I will try and quickly (very quickly) summarize what I experiences of IsThereHop Festival and Zurich… because I really should have been in bed like… 2 hours ago. But that is utopia.
Fortunately this had never happened to me so far, but during this trip I got sick 😮 I know, BUMMER. So I arrived on a rainy Thursday evening and went for dinner in an Italian (not so Italian) place called “Il Postino” Which had really nice food. Rainy Friday was all about setting up the dance studio for the first party. In the afternoon I took a class with Mimmi and Fredrick, they are so much fun 😀 I learned some variations of the Tuck Turn, the Promenade and Swing Out. Really awesome.
Finally there was a Sunny Saturday, so I could finally grab the bike and go downtown to visit Zurich. My partner has been there a few times already, so he was taking me around. We went down to Lake Zurich and had a coffee (I had tea of course) along the Lake in the toasty sun. Then we cycled to the Old Town and had lunch. We didn’t have much time though: I was assigned the mission to prepare something for the evening dinner… and because I am really practical I opted for something that I had never cooked, nor that I like: tiramisù! 😮 I know, an Italian that doesn’t like tiramisù? What a freak! What can I say, I am half English and hate coffee with all my heart.
Anywho, I found mascarpone and savoiardi (which apparently are known as ‘lady fingers’ in English 😮 ), asked for a recipe on this family FB group, then googled a recipe cause no one was online and I needed to start the process, then Skype called my mum asking for more advice. Eventually, I managed. Of course, hating coffee, at dinner I tried it but found it disgusting, other people at the dinner party appreciated although (no offence) none of them were Italian, and the only Italian was lactose intolerant… so… I guess I’ll never know the real truth.
What I liked about this event is that, compared to the ones I have been to know (only two), it’s more cozy because there isn’t a massive crowd, there are a few couples of teachers and the classes aren’t crowded either. The parties were real fun. Each night had a different theme: Hop over the Atlantic, Midnight in Paris, Be your Hero… it’s great fun to dress up and dance!
Unfortunately, as already mentioned, I got sick! Noooooo! On Sunday morning I woke up achy and will I lovely temperature! I spent the following part of the holidays in bed, sweaty and delirious (charming uh?) 😦 Mostly sleeping. Sigh. 😥 Well, things can’t always go the way we want them to and I have usually been very lucky.
Aside from this inconvenience, I had a really good time. Our hosts and the other people in our house where lovely and fun, I loved the kitchen hangouts and the delicious dinners they cooked for us 😀 And I also saw friends I hadn’t seen in a while and met new dancers! 🙂
It’s always great to travel with the excuse of some Swing event. I hope I will be able to come back next year and enjoy the full experience of IsThereHop, cause it’s worth it! 😉
PS. Naturally, by now it got reaaaally late! So long for the “I’ll only quickly write a short post…” resolution… I ended up with 595 words. Typical me. Goodnight!
Dunkawimba 
2 thoughts on “Zurich and IsThereHop 2016”