Poor Rod.

If you know me and Rod, you know that we generally don't vacation together. Or more precisely, he takes vacations and I do not. My preparation for this trip was researching the city of Basel pretty much every single day since March 8th (easy to do when you aren't working.) Rod's preparation involved deciding which camera gear to pack. Rod has been to Europe before, so I guess he knows the ropes.

In order to illustrate why this post is called "poor Rod" let me give you some examples.

1. We are getting ready to leave the hotel. I ask Rod if he has his passport. He says no, it's in the safe. I say why would you go out and about in a foreign country without your passport? He's like it's Switzerland and we're not crossing any borders. I'm like really? Do you want me to say I told you so now or later? Poor Rod.

2. When we were still in transit from Zurich to Basel (or it may have been some other time) I finally cajoled him into having his passport out. (He kept putting it in his carrying case, and had to get it out every 5 minutes.) He decided to store his passport (or was it his wallet?) in his back pocket. Really, I asked? Have you ever heard of pickpockets? He finally decided to carry it in his front pocket. Poor Rod.

There are so many other Poor Rod examples that I really can't think of them, but it really has been out mantra the past few days. I'm sure I'll remember more as my memory from the first three days comes back.

For some reason, although I only slept 20 minutes on the flight over (in spite of having 25 mg of Valium in my system), I was not particularly tired when we arrived in Zurich. I was wired instead (or perhaps manic, or just insane). Tired doesn't mess me up, but hungry does. I definitely turn into one of those Snickers commercials where I am a mess until I eat, and Poor Rod if he is in my way. Once I eat, things are a-okay.

Zurich airport is weird, and as I later googled while sitting on the windowsill of the arrivals gate "difficult for newcomers to navigate." I download the Zurich airport app, and it tells me that there are tons of stores and restaurants, but all I see is a newsstand and the Winston Smoking Lounge. All of these restaurants and shops are in the part called Airport Center. Rod and I keep looking around for a sign that says "Airport Center" but to no avail. Finally, I look out the window behind me, where all the cabs and buses and drop offs are, and I see this ENORMOUS blue sign that says "Airport Center." I burst out laughing (I think) and tell Rod to turn around. We share a laugh and quickly run over there to get some food. It's 7:30 am local time, and we head straight for the McDonald's to get some breakfast.