With the trade in roles of Hausfrau to Hausmann comes the privilege/responsibility of summer holidays.
Sunday, Manolo and the kids left for Canada in pursuit of carefree days of summer fun. I am left behind, suffering through the solitude of a quiet, mess-free existence.
In all honesty the bliss of the quiet and lack of mess wears off pretty quickly. I can’t wait to join them in August too. Luckily my job is a great distraction in the meantime to keep me from getting too lonely or bored.
Plus, I do have that wild side…I lost no time on Sunday, channeling my inner rebel.
It was a risky move; I’m even surprised by my boldness…
Once back from dropping the family at the airport, I returned home, ready to settle in to watch the World Cup final while I cleaned. (You can feel the excitement of the rebel act building, can’t you?!)
Halftime, I saw my opportunity and I seized it.
I vacuumed!!
On a SUNDAY!!!
Hmmm, why does that not read as bold and rebellious as it felt!? Is it just me or was being rebellious far more exciting when we were younger?

To be fair, I wasn’t ever very good at the whole rebellion thing. In my teens I was far too busy being a teetotalling do-gooder. But I’m quite certain that all my peers were having much more fun getting up to no good.
In my defense, my blazen act on Sunday could have had serious repercussions. Police could have been called.
You see, in Switzerland, it is illegal to vacuum on a Sunday. Or use power-tools of any sort. Or do laundry.
In that light, I hope you can appreciate just how ballsy my act of rebellion was. I broke the law!
Allow me to redeem myself so you don’t worry that we’re becoming fully-Swiss. I’ve also used my family-less freedom to skip work for two days, hop on a train to Locarno and attend a music festival. That’s the sort of wild and fun antics that true rebellious, carefree days are all about.
And it did not disappoint.
Locarno is in the Ticino region of Switzerland, just like Lugano. So it is like a little vacation in Italy, great food, great scenery, beautiful people.












After the concert, we dragged our tired, old bodies to bed, like all true rebels do. (To be fair, Meret isn’t old. If you’ll recall, I’ve taken to hanging out with people who are a decade younger than me in an effort to hang onto my youth.)
The next day, before hopping on a train to head back to Winterthur, we walked to the next town along the lake, Ascona. What a gorgeous little town.














