Birthday Abroad

Growing up birthdays meant a special dinner out with the family at your favorite restaurant, blowing out the candles on an ice cream cake from Baskins Robbins, and Dad serenading you with his wonderful and off-key rendition of Happy Birthday.  As the boys and I moved off to pursue our educations and more recently careers, birthday celebrations have evolved.

Birthday crew

This year I spent my birthday in Basel at a wines of the world fair held at a posh restaurant Ferraris parked on the street outside that I’d never otherwise visit having not drawn a paycheck for a year and a half now.  For a nominal fee, you got to try as many of the 315 wines as you wanted from tuxedo-clad waiters.  We flitted between the white, red, and desert wine rooms and took a virtual tour of the world through our palates.  The gang surprised me with a box of my favorite wines in the parking lot after we closed down the restaurant. 

Checking out my new loot

After we took the tram back, it seemed like a good idea after four solid hours of free wine tasting to crowd clown car style in the lift in our apartment.  Imagine our surprise when the elevator sank instead of taking us up to the fourth floor for cake.  Apparently the Swiss are serious about their weight requirements and six people in an elevator built for two caused us to be stuck between the ground floor and the basement.  I’ve never been trapped in an elevator before but it was pretty hilarious.  Karla was convinced we were going to suffocate and worriedly kept pushing the emergency button, Asvin thought we were going to overheat and insisted on taking off half his clothes, and Kevin opened a bottle of wine to quench his thirst.  The superintendent rescued us after about thirty minutes and pulled us out between floors.  We celebrated our brush with death birthday cake and more wine. 

We really should be in a sitcom or maybe a reality tv show

In a nod to my proximity to France “Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” or “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  Though it may not have transpired in Greensboro, NC, I still spent the evening out at a special event with my Swiss family, partook in candles and cake, and was serenaded by Dad through the technological marvel that is Skype.