Zen Fishing & Football Madness...

The zen fishing hole...

I remained in Switzerland after my spiritual re-kindling at the Vipassana Centre. I hitched a ride to a small village near Zurich where, true to Katt form, I said yes to the first hint of excitement that came-an invitation to go fishing- and immediately rejoined civilization. My meditation colleagues, whose lives were instantly changed from meat-eating, astrology tracking, seeking souls to mega-meditating vegetarians, turned down the opportunity to commune with nature and men in favor of more-you guessed it-meditation. I hit the road with a real fishing, hunting manly man to a small isolated pond (cool it hormo-knees!) where I had my hook baited for a bit ‘o fishing fun. You must remember I had been in the sexually charged, men separated from women, but constantly curious about each other atmosphere of the retreat for 11 days (see previous post). Honestly, I really wanted to fish for it had been a few years since I had watched the little buggers take my bait and disappear. It didn’t hurt that the company was sweet and witty. Fishing became my zen meditation for the day. By the time my companions were begged out of seclusion to join me and the fellas (my host’s best buddy came later) I was back to my beer drinking, meat eating self. Did I mention the manly man had cooked up some wild boar spareribs when fishing proved futile. The lack of nibbling swimmers was blamed on me torpedoing my hook into the otherwise quiet, calm pond. All teasing was laugh out loud hilarious. What a great way to reconnect with the world!!!

Mark & Andre discussing new fishing tactics.

It’s football madness all over Europe and I’m in football central: Switzerland. Austria is helping to host because Switzerland couldn't possibly handle all the human traffic. Believe me, I didn’t do this on purpose. Nevertheless, Euro 2008 (http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/06/0607_soccer_venues/index_01.htm) is an amazing display of the power of marketing, testosterone, and beer drinking capabilities. I am really enjoying people watching, not to mention witnessing the transformation of three major Swiss cities: Basel, Geneva, & Zurich. I don’t think there is such a frenzy for any one sport in the States. Adults and kids alike paint their faces with national flags, don strange colored cheap wigs, and weird hats. Grown men parade the streets tooting plastic horns and singing sports anthems. Women even get into the game. It’s a no brainer when all the men are in one place. Now everyone is a fanatic. Since I am in the middle of this electrically charged sports phenomenon I think it only kind to share some photos. Enjoy...

A parade with traditional gigantic cowbell instrument things. (great description from a music lover, eh?)

Swiss fans getting ready for the opening game.

A shrine to the Swiss team in Basel. How many balls can you count?

Geneva's football mania...

Zurich tops them all with the gigantic footballers in the middle of the main train station.

Switzerland is a beautiful country, so I'll have to post photos of all the natural wonder at some point. If you've even been to the Pacific NW, it's kinda like that but more pristine with more history.

Be Happy...