Switzerland Update #1

I might have slightly shared my love for Istanbul...and trust me, I am not done yet with that...but I thought it is time to share my love for my own place, for my own country and its life. It wouldn't be fair, and I think you are itching just a tiny bit to know where I am and how I am doing and what I am feeling. 

Home.

You are everything to me.

You hold my secrets, and I hold yours.
Your beauty at six in the morning on a warm summer's day is impossible to describe. It needs to be felt and seen, preferably from one specific bridge crossing the river. 

Your beauty at seven at night on a brisk winter's day with all the lights giving you even more light, makes me smile, and my heart grow happy. 

You are often called the City of Lights and you deserve every bit of it. 

You are glowing, beautifully.

Even though you drive me insane because you are rather tiny, you grow incredibly wide and deep when it comes to your annual festivals. Whether it is a carnival, or a music festival you are booming, you are singing, and you certainly are also dancing. Your heartbeat is felt the most during those days and then you rest.

Your people come from all over.

Your flourish with tourists, and your locals aren't fully locals anymore.

Though your people love and appreciate every corner that you hold dear, even for more than 500 years. Your history and the stories you can call your own fascinate me every time. Over the years I have forgotten most of them, yes I know. But I learned them in school and thought "hey why should I even know what happened in 1291 or in 1444 or even in 1780, when I live in the 1990's".

Today I know.
Your history is my history.

The reason I can walk on cobble stoned streets and through alleys in the old town is your history.

The reason I can walk through your old town and still find a spot I have never ever seen before amazes me.

The reason I find ways to sneak in and detour a little so I still end up ten minutes faster at my destination is only because of your history. Your stairs, your alleys, your lanterns, your fountains, and your gates fascinate me every day.

I long for you when I am not there.

I miss your buildings.
I miss your lake, and the surrounding mountains.
I miss everything...
...just not the allergies you give me, and the pain I feel every time I order a coffee or plain water.
But I miss you.

Hope you are having a fabulous day...whatever you are doing and wherever you are.
Know that I will enjoy my little town today...having dinner with friends and coworkers I haven't seen in a year. It sure feels like ten years instead of just one. We're going to one of my favorite restaurants - so authentic, you'd think you'd be in Italy itself.

xoxo