a Break, take two

Do you know this feeling when you would rather jump in to the plane and fly somewhere warm, but everyday life just so happens to get on the way…? This becomes reality to me every year around my birthday… The daylight decreases day by day and seemingly endless darkness takes over. Everywhere is gray, cold and foggy. And your happy mood disappears together with the daylight. The best tactics to deal with all this would be to run an hide, but instead you find yourself stuck in between tired and fighting kids, endless cooking and cleaning duties, mommytaxi-duties, homework, kid’s friend-issues etc etc. Then you lock your gear to survival mode and just… well… survive. Exactly the picture of my life lately, I dare to say. I desperately needed a break. And my dear hubby was generous enough to grant me one…

Remember the tragicomic story from my attempt to take a break from everyday life last year…? Here is a short version about how it went (read the whole story here):

…I spent an awesome day at Schinznach Bad, enjoying different spa services. I even fell asleep for a moment in this very relaxing thermal bath, sun shining and the water bubbling and steaming around me. But unfortunately, for me even taking a break doesn’t always go completely smoothly. So it didn’t this time either :) Maybe I am an idiot. Or maybe my brain is just overloaded… however, firstly, I forgot to take some cash with me. And if you have ever spent time in Switzerland, you know that this is a major mistake. You would expect that one living here already more than six years would have learned the lesson, but no. Again, I forgot the cash. And so the problems started when I walked out of the Spa after these relaxing moments. Standing in front of a garage I realized that only cash is accepted as a payment for the parking. Shit (excuse my language!). I felt my blood pressure starting to rise to whole new levels. After going through all my pockets and wallet and backpack several times, I was lucky enough to find just enough pennies to pay for the parking. After I sighed for relief and headed towards the staircase, just to realize that I didn’t know anymore where I parked the car. Was it up? Or down? I had no idea. Puzzled, staring at the staircase I decided that it must’ve been down. Guess what? No it wasn’t! I felt my blood pressure starting to rise again and tried DESPERATELY to calm myself with the fact that there were only (!) six floors in this freaking garage. Running up and down the stairs certainly wore off all levels of relaxation I had reached earlier during my time at the Spa. Finally, after going through four (!) floors I found my loyal old car standing probably exactly where I left it. ”Oh there you are!” I yelled in relief, ”don’t you ever hide from me again!”… Yeah, like it was the car’s fault if the owner is an idiot. Surprisingly, I still made it out of the garage on time. Happy end…

Guess what…? Finally I was brave enough to pay another visit to my new best taking-a-break-place: Schinznach Bad. Yes, it took me a full year to regain my bravery after that EPISODE described above. And guess what? This time I didn’t forget the cash. (Only it didn’t matter because they had changed the parking meters and the new ones also accepted cards…) anyway, the whole Spa was almost empty, and I had all the time in the world to enjoy soothing warm water and thermal baths.

Afterwards I had coffee and some snacks in the restaurant and truly enjoyed the quiet moment without my dear little monsters, you know, the ones I left behind for their daddy to look after… ;) After the coffee break it was time to head back home to my beloved ones, and guess what…? This time I didn’t even lose the car!!! As a matter of fact, I knew exactly where I parked Skoda das Auto. Not to mention that I knew the whole park garage now better than my own pockets… thanks for the last time.

As you can see, I had something that all the wise men would call a REMEDIAL EXPERIENCE. Splendid. Right there I felt so empowered of my succesful visit that I decided to make it my every-autumn-tradition. Just because I can. :D

Ps. Seriosly speaking. Thermal Spa’s are great. Even if you stumble on your toes and lose a car. Seriously.