04/16/16 day 14: Bad Ragaz, CH

Another way I silently judge hotels is the quality of the bed, for obvious reasons.  Especially coming off a night on an air mattress, which, don't get me wrong, has a time and place, I was maybe just slightly hyper-sensitive to my impending bedding situation.  I had high hopes and well, I'm happy to report, my expectations were exceeded.  You go through all the majors; mattress firmness, quality of the sheets, pillows, length of bed, etc.  But I also appreciate, the vibe, the view, is there chocolate or gummy bears on the pillow? Turn down service?  All nice touches.  I was happy for a quality night sleep and I am pleased to give the Grand Resort very high marks in the "Now I lay me Down to Rest" category. Not to mention the already high marks in the "Splish Splash I was Taking A Bath" category or my next topic "Did someone say 'breakfast buffet?'"

I mean, I knew we were in for a treat after the ridiculous dinner last night.  And again, this joint didn't disappoint.  In addition to all the standards; multiple loafs of various fresh breads, killing cheeses, fresh fruits, a variety of yogurts, granolas, meats... Some of the finer touches I noticed were the omelette bar, the selection of fresh squeezed juices (carrot, tomato, etc), tobasco AND Heinz ketchup?!.. Just going through it in my mind makes me hungry. I went with a ham, onion, and cheese omelette, some nice French bread, a couple hunks of beautiful Swiss cheese, a huge bowl of apricot yogurt with granola and fresh strawberries and pineapple, and a cappuccino.  People... So tasty.  I thumbed through my International New York Times as if I care to hear about American politics and enjoyed the moment thoroughly.

Post breakfast we convened to bring the PA over to the casino next door.  It will be interesting tonight.  The stage is on the casino floor with roulette and black jack tables, above the bar like Blue Martini or Copper Blues in Phoenix...  It's obviously not an ideal listening room scene, but it'll be cool.  It always is.

Peter and I met up again in the fitness room and banged out our exercise routine.  Boom.  Three times this week and hell, I might go tmrw too.  I'm that crazy.  Not only are we upping the reps but our time is improving too.  I'm going to come home like Herr Schwarzenegger himself.  Or maybe I'll just won't come home a fat turd after five weeks of cheese, beer, and döner.  Either or.

After that I borrowed a bike from the hotel and cruised around town.  It's rather beautiful.  Nestled up in the foothills of the alps.  On the hill behind the property is a castle ruin which reminds me of the inspiration to "crumble" which I mentioned last night at the show.  Here, some scenes (not pictured; me on a woman's bike with an awesome helmet.)

I followed up the bike ride with an espresso on my balcony.  Life is good.  Drinking it in.  Trying to be as present and as grateful as possible.  Embracing the moment and stuff.

I opted for a last minute dangle and made my way down to the spa for an hour before dinner. Hit the thermal bath and sauna which felt amazeballs. We reconvened at 6:00 for dinner at the terrace bar next to the restaurant. Enjoyed some of the hotels homebrew (Quel Bier) and then dined for real one last time.

This time I went antipasti buffet (which earned me some looks from the wait staff... Apparently I'm not supposed to fill my plate. I tried to tell them lettuce is deceivingly 3 dimensional), spinach filled Italian enchiladas (or at least that's what it tasted like), and then the dessert buffet.

What would you have picked? You can choose three from the four courses...

Walked over to the casino after dinner. I love the walking commute. Even at 8:25 people were still enjoying the outdoor thermal baths. And a very different crowd than I've been seeing at the hotel. Young couples and families bring the median age down 30 years. A lot of walkers and canes in our hotel...

You know, the gig was a little odd. I've done casino gigs before but this was different; we were in the main casino area with the tables and roulette wheels above the bar on a stage. Almost as crazy is that some people started to notice the music and came to the bar to get closer. Performance was loose and fun. The head of security, a rather frightening looking fellow, asked to buy a CD. We comped him one; that's a cat you want on your side...

Nice to have Tales of Two (plus one) and western MA friend Margo join us. Always nice to have friendly faces in the crowd.

It's been great having Tommy around these last couple days. He classes up this rag tag crew but has a keen nose for shenanigans and speaks the local's language. He's an asset to this team!

Tomorrow we drive 2 hrs back to Germany and reality... Night from Bad Ragaz.