Well, it only took 6 years, but my dad finally made it over to my neck of the woods!

I guess all of my nagging during the past 6 years finally paid off! My dad asked me in mid September if he could come visit at the end of that month. I was so shocked, and asked my boss if I could take 5 days off, to which he surprised me by saying, "Go ahead!". So, we changed the week so that he arrived in October, and ended up spending 3 days in Geneva, and 4 in Munich, Germany.
I realized quickly that it might be difficult to find a place to stay in Munich since we were arriving during the last week of Oktoberfest. It was hard, but we found a hotel that was set off the road, with a (raging) river running behind it. In fact, it was so loud in the room when we opened the door that I was under the impression that we had an air-conditioning unit in our room! I was so excited about that since it's hard to find hotels with A/C, but after 3 hours I realized that there was no box-looking-thing that could've passed as the unit! So I closed the window, and presto!, NO MORE A/C! It was actually the 'rapids'!! I am seriously posting a pic of that....

So, Munich is awesome! First, GREAT food! I think my dad was more impressed with that than most other things! Then, there was so much to see and do, either in Munich, or right around it. The first full day we were there, we went on 2 tours: 'Hitler's Munich' and 'Dachau'. I was really amazed with how much of a role Munich had in Hitler's rising. We went to many different places that were significant in his history, and the history of Nazi-ism. Then we grabbed something to eat, with one of those GIANT soft pretzels as a snack to share (which was a mistake...I told him we should've gotten 2!). Now, when I say GIANT, I mean gigantic! This thing is bigger than your face!
Afterwards, we met our next guide who took us to Dachau, where the first concentration camp was built. They've preserved it, for the most part, and we walked through the museum and then the barracks, gas chamber, and crematorium. It was really interesting to have a guide who was Israeli, and my dad had a lot of questions for her during the tour:) Afterwards, we went to eat at the Hofbrau House, but it was so packed that we decided to eat at a restaurant directly across from it. I think that is where all the Germans eat, actually! All the tourists go to Hofbrau:) Anywho, we had this amazing meal....so amazing, in fact, that my dad asked to eat there again the next night, which we did.

On our second full day there, we took another tour, but this one lasted all day. We drove down to Bavaria to see 2 of King Ludwig's castles, which are located in the southeast part of Germany, bordering Austria. This king definitely liked the gold color.....everything was covered in a thin layer of gold, so it was a bit much for the eyes at times! We also stopped in a little village inbetween castle visits, and my dad picked up some souvenirs. They are very well known for their wood-carving skills, and handmade crafts. And every 10 years, in this small village, there is a play that opens that brings in huge audiences. It's called 'Passion of the Christ', and the next play opens in 2010....it looks like it would be amazing.

After that, we drove down to the Neuschwanstein Castle (or 'schloss' in German;) I am tempted to start learning German after 4 days there! Cool language.) We had to hike up this trail leading to the castle, which took us about 30 minutes. This was ok for my dad since he felt he had eaten too much since he arrived in Deutschland, and wanted to burn some calories! When we arrived at the top, we were reminded of just how organized the Germans are....everyone had their ticket, which had a number on it, as well as the time the tour started. If you didn't get in the correct lane, at the correct time (and I mean, EXACT time...not 3 minutes after!), you missed your opportunity! It was insane, so we felt stressed about this until we were in the castle. Our guide was part robot/part woman...no lie. She was so monotone and looked straight ahead, but at no one in particular...almost like she was looking at the top of someone's head. Then when she finished talking, at the end, everyone was making little comments about how robotic she was. Seriously, she must hate her job.
Anyway, we got back to Munich around 5.45 pm, and did some more souvenir shopping. I was so excited to see a ginormous Esprit store there, and I bought 2 suits for work. I think I might fly back again just for a shopping day!

We got back home on Saturday the 6th, and spent the rest of the time organizing bags for my dad's trip home the next day. I made a raclette dinner, and we watched a few episodes of The Office, which I think I finally got my dad hooked on!, and then crashed. We had to get up at 5.30 the next morning for the airport, and 3 hours later I was back in bed. It was a great trip, and I'm so happy that my dad finally came over to visit and see a bit of where and how I live. Now I'm waiting for other family and friends to make their way over the ocean;)

So, as far as work is concerned, I'm still waiting to hear about my next contract :S It's unsettling, but I know everything will work out the way it is meant to. I fly home to Abilene on December 13th, and will be there for 3 weeks....well, except for 5 days, when I'll be in Boston!

I hope everyone is doing great, and that I'll hear from you soon! Auf weidersehen!

GOTTA LOVE GENEVA!!

Man, oh man! You guys will never believe the Thursday night I had!!! Well, for most of you, you will probably have zero idea of who I'm talking about, but oh well. My friend, Nina, received this invitation for a grand opening celebration of a new jewellery store in Geneva called Avakian. She called them and asked if she could still go, since it wasn't her name on the invitation, and they said, 'Sure!' So, she called me up 2 weeks ago and asked if I would like to go to a cocktail at the Restaurant des Eaux Vives....which is one of the most chic places in town. I said, 'Sure!' cuz, you know, it was free!! Well, I forgot about it and was at home last night still in my very casual work clothes...when Nina rang the doorbell and asked if I was ready. I was thinking, 'I kinda just want to stay home....but it might be cool, and besides, free food and drinks!'

Holy Mother of God.....this was not a 'cocktail'. This was about 200 jet-setters from all over the world! I'm talking FAMOUS people, and extremely rich people! We walked in, and immediately I was embarrassed because of how I was dressed! Women all around me were wearing dresses that looked like they were worn on the Red Carpet! Maybe they were! They must have spent at least 3 hours in the hair salon, with some of the 'dos I saw! We felt as though we were in a movie....then we saw all these photographers taking pictures of Mr. Avakian and this extremely tall blond woman, who was beautiful. She just happened to be Adriana Karembeu, the supermodel who made WonderBra famous!! She is apparently a superstar in Europe, and has been recorded by Guinness as having the longest supermodel legs ever! I swear, she's 6'1'', but about 5'8'' of that is legs....unbelievable. She is also married to French soccer star Christian Karembeu. I found her official site, but it's in French....but you can at least see what she looks like. http://www.adrianakarembeu.fr/

So, since we had no idea who she was, we continued walking around looking at all the jewellery showcased that evening. Not exactly my taste - a little over the top- but it was still cool to see. We planted ourselves at one of the tables and picked off little finger foods that were soooo delicious, and we quickly befriended one of the servers. I guess maybe because we felt more on his level than anyone else's there! They kept refilling our glasses with champagne, and they even had a sushi bar that was sculpted out of ice! It was so funny...all these people were so elegant, and had probably seen parties much bigger and better than this one, but we were so mesmerized with this ice bar...Nina kept touching it to see if it was really ice! I don't think anyone could say that we looked like we fit in! So, after eating sushi and TONS of finger foods, and downing glass after glass of champagne, the entertainment finally started. So, we didn't know who Adriana was -our friendly server told us later who she was and was shocked that we could be that stupid!- and we didn't know who the singer was. I had heard of her, or her name, rather, but never heard her songs. But when she started singing, it was like listening to Heaven! Lara Fabian can be described as the Celine Dion of France, and everyone knows how much I love Celine! But Lara's voice is a bit softer....she sang so many beautiful and amazing songs, and I instantly became a fan:) It was cool to hear her say that her mother is Armenian and her father Italian....my grandmother was Italian, and my grandfather was Armenian. Mr. Avakian is Armenian, but I have no idea if that was why they asked her to give a private concert. Either way, I was so impressed with her singing that I will go and download her songs tonight!

See if you can see this link properly...it's one of her performances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hg3DNNrH1M

So, after that, we were left with our jaws on the ground, but decided to stuff our faces with their very yummy desserts. I ate soooo much sugar that, for sure, was packed into all of the little tiny finger desserts, that I was practically bouncing off the walls as we left. Which, by the way, was awesome because they gave us each a gift bag, and a brochure booklet, that had a beautifully wrapped box of chocolate and, in mine, an Avakian bracelet. Nina got a ring. I don't think it's worth as much as the other jewellery we saw that night! But it was super nice and I'm wearing it right now!

I told Nina that if she ever intercepted another invitation to a party, that she needed to invite me again! But next time, I will try to dress for the occasion so I don't blend in with the servers:)
Kiss kiss, dah-lings;)