ED Memories: August 3, 2023

Thursday, August 3, 2023

It's a quiet and very uneasy start to the morning. I eat some breakfast, but nobody else does. We discuss, and decide to go back fast to our hotel from the night before where I have a photo of us actually having the camera bag in hand - it shows Andrew putting it into his car. Handy because now we know we don't need to go back any further.

Andrew finds the shortest, straightest route so we can make good time. We aren't optimistic, as we feel it must be on the side of the road somewhere where we stopped. But there's enough of a tiny spark of hope that maybe it's still there, or maybe someone picked it up and turned it in. There are still nice people in the world. Interestingly, Brian thinks he would leave it in place, whereas I would take it to the nearest manned sign of civilization. A rest stop, inn, gas station, whatever. Two different approaches, neither wrong. 

Our moods are glum and tense - Andrew keeps reiterating his incomprehension at how it happened, and I know he's wracking his brain to try and figure it out. I feel terrible for him, not only for the possible loss of that very expensive lens, but also because I know he is feeling bad that in his camera bag is also my spare key for the Boxster. That just adds to the consternation.  

The one thing I am feeling is that it's pretty amazing to have come this far to have this be the first real tough challenge to face. 'no plan provided first contact with the enemy' - isn't that a famous saying? We've certainly been doing pretty darn well so far, and although Andrew may have lost an expensive lens and I may have lost an expensive key (because God knows how much Porsche charges for a new key!), I'm feeling like we will just handle it. We will head back, lose some forward progress, but we are still on holiday and still driving these two amazing machines. 

Wow. Amazingly, we return to the hotel and meet the manager Davide there again (super nice fellow). We search, to no avail. Andrew suggests calling the police station, which makes Davide think of the tourist office. He calls them. Lo and behold, someone dropped it off!!! Incredible. They found it, and took it to the tourist office. We rejoice. Andrew gets his bag and importantly, expensive lens back and I get my spare key!!!

The rest of the day is basically a long travel day, following over part of the passes that we did yesterday, as we re-route ourselves back towards Switzerland. We are dropping Brian off at the train station in Bern, so we hop onto the highway and make some time. It's a long day of driving though and I'm feeling quite tired. Brian has an upset stomach all day, so isn't  eating anything poor fellow. I wonder if the stress of the last 24 hours has affected his internals! The power of the mind really is something, and I am alive to how it affects my physiology that's for sure.

I was smart last night and downloaded some podcasts while on Andrew's Wi-Fi, and I managed to get my SIM card working too, so I have plenty to entertain me as we cruise along. Anybody who says the Boxster isn't comfortable for long highway cruises doesn't know what they're talking about. I think I might've said that before.

We drop Brian off at the train station in a rapid deployment manner because it's so massively busy. He jumps out, grabs his stuff from my trunk, we shake hands and Andrew is already moving off into traffic before I barely get my seatbelt on. I sprint to catch up! Now we head off to Zürich to pick up Andrew‘s coworker Chris, who seems a cheery fellow who is joining us for the Nordschleife portion. Which is what I really care about getting to now. I can feel the excitement building as I remember that amazing place. Ahead of me, I can see Andrew, talking animatedly on the phone to someone … wonder what that's all about. Seems like a heated conversation. Wonder if it's his landlord, I don't know … another stressor to weigh on his mind that I don't envy. 

We embark upon a fast drive on the autobahn to the airport where Chris is waiting. A cloud seems to lift, as we begin the next chapter of the journey. Andrew is instantly more animated. Like within 10 seconds. Chris has us both laughing practically instantly. Great stuff! Andrew (again) finds a decent hotel that isn't crazy expensive, which must be a weird anomaly in Zürich because EVERYTHING is expensive here. Wow. We dump our stuff and walk across the train tracks to a little pub where we have a pricey (obviously) dinner. After that it's back to the hotel for a wash up and I am ready for bed.

More stories will come tomorrow as we head back up into the Swiss Alps now for some different scenery and some different photo ops, not to mention some different mountain passes!

When my head hits the pillow, I am out like a light!

~ Luke

p.s. You can read the full, no-holds-barred accounting of this day at gtschronicles.com.