It's almost nowhere allowed anymore, in Santa Monica they draw an imaginary 25 feet around each window and door on the pavement where you are not allowed to smoke. In my head I have this picture of businesspeople in the middle of a highway, cramped together on that one foot green and smoke during coffee break because there is nowhere else to go. I'm not saying I don't like those rules.

Finally we hit the spot of desire and now I get the picture. Half naked boys are swarming in and out of the shop, attracting customers to come inside. Now is that prostitution or not? SHE gets a heartattack and a dress, No3 had her share in the kids store where there is no ten year old with a bare chest thank god.

Even happier than yesterday, we leave ths tempting city-in-the-city and walk to the supermarket across the street. We want to get some take away and eat in our hotel room. The supermarket is one of those healthy ones, not healthy for your budget. But the stuff is great and we enjoy the cosy dinner.

Something we haven't done either is go to the movies! They are almost playing 24/7 so we do not bother to look up the starting times. The film we want will begin in 45 minutes, plenty of time for the very last shopping adventure, where HE thinks HE is in wonderland but gets tired of looking at all that stuff after about 30 seconds. Now is that a good or a bad sign?

We watch "Dinner for Schmucks" and its worth every penny. We laugh endlessly, and with puffed bellys from too much puffed popcorn The Three Teenagers and ME walk back to our hotel, ME trying to smoothe the corn with a gin tonic before going to bed. I call it a day!

Day 19

Anybody missing anything so far? You're right: We haven't done any shopping yet. The tough task is to find te right place where you can get as much done as possble without driving too much. So after breakfast - would you believe The Three Teenagers and ME never made it ONCE early enough to enjoy the hotel restaurants breakfast? - from the in-house Starbucks (yeah, not very inventive, I know!), we checked online, which mall would be the one. There is a huge variety and we decided on a mall north from Hollywood. The Three Teenagers are entitled to get a new outfit, one a piece, for school. Of course they want the typical stuff: Hilfiger, Vans, Converse, Abercrombie. We find everything but the latter in one and after some relaxing time at the pool side of the hotel we get the car and go.

We manage to spent the rest of the day there, turning each outlet upside down and at closing time almost everybody is happy with a new outfit. No Abercrombie though. So more shopping left for the next day.

We have dinner at a typical American Diner at the mall too and carry home our precious bags with clothes that hopefully will last a little. Not too exciting of a day, more a practical one. The Three Teenagers and ME end the day with a nice walk through the shopping mall next door, a very very elegant one, thank god all the shops are already closed! and that incredible view over Los Angeles from our hotel room. Our room looks like a clothing storage after a tornado, but the kids are all smiles and happy. Pretty spoiled!