Traveling
May 29, 2022 – June 4, 2022
🇨🇭: Zürich, Chur; 🇫🇷: Strasbourg, Colmar; 🇩🇪: Stuttgart; 🇦🇹: Dornbirn; 🇮🇹: Tirano, Milan, Venice
This was my first business trip to Europe, and we packed a lot in. It was actually my first time back on the continent since my 2018 trip to Paris. Officially, the destination was Stuttgart for an industry-related tradeshow. Unofficially, it turned into a five-country sprint, thanks in large part to my boss’s generosity.
I flew into Zürich and met the team there. We only had a short window to explore before hitting the road, but I managed to grab some scenic photos on the Limmat River with Grossmünster in the background. It felt good to be in Switzerland, one of my ancestral homelands, even if Bern, near where my family is from, was a few hours away.
We pushed onward, stopping for lunch in Colmar, a town my boss had always wanted to see. It was like stepping into a postcard. The city itself was small, quaint, and colorful, oozing with classic European charm. Then came Strasbourg, where we wandered past the towering cathedral and came across a Korean artist selling watercolor prints. My boss bought one for each of us. Mine, a painting of the town’s iconic multicolored houses by Youngmi Kim, now hangs in my living room.
That night we ended up just outside Stuttgart, somewhere near Sindelfingen. We had the next morning to roam around Schlossplatz before heading to the venue to set up our booth. Playtime was over. It was time to work.
To be honest, I used to detest going to tradeshows. I thought I was more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. But over time, as I got more confident in our products and more comfortable with our team, that changed. Now, I look forward to shows. It’s a chance to share what we do, connect with customers, and show off a little.
After the show wrapped, we hit the road again, next stop: Dornbirn, Austria. Dinner that night was at a local beer hall. The next morning, we made our way to Chur, Switzerland to catch the Bernina Express, a famous scenic train I’d only seen in videos until then.
That ride through the Alps was absolutely unforgettable. I grew up around mountains, but these were something else. Snow-capped giants towering above bright glacial lakes and tiny villages that looked untouched by time. I sat there staring out the window thinking, Why did my great-great-great-grandfather leave this place for LACKAWANA COUNTY?
The train dropped us in Tirano, Italy, a quiet town where Germanic influence still clung to the buildings and signage. My other ancestry is Italian, so I was excited to finally set foot in the “old country.” We made our way to the office near Milan, knocked out some work, and carved out time to explore. We shopped near the Duomo, wandered through the arcades, and capped it all off with an incredible Sardinian dinner at Osteria Molo 13 (more on that in a future post).
With work behind us, we took one last detour: Venice. A city built on water, and unlike anything I’d ever seen. Sure, I’d seen the pictures, but being there was something else. Winding canals, faded palazzi, bridges around every corner. I remember sitting at the water’s edge, drinking a Fanta while on a call with my dad. Even with all the tourists, it still felt surreal.
We covered five countries in just over a week. Long days, tight schedules, late dinners, but it was all totally worth it. Work brought me there, but it’s the moments outside of work that I’ll remember most.
