Summer vacations—those tortured intervals of parental sacrifice and chaotic bliss. With two kids rattling around like caffeinated jackals and two parents grappling with the grim reality of working for a living, every escape must be meticulously planned. When the invitation to the Swiss Re-invitational landed in my inbox last year, it was a no-brainer. I slapped it on my 2024 itinerary faster than I can sleeve up Lightning Bolt. When it became clear that this golden opportunity would be slotted right into the July 4th weekend, I felt the stars align in a most serendipitous fashion. Add in my wife’s burgeoning obsession with Switzerland—something about lakes and alpine vistas, the usual idyllic nonsense—and you’ve got the makings of a transcendent journey.
This is a real photo my wife took. Pretty decent I guess.
With the entire family strapped into the iron beast of our rental car, we embarked on a drive from Zurich to our Airbnb—an enigmatic little cottage perched on the cow laden peaks of the Swiss Alps. The car, an ungainly leviathan that made the winding roads a cruel joke, was our ticket to scenic splendor. It may have also been the largest vehicle on the road and the rental car company was obviously hoping it would not come back in the same condition. The air was fresh, the landscape was mesmerising, and we hit the mountains, waterfalls, and hiking trails with the fervour of manic explorers. We even dined with Reindeer and his clan while in between roaming around the countryside.
Roadside cheese and sausage vending machines!
I had to lock in my deck a week ahead—an endeavour which I find excruciatingly torturous. Ultimately, I decided to go with Sedge-Atog, a deck I hadn’t wrangled with much but looked like a funky enough diversion from my usual Savannah Lions.
**Day 1** – A blur of high spirits and potent libations.
**Day 2** – Awoke feeling like a desiccated husk, nursing the mother of all hangovers and subsequently missing breakfast. After some sustenance, I clawed my way back to sentience. We split into teams to tackle the mad assortment of formats—Simon and Svante (Double S) versus the world. A splendid day ensued, jam-packed with bizarre game setups, lake swims, and sunbathing, crafting an almost mythical Magic experience.
Starting pictures for my own Carlos Escobar meme series. (Thanks Svante)
**Day 3** – The weather took a nosedive into the abyss, and so did our plans for outdoor escapades. The “real” event demanded our indoor confinement. Played a game against Mari that resembled a wild scramble when we had to retreat indoors midway through G2 because the wind had transformed into an insatiable beast. A Chaos Orb flip outside in the gale was a highlight of absurdity. Yes I hit the flip. Managed to sneak into the top 8, despite a valiant attempt to sabotage my own success with a mediocre performance after starting out 3-0. I faced off against Svante in the first round—two non-games that could have been lifted straight from a bad dream. Then got obliterated by Karl and his ruthless arsenal of Power + Dibs in a double dose of swift destruction. I’ll take a top 4 on top of everything else though.
And just like that, the Magic part of our trip was over. Back to the family and a few more sun-drenched days in Switzerland.
Schrodinger’s house in Zurich.
As we were winding down our idyllic holiday, Hurricane Beryl decided to hurl itself at Houston, wreaking havoc and leaving almost two million souls in the dark. My home suffered minor damage—a quaint catastrophe that could spiral into a serious headache if not fixed soon, and finding someone to do the job has been an exercise in futility.
The flight back to Houston was a chaotic carnival of its own.
Yup. Tortellini pomodoro if you were wondering.
Among the menagerie of misfortune was a guy with a small dog—an incessant, jittery mess of canine anxiety. The smell of fresh dog diarrhea regularly awakening me from my already fitful slumbers… To compound the mayhem, several babies were on board, wailing like banshees. One particularly enterprising passenger took it upon themself to shush one of the babies with the kind of fervour usually reserved for old ladies who are angry at people talking in a library.
I don’t know if Fahrt will ever stop being funny.
Switzerland was a dream. But now, I need a damn holidayfrom sausages.
Note – lots of S’s in here…probably should have played Su-Chi…punted again.
Edit – was asked for my decklist
Cheers,
@mtgmisprint
Falling Stars 