Silvestersauber

If Silvesterklausen wasn't enough...

We were just getting started with our NYE celebration. The day continued on with all the last minute party preparations. Music playlist had to be made, apartment cleaned and arranged for our guests, and me, being the little chef that I am, had to throw together an apple strudel and spinach artichoke dip. Oh yeah! I am a cookin' these days. Who would have thought.

Being the popular expats that we are (I crack myself up), we had a house full of friends from all over the world. It still amazes me how quickly we have made friends and the quality of these friendships. We had a great time toasting to the New Year and fueling up on some munchies before heading down to the big city celebration at the Zurichsee.

A few months back we had played around with the idea of going somewhere else to bring in the New Year, but kept hearing how Zurich was actually supposed to be the top city in Europe for NYE. This was hard for me to believe since the Swiss aren't knows for their party animal skills. But, in the end...this is exactly where we wanted to be.

The party downtown had a bunch of tents set up with food, drinks, and music. We started and ended at the 80's music tent. Where else would a bunch of crazy Americans want to be? The clock struck midnight and the usual kissing and cheering went on. But, where are the fireworks? Everyone had talked about how great the fireworks show was going to be, but it is midnight, and there are no sparkles in the sky.

Come to find out, the fireworks don't start until 12:20am because the hotels and bars don't want everyone living until after the big champagne toasts at midnight. It makes sense. Can you imagine how much money they would lose? So, it is 12:20am and I am standing in line for the restroom (of course) and the fireworks start. It was like no show I have ever seen. This is by far the best fireworks show ever! And, they just kept going. They went on long enough for me to see the start while in line, go to the bathroom, and make it back for another 10 minutes of bangs and bursts right on the water. Awesome!

We continued dancing the night away to some Wham! and Michael Jackson before finding our way back to the flat around 4am. Such an amazing time and I have all of our friends to thank, especially Marc-ie Marc for making the big trip across the pond. Hope we can all do it again next year. Happy New Year all!