OUR MAN in EUROPE/dave delacroix/Part 18: The Cuckoo's Nest

Part 18:   The Cuckoo's Nest


Ripe from a Swiss (town of) Basel night spent with British Ex-pat's & "die loiter" (regulars) at the bar, Mr Pickwick (NINE Euros for a pint, for chrissakes!!!?) the dawn finds me stealing a ride on a (local) train to (the town) Lanfen, some 20 miles South then hiking in the crisp morning sun up the foothills of the eternally pristine Swiss Alps.

Expecting an "agony" of waits, hitch-hiking, a roadside apple tree provides a sumptuous breakfast (fruhstuck) and the (Deutsch) Swiss, god bless 'em, surprise!

Ride on ride.

Roger; on his way to visit his sick mother (OH, C"MON!?).
Brigette, who has a brother in the Music business: Swiss Patriotic Music (OH, GET OUTTA HERE!!??).
....But she's a "jewel", beautiful...and runs her own Floral delivery business, hence: Brigette's Blessings (.de) ... And I do believe SHE DID (...bless me), for dropping me off in/at some village/fork in the road, I'm immediately picked up by "Horst" in a mini-van...who drives me a good 60 miles (in Switzerland, that's like crossing the state of Kansas & Colorado, both), all the time exposed to the Alpine majesty of "Heidi", "Grandfather", "Belle & Sebastiane" and the RICOLA lozenge factory!

"Oh!" I exclaim, every half -  mounain-winding - mile; "Just STOP IT!... Switzerland!? -just CUT THAT OUT!" -for the scenary is just OFF the Scale....

....which brings me to the "Cuckoo's Nest".

Finally over the "Sustan (?)" mountain pass (elevation: LSD), I find myself down in Oensingen, hitch-hiking...actually...on the Freeway-Auto-bahn...where I run afoul of the Law and get busted by Lindsey Lohan's Swiss counterpart (real pretty in real life), tightly wrapped in Swiss Highway Patrol uniform & Designer shades...who directs me - smilingly, but in NO uncertain terms - to "get the frick off the highway" via some highway Service/industrial road.
So I comply.

...It meanders this way & that, then there's a small industrial warehouse district...and then I "espsy" what looks like a college or school of some sort, thronged with young-ish people. And "thank god!", because I really need to use a restroom.

...Long story short? It's actually a HOSPITAL-residence for the Mentally Challenged, so straight away, I feel quite at home...waving my arms...to no-one in particular, queuing up for a free lunch, mucho coffees, bathroom, of course; and bantering with the cafeteria serving ladies about Beckburg, that magnificent castle (Schloss) that over looks Oensingen and the rich countryside, hereabouts.

Still waving my arms around - at no-one in particular - and now dribbling at the mouth with a messy face (it was BEANS day) I promise myself that on my next "proffessional" music tour I will include this "Cuckoo's Nest" to repay the generosity & warmth of these beautiful People.... And STILL waving my arms around, now demonically - at no-one in particular - I pick up my guitar/gear and take my leave, the Serving Ladies & luncheon residents, waving their "goodbyes" in return.

................


What to say about Switzerland? I could write pages! -Perhaps in the vein of this laconic blog...an update of Orson Welles' famous, THE THIRD MAN "Cuckoo Clock" speech is called for?
The awesome beauty of the land, the reserved charm of its People and the succinct calm of its Society/civilization...?

("Like the fella said:") For the last 100 years, other countries have boldly created The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, PICASSO, Udo Lindenburg (sic), BEAT POETRY, the....er....INTER-NET, film Directors UP the wazoo, Moon Landings (oh, yes: those things), Concordes & Dreamliners, the M1-A1 Tank, SAM Missiles, Nuclear Submarines (see where I'm going?) The Atom Bomb. The Hydrogen Bomb!
And what did the Swiss produce?

The Swiss Army Pocket Knife.


c. 2010. @ ze Black Pearl, following the "Code", Usingen/dave delacroix/our man in europe