Dublin airport lounge was ordinary but the
flight to Zurich was good. It just goes
to show how poor the Lufthansa service was.
We were welcomed on board and given pre-flight drinks (water). My, haven’t we become fussy!
We got a full meal (lunch) that was very good, with drinks, and
then we were given Swiss chocolates as we left the plane. As we were flying with Margot and Shaun we
got to find out what cattle class got - not much, but they did get the
chocolates as they left the plane.
The flight itself began in cloud, but that
began to clear as we crossed England.
Flying over Europe I had a good view of a river and saw many locks,
interesting locations, and some sort of motor sports complex with multiple
tracks. That evening I did a Google Maps
search to see what and where the motor sports complex was and after quite a
while discovered that the river I had seen was the Seine and the complex was
the Renault testing grounds which appear to be for Renault use only. Who cares! Pete of
Course!! Particularly when I can get the
window seat anyway and he puts his head in the way!!! For those playing
along at home, the complex is at Aubevoye in France. and the best view is with
the satellite view.
We stayed in an apartment about 5km from the
centre of Zurich in a suburb called Oerlikon.
On one of my first walks I discovered a tower in a park, just for
climbing. Google helped me here - it is
called Oerlikon Park Turm, or Oerlikon Tower which is 35mtrs high with 216
steps. How could you not climb it? I didn’t count the steps as I was too dizzy
going round and round in circles (eight loops in all) on the way up and back. Yes, boring as usual
to watch from the ground, but it keeps him happy and out of mischief.
One of our day trips was a train to Rigi where
we spent the day exploring the mountains/alps around it. I have seen many pictures and videos of the
alps, but none really do the scenery justice.
We went up to Rigi Klum which had 360 views of the alps and three lakes around
it being Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The final part of the trip up the mountain was
on a cog wheeled train. I did a bit of
walking while up there, as Denise and Margot said Shaun and I needed to walk to
the top from the second last stop before the top. Well that raised a sweat, but I needed a
jumper on once I got to the top and stopped walking. We also walked to the top of another peak
then back to the train. We then went
down to a gondola that went up another mountain, Rigi Scheidegg. When we got to the bottom of the gondola, the
girls decided we were walking back to town.
All up, a great day with lots of exercise, something I have missed being
trapped in a car driving around the UK and Ireland. Trapped! We let him out of the car and the wind whips
his beanie off and comes back wet. Yes, trapped
for a reason!
At one stage on top of Rigi Klum I was
checking out the mountains on a sign and discovered we could see the
Matterhorn, but it didn’t look like the Matterhorn. After consulting Google to find out where the
Matterhorn was, Google said the it was over 100kms away, and as the mountain I
was looking at was way closer than 100kms, I rechecked the sign and discovered
it was Matthorn. Missed by a few
letters, and in fact it is only about 15kms away from where we were.
The ski slopes here look good, but I assume
it is expensive to ski with tickets, flights, accommodation and food to think
about.
Zurich, and Switzerland in general, are
expensive, so as we had kitchen facilities we decided to cook meals instead of
eating out. This was a pleasant break,
not only for us, but also our finances. Salads most nights and not high carb vegetables.
EMERGENCY: I have run out of Weetbix and couldn’t find
any shops in Zurich that sold them. I am
hoping the US is educated enough to have them, or it could be a long trip. Oh My Goodness, the
sky is falling!!
Most of the time in Zurich was spent
relaxing and walking places local which was great after being away for so
long. I am starting to get the hang of
this travel thing (and how long has it taken) and
have decided that I like scenery and experiences. You can have your old buildings, museums and
art galleries - all the things that Denise likes…so she gets to see these
places while I amuse myself walking around places looking at people, looking at
things. I have
taken lots of pictures and he races off for the next physical challenge. My plan is to make photo books, so one day he
may remember.
One day it was suggested we go to see the
Rhine Falls, so off we went on a train.
The nice man at the train station suggested another train to the one we
were going to catch at half the price. MacBarnettstein strikes again! The falls although not high at 23mtrs
had a huge volume of water flowing down so they were worth the trip. I was surprised at how clear the water was
while we were walking downstream of the falls.
On the way back we decided to go to the end of the line to a place
called Rapperswil. It is near the other
end of Lake Zurich from Zurich and has a good view of the Alps. We were only there for about 30mins as we had
to catch the train back, but it is well worth a visit, as is Rhine Falls. Both were a bit touristy, but you can do the
trips on public transport and take some lunch with you. The trip to Rapperswil can be done by train
(30mins) or ferry (2hrs). The transport
costs for the whole day were CHF26 (AUD35) each. Another Brilliant day
with the loveliest of weather.
When we got back I discovered an
International Hemp Fair being held just round the corner from us. It was booked out. What a shame, and
anyone who knows me well, that would have gone over like a lead balloon! I don’t give a toss, remember I am that Black
and White girl, no grey!
While in Switzerland we have had mainly
sunny days with 20+ temperatures during many of the days. For the first time since leaving Australia in
early February I have been wearing shorts.
So we can’t be blamed for all the bad weather in the UK and
Ireland. It was just normal.
It was here we must bid farewell to Margot
and Shaun who are flying back to Australia for their next expedition. Thanks for the company and good times. My drinking buddies
are leaving me and it is time for my Liver to dry out. I am easily lead.
Zurich airport lounge! It wins so far. You get to chose what you want to eat and
they cook it for you. You can go outside
on a balcony and watch the goings on of Zurich Airport with supplied binoculars
and in the background are the Swiss Alps.
I like… Yes! So, as we sit in Zurich Lounge, Rapunzel
is carrying on about me not finishing the blog and that I don’t care, blah,
blah, blah and yes, the things he is carrying on about has nothing to do with
world peace or where I am going to get my next Vodka but life goes on.
He likes to poke fun at me about watching
the planes land and take off at the airports but as I type, he has binoculars
to his eyes checking out the skies!
The flight to New York lands in to Newark
where we are staying overnight before heading in to NY for a week. Denise’s first thoughts about this trip was
it would take less than three hours. I
pointed out that in fact it would take nearly nine hours as the posted times
are local times. Everyone loves that person who knows
everything! Again, making fun of me but
it is something I can deal with.
Let’s pick this up in New York!
Take care everyone and stay safe.
Love, hugs, and kisses to
everyone.
Me and my Action Boy
xxxxxx
I was going to finish this off tomorrow in New
York, but I get this feeling that we will be a little pre-occupied with another
new country and new customs - tipping comes to mind. So I have posted this from Zurich Airport
before we fly out.
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