The featured photo is of a ferry boat stopping to pick up and let off passengers in Küsnacht. I took it from our fourth floor window.
Thanks to the abundance of sunshine at this time of year in Europe, Bill and I were awake bright and early for breakfast. It was to be Bill’s first day at the C.G. Jung Institute as an actual student, rather than just someone interested in Jungian psychology, or attending the Institute as a student.
Last year, Bill attended the “summer intensive” in Küsnacht, which were in-person lectures available for non-students to audit. The summer intensive course convinced Bill that he wanted to apply for full admission to the program. He did that in the fall, and we took another trip to Switzerland so he could be interviewed by training analysts who would be overseeing his study. After the last interview was finished, Bill was immediately welcomed into the training program. They even let him register for winter block classes and gave him credit for a few of the lectures he attended last summer!
I never expected that my Army officer husband would eventually decide to become a Jungian analyst. However, looking back on our history, I often encouraged him to seek therapy with someone neutral, to talk about his rather unorthodox past. I won’t get into the specifics in this post, except to state that Bill has had quite an interesting cast of characters in his life. Put it this way… as eccentric as I can be, and as many people don’t know how to take my rather outspoken personality, Bill has dealt with folks much weirder than I am, or could ever aspire to be.
I saw a psychologist for a few years when I was in my 20s, and it was very helpful for me. So I figured Bill might similarly benefit from seeking some guidance from a counselor of some sort. Unfortunately, in spite of the lip service the US military pays to its members about asking for psychological help when they need it, there is a genuine risk in actually doing so.
Anyone with a security clearance might be putting their military careers in jeopardy if they need help for mental health conditions. And if they seek help, and it’s on record, they might lose their clearance, or otherwise lose out on professional opportunities. This short-sighted attitude about mental health care has been devastating in some cases. Sometimes, the lack of qualified care leads to suicide. One of Bill’s former co-workers did, in fact, take his own life a couple of years ago.
Military service is demanding, and service members tend to build their lives around that vocation. When they lose momentum in that career, it can truly be catastrophic.
Bill finally decided he wanted to try counseling during the height of the COVID pandemic. He got in touch with Max, an analyst who was in training when they met in 2021. Bill and Max developed a great rapport, and soon Bill was talking to him weekly. He started feeling better about himself, and understanding more about what makes him tick.
My husband eventually told me that I had been right about his need to speak to someone. He became fascinated by Carl Jung. The fact that our dogs, Noyzi and Charlie, were rescued by an Army veteran woman who was also in the program further sealed the deal. It was as if it was meant to be. So here we are… Monday morning, he was really off to school as a student. But… before he could do that, we had to have breakfast.
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When we stayed at the Sonne Hotel last fall, it was during the main restaurant’s renovation. We ate breakfast in the Stübli, which was a smaller facility near the hotel’s front door.
When we walked down the stairs from our hotel room, we started to head for the Stübli, but then thought to ask where to go. The receptionist started to say we were going the right way, but then corrected himself and said, “Actually, no, breakfast is in the Pavilion now.”
I’m not sure, but I think we might have been among the very first guests to try breakfast in the new restaurant. To be honest, it kind of showed that the system had significantly changed, because they are now doing breakfast very differently than they did last fall. There is no longer a buffet. Instead, they bring you an etagé– three tiers of serving plates with cold cuts on the bottom, cheese in the middle, and smoked salmon and trout on the top.
Then, they bring out filled croissants, and a basket of breads. You can order a cooked dish– eggs, pancakes, waffles, crepes, or French toast– or you can have cereal and yogurt. There are also other things offered… they had delightful chilled egg salad on a couple of mornings, fruit plates, and one day, we even got the power shot smoothies, that I got used to in the fall. Of course there’s also juice, water, coffee, and tea.
The service was a bit confused/confusing on the first day, as the wait staff seemed to be trying to figure out how breakfast was going to go. By the time we left yesterday, they had pretty much gotten it down to a science. Below are some photos from our first breakfast. I had Egg Royal (smoked salmon, roe, avocado, and a poached egg on brioche). Bill had avocado toast with a poached egg. I love the presentation on these treats!
I noticed for most of the week, the juice came from little plastic bottles. However, yesterday morning, the juice tasted better, as if it wasn’t prepackaged. So, I expect that if and when we stay at the Sonne Hotel again, breakfast service will be totally smooth sailing.
I also noticed on the first morning, the music they were playing was light jazz stuff. I distinctly remember hearing a lot of Norah Jones playing, and the manager sort of humming along. But as the week wore on, they switched the music to something more pop oriented, with less famous musicians.
In fact, yesterday I Shazamed one song and was amused when I saw it was a song by Muse Petal called “half a plan”, which came from an album called Morning Chill. 🤣 I guess there is now a market for bland background music that is meant to set a certain mood. Yeah, I’ve heard of Muzak, which was created for that purpose, but Muzak isn’t like the more pop oriented schlock that is played in restaurants and hotels nowadays. The newer stuff is only marginally less annoying than Muzak is.
I guess I can understand why they’d use that crappy mood music, though. We’re all at a hotel where many people are vacationing, so we want pleasant background music that people will enjoy, but won’t actually know, or be tempted to sing along to (which might annoy others)… and will put them in a “chilled out” mood, so they won’t complain about dried out or overly runny scrambled eggs. 😂
Also, I’m sure playing this kind of boring music is also financially motivated. In some places, one has to buy a license to play music, in order to comply with intellectual property laws. That’s especially true in Switzerland, as I have come to find out this morning. It probably costs more to play music by Norah Jones than Muse Petal. It’s a shame, though, because I’ve found some really great music in bars and restaurants, and it almost always leads to my decision to buy the albums for my own personal use at home.
After breakfast, Bill and I went back to the room. I slipped back into my nightie and hung the “Do Not Disturb” sign. He grabbed his stuff and walked to the Institute, and I started blogging. I know a lot of people don’t think the blogs are that important. I am level-headed enough to know that for the vast majority of people, my writing isn’t important. But blogging gives me something constructive to do, helps me preserve memories, and satisfies a few folks who do like reading my thoughts. A few people have even told me that sometimes I present perspectives they’ve never considered. So, that alone, means that my efforts mean something to someone.
By about 11:00 AM, I was finished writing, and decided to head down to the lake. Since this post is getting long, I will continue with that in part eight!
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