Ölbaum’s Delirium

One of my best friends got married yesterday¹, so I’m dedicating my first blog entry to him and his wife. That was an amazing day. After the ceremony and apéro in Kerzers, we moved to the Gurten, a very nice place on a hill near Bern. There’s a beautiful view on the city (and on the Bundeshaus too where, we could verify, there are no lights, neither by day nor by night²) and, most importantly, a tchoo-tchoo. In case you’re wondering, tchoo-tchoo is technical for “model steam train that really works and on which you can actually ride.”

The dinner was delicious and the dessert buffet, oh my God, I can still hear them cry “Eat me, eat me, plllease!” There were great contributions from the guests, too, during the afternoon and evening.

The guests’ writing skills were widely sollicitated during the evening. There were two quizzes to fill about the couple, a photo album with a page dedicated to each of the guests and a collective short story that everyone was invited to complete. I guess the couple will have great fun reading all of this. Note to self: remember to come with a ghostwriter next time.

The night ended with a great fireworks-enabled balloon release. It was lucky the fireworks went out before the ballons reached the Bundeshaus, though, because they were dropping pretty big sparks and could have looked like an attacking UFO to any overzealous, half-drunk security guard who’d have happened to be on duty that night.