We’re here to race the World Cup next weekend. We flew out on the 4th of July, which was simultaneously inspiring and disappointing. Excited as I am to defend America’s honor on the racecourse, I would rather have some hamburgers and fireworks first as fuel.
Our hotel is the Hotel Continental-Park, a “bright and airy four-star hotel that offers an outstanding location in the center of Lucerne. It is a modern hotel specialised (sic) in individual and business guests and is characterised (sic) by its warm and personal atmosphere.” We are big timers. Brett and I are sharing a room with several exciting lighting fixtures, including yellow and blue mood lighting on the walls and a spotlight with a huge hemispherical lens. The beds are right next to each other and are difficult to move apart, so we have become very good friends.
After getting settled in yesterday, we took the bus to the course to rig our boats. They were supposed to arrive at 2:30 with Andreas, who cares for our equipment in Europe. One problem though: yesterday, Lucerne hosted the Swiss national championships, making it impossible to rig our boats until the rest of the crowd cleared out. They didn’t leave until 5:30 or so, which gave us some time. Despite the jetlag, it was one of the more pleasant episodes of wasting time at the racecourse I can remember. How often in my life will I be soothed to sleep in the grass by the sound of rowing and Alpine cowbells from across the lake? I’m trying to find out how to say “livin the dream” in German.
The crowds left, our boats arrived, and we rigged them just in time to get caught in a thunderstorm. Apparently, weather changes very quickly in the mountains.
The city is beautiful. Today I wandered around and got lost, but happened to bump into my hotel again fairly quickly. It is not a large city. As an American, a few things stand out:
- There are tons of people walking everywhere
- There are farms right next to the city (ie NO SUBURBS)
- Switzerland has old buildings and big mountains!
