Now before you start to think, did this guy loose someone or have to bury someone he loves? I thank thank god on my knees and say that that is not the case.
Tomorrow we are exchanging our car that has been with us for almost 6 years for a new one.
The first journey we made with our new car was to Italy, the Como-lake area, of all places! Not your preferred destination if you've just bought a new car 😉
It is now almost 6 years that I moved to Switzerland. 6 Fantastic years in which I can say that I've met my soulmate and the person that I want to grow old with and we've had some fantastic times together. Unbelievable memories and many of them accompanied by the first car that we purchased together.
When I first met my wife, she was driving a Honda Logo. For those of you who don't know what a Honda Logo is, please scroll down where you can see ours just as it was being taken away. We had some fantastic memories with that car and I'll share 2 of the most memorable with you now:
This was at the beginning of our relationship, it was actually during the first time that I was in Switzerland to meet her for the first time. It was in the beginning of January, so typical winter-weather, which was different almost every day. We were getting on really well and one of our first excursions was to the Rheinfallen. The biggest waterfall in Europe. On the way over it was already raining, but on the way back the weather turned worse. We were getting hail and snow and her old little car had difficulties adjusting to the weather conditions. We tried to turn the heating up, that didn't work, then we tried to cool the heating down, that didn't work and all the way she had to keep on wiping the windshield so that she could see through it. It was a ridiculous and dangerous experience, but we had so much fun due to its stupidity.
This is Stein-am-Rhein, it was on the way back from this village that the above story happened
The second Logo-anecdote I want to share is when we drove to the Netherlands together for the first time. We had to visit my family, but after the obligatory formalities were over I had planned some quality time for the 2 of us. Driving from town to town and showing her some nice parts of the Netherlands. Our last stop was in Den Haag where I had booked us a very exclusive hotel, the Steigenberger Kurhaus. This was a dream come true for me and a once in a lifetime experience, made even more memorable as we pulled up in our shabby old car, which we let them valet park between Bentley's, Rolls-Royces, Maserati's and the likes. It was a hilarious sight, made even more ridiculous as the valet-concierge was a big 2 meter high body builder!
the Kurhaus in Den Haag, an institution
Unfortunately, not long after this there was an incident of which my wife is still suffering and our trusted Logo was total-loss:
Our Honda Logo, just before it was taken for its final journey 😢
Now we had to get ourselves a new car, a family car and this is the car that we're saying goodbye from tomorrow. This was the first car we've bought together. It was love at first sight. The price was right, low mileage, 2 sets of wheels (something you need in Switzerland), the whole package was perfect. Here it is:
Our Mercedes B180 as we bought here almost 6 years ago
It is strange, but we also had some great memories with this car. It is the car that we drove both our baby's home in, we had some fantastic holidays with this car, we went to fantastic places and great events like the Alpabzug in Urnäsch or the Celine Dion concert in Bern. One time when we drove to Holland in this car, we stayed at the same hotel as the Dutch National Football Team, just before they were about to travel to Brazil for the World Cup Football.
Meeting the Dutch National Football team at the same hotel as we stayed at, quite a surreal experience, but that's for another post
On our way to the Alpabzug in Urnäsch the cows passed within inches of our car, can you imagine the damage one of those could have done to our car if he hit it?
After months of arguing and disagreements, then me giving in and going on test-drives, tomorrow is the day that I'll be picking up our new, family proof and distance friendly, Seat Alhambra. For those of you unfamiliair with the make or type.
The Seat Alhambra is THE family car in Switzerland. It is one of the biggest 7 seaters available. Why was I against it, first of all there's nothing wrong with our current car. Second, it's another expense that we don't need and finally, this is a HUGE car, why do we need such a big car. Well, in the end, I gave in and we went on test-drives. We looked at several cars, but in the end our taste fell on this one and as we found a good deal (again), we decided to make the purchase. So if everything goes well, I'll be an official familycar driver as of tomorrow.
the SEAT Alhambra, a 7 seater. These are images I have taken from Google and not the actual car that we're buying
I hope I am not jinxing it, but I do look forward to creating many more happy memories with this car and especially the holidays that we'll be making.
Doron