Zurich—May 13, 2023

 Zurich Day 3(ish)—Meeting up with Carmen Crenshaw-Hovey

(Remember, you can click on pictures to enlarge them.)

The reason we came to Zurich was to visit Carmen. We met in 1992 when we were teaching at Leysin American School. She was working in the office and Marie was teaching ESL and an English class and I was teaching two sophomore English classes, two senior English classes, and advising the yearbook. We also met history teacher Bill Hovey that year. It was his and our first year at Leysin and we became fast friends. Bill and Carmen fell in love in 1992 and married in Lake Placid, NY the summer 1994.

Over the past 30 years I kept in touch with Bill, sharing book titles and news about our lives. And tragically, Bill was diagnosed with and died from Glioblastoma during the height of the pandemic. This year was the first time we felt we could safely travel so we made a point of visiting our European friends. 

Today we spent the day with Carmen, catching up on the latest news we couldn't gather from our WhatsApp conversations during Bill's illness. It's been two years since Bill's death and it was wonderful to see how well Carmen and her sons, Sam (28) and Aleksander (24) are doing. It's been a difficult two years, but with lots of support they are adjusting to life after Bill's passing.

Marie, Carmen, & me at Lindenhof Park.

We had a delicious lunch at Hitl. This
coaster reveals its history.

This section of the buffet shows the
expanse of dishes available. Guests
can sit and order from a waiter or 
select a plate and help themselves
from this bountiful buffet. Guests fill 
a plate or bowl and then weigh it on 
the food and print a ticket. When it's
time to ask for the check your waiter
scans the ticket. What a concept!
More importantly, the food was 
super yummy.

Guests can watch cooks and chefs
preparing dishes.

Hitl dining room upstairs where we
had lunch. The restaurant is on two
levels and has the feel of a fine
dining establishment in a casual
setting. This is a place we never 
would have found on our own.

After lunch we all walked the park surrounding
the National Museum of Zurich. The museum looks
more like a castle than a repository of cultural and
historical artifacts.

National Museum of Zurich interior
courtyard. Carmen said they erect an
ice skating rink here during the 
winter holidays.

We ended our day with a coffee and saw Carmen off on the train to her village. Staying in touch via email and text is one thing, but nothing replaces face-to-face conversation.

Loreen won with her song "Tattoo". She won in 2012 and is the first to win the contest twice. 

For Americans Eurovision is equivalent to "America's Got Talent" and "The Voice" on steroids. Contestants represent countries from all over Europe.