 Sun., May 17, Kussnacht, Switzerland - Never End-- Joanna kept a hold of Maryam for much of the way to Kussnacht (which means "kiss of night", by the way), and was pretty distant to both Dede and me. While we drove on the autobahn, Phil called in on Petra's mobile phone. We had to pull over so Joanna could hear him over the road noise. She got out of the van as we remained on the highway shoulder. Promptly, a gray-haired man in an expensive BMW pulled up offering help. He saw a woman on a cell phone and some people in a van...looked like we needed help. He was a very nice concerned citizen. When does that happen so quickly in the States? Joanna forgot to get Phil's mailing address to send the CDs to for him to learn the material, so she had to call him back. I entered the address into the laptop, and wrote it down for Joanna, who had lost the piece of paper with Phil's number on it I'd given her before. Petra changed over some Marks to Swiss Francs at the border and we headed into "picture-skew" Switzerland. I fell in love with the countryside--the little farms clinging far up the sides of mountains, the majesty of the Alps, the general feeling of the place is like nowhere I've been, yet have always been.  Kussnacht is situated right on a giant, clear blue lake with layer upon layer of higher and higher mountains in the background--georgeous. Petra did manage to find the club, but it was almost by accident. Tony dubbed it the "Never Find" instead of the Never End. We had pulled into an custom auto supply store and next door some people were having a cookout. Petra asked them where the club was, and they pointed down a dirt road, which was really just two dirt ruts, leading behind the auto store. We squeezed the van through and ended up in a parking lot with only the Joanna posters to tell us we were there. The club was very cool with a concrete and metal industrial thing happening. Nice stage and sound system--quite small, but definitely looked like it had potential. Again, we figured the weather would work against us, and the day of the week. The promoter was also the sound man, who did a terrible soundcheck, so that didn't bode well. He took us to...guess what...an Italian restaurant-- where we ordered pizza! Then we visited probably the most beautiful hotel we'd been to yet. It was small, but just chock full of traditional Swiss stuff all over the walls and in displays. The rooms were very comfortable. Tony and I shared a snoring chamber so Dede could have her own room, since the hotel had overbooked. Joanna handed the baby to Dede to take care of without pajamas, which Dede thought was very uncool. While we played the gig, Dede discovered the jacuzzi in Joanna and Petra's room, so she used it to help her muscle pain. The gig was poorly attended, but the sound was actually quite good. There was a very happening DJ playing some hip R&B and blues stuff, and we were well received. Turns out the club had just moved into these quarters a couple of months ago from another location in town and hadn't put the sign out yet. But everyone seemed to know where it was. The next day we had some time, so Dede and I took a stroll around a part of the lake. It was brisk out with a chilly wind blowing off the lake, but the sun was out and it was gloriusly beautiful. We walked back the other way, and saw a well-appointed circus that had set up in town, and also spied Joanna and Petra in a heated conversation, which we stayed out of. There was a distinct pairing off of Joanna and Vic and Tony, and Dede, me and Petra. I didn't like what I felt. We stopped at a supermarket, and although a lot of things are expensive in Switzerland, food and sundries are much cheaper than in the States. Of course, we HAD to buy some Swiss chocolate for ourselves and for Meadow and Lyla, Dede's daughter and granddaughter...
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