1. Tag - day 1 (für Englisch nach unten scrollen)

So, the journey has begun. The eager anticipation turned into nervous anticipation and then cold panic. Zoe had to attend a monster end-of-season party, with a monster crowd of people, and came down with a monster cold on Tuesday evening in Ägeri! We approached the Covid tests with only partial relaxation... But all was well (much to our surprise).

So on Wednesday, we started by foot, then by bus, then by train, then by plane, then by taxi to the Big Apple!

Zurich Airport was so crowded, it was like the Chinese New Year migration was drying up! The 2.5 hours were barely enough to reach the gate. No leisurely strolling, coffee breaks, or browsing, just standing in line, waiting, and carrying bags! But the airplane ride was comfortable. A 2-seat row for Zoe and a 4-seat row for me - not bad. The 8-hour flight passed by (more or less) comfortably. Then came the familiar feeling: nervous anticipation - cold panic. Did I have all the documents? Filled them out correctly? Did I miss anything? Have there been any new regulations? After all, we had to print so many papers that the Christmas tree in front of Rockefeller could have been made out of them... And then: nothing! The customs officer insisted on only seeing our passports and nothing else!!! Seriously? All those hours on the computer, ESTA, attestation, the test center, vaccinations, the worries and fears - for nothing?

OK, then we quickly got out before they changed their minds and into the next yellow taxi 😊 Quickly to the hotel and satisfy our monstrous hunger. We needed some meat. And apparently, there is only one answer: Wolfgans. (Thanks to Andrea and Claude at this point!) It was just "around the corner" as it usually is in Manhattan. There were no more tables available, but the bar worked too. The first day couldn't have ended better. The meat was heavenly and soon after we were transported into dreamland.

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So, the trip has started. The happy anticipation turned into nervous anticipation and then cold panic. Zoe had to attend a season-end monster party, with millions of people, and came back home on Tuesday evening with a monster cold! We were not exactly relaxed when we had to take the Covid test… but luckily, much to our surprise, all was good! So, we started our journey on Wednesday morning, first by foot, then by bus, then by train, then by airplane, and then by cab to the Big Apple.

Zurich Airport was crazy busy - it felt like when the Chinese travel on New Year! We just managed to reach the gate after 2 ½ hours. No strolling, no coffee breaks, just waiting, queuing, and running! But we were rewarded on the airplane. It wasn't full, so Zoe had a 2-seat row to herself and I had a 4-seat row to myself. Stretched like that, the 8-hour flight passed by quite quickly. Then the nervous anticipation turned into cold panic again: Do we have all the documents? Filled them in correctly? Didn't forget anything? Did possibly new requirements come out that we missed? We printed out so much paperwork - surely the equivalent of the Christmas tree in front of Rockefeller center! And then: Nothing! The customs agent insisted on only checking our passport. Nothing else! Really?? All those hours on the computer, filling out ESTA, attestations, visiting the test center, vaccinations - all those worries for nothing?

Oh well, better not question it and chop chop out of the airport into a yellow cab. Quickly to the hotel and from there go and satisfy the craving for meat we had. There is apparently only one answer to that, and it's called Wolfgangs (thanks to Andrea and Claude!) It was just "around the corner" as it is in Manhattan. We couldn't get a table, but the bar was just as good. The day couldn't have ended better. The meat was delicious and catapulted us directly into dreamland shortly thereafter.