Zurich - Zueri Faescht

ZuriFest - wandering chicken, Peruvian food, brass band, flags, traditional band, air display, fair

Zurich is a great place to live as there are always festivals on somewhere, not to mention the lake, the museums, the cinema, the theatre…

But every three years the Zueri Faescht (Swiss German for Zurich Festival) takes place; it’s the biggest festival in Switzerland and it happened last weekend. It lasts three days and the whole area around the lake becomes taken over by fairground rides, food stalls, street vendors, musicians playing, etc. In the evening, fireworks light up the sky and, for the first time this year, a lighted drone display was also shown.

I’m not a fan of big crowds, so my intention had been to stay away. However, Badi Enge was still open despite the festivities, so I went for my swim in the lake. It turned out to be most entertaining. I saw a helicopter display as they manoeuvred across the sky, going backwards, forwards, hovering, coming down vertically.

At another point, I watched a display of planes circling in the sky, crossing over, flying in formation. And I didn’t even have to be among the crowds. In the background, I could hear the music from a nearby stand, which formed a great festive background as I sat in the sun and dried off after my swim. Some ducks had come up and made themselves comfortable on the bathing platform, so I wondered what they thought of it all; somehow they managed to sleep.

I’d intended to go straight home after my swim, but actually I got totally sidetracked looking at everything, since I had to walk past it all anyway. There was a series of tents advertising holidays in Germany, another tent for Swiss Air, a stall providing make up for children, plus a whole host of food stalls from around the world. The Australian burger stall was very popular, but I ended up having a Peruvian dish of beef strips in tomato, sweet pepper, chips, and spices – partly because there was no queue and partly because it was something different.

I popped in and listened to a brass band playing in a tent, then, as I moved onwards, there was a group offering more modern music from on top of one of the other stands. Just a bit further along, some men were performing traditional Swiss music. There was something there for everyone.

Free gifts were given out (I missed them, but sunglasses were apparently on offer). It was strange to see all the streets, usually so busy with traffic and trams, now taken over by the people. The crowds weren’t as horrific as I thought they would be, possibly because there was just so much of it that there was no need for everyone to be in just one place.

Fairground rides were dotted all over the place and, of course, the stalls that go with them (candy floss, hook the duck, etc). The atmosphere was relaxed and happy.

At the edge of the lake, they gave a demonstration of a helicopter rescue display.

I didn’t go in for the evening fireworks, which I hear lasted an hour and were repeated each day on several occasions and were a sight to behold. I almost wish I’d gone in, but I didn’t feel like being among so many people. The drones were a novelty, providing a different display at night.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed what I did see and am glad that I took part in my own little way.

Zurich - Lake Crossing Swim

Go, go, go!

During the summer months, there are various organized events where you can swim across the lake (Lake Zurich). There’s even one that’s for swimming the length (rather than width) of the lake and is the distance of a marathon. Believe it or not, each year the marathon swim is booked out; I looked at the criteria for selection, and it’s in order of how many times you’ve not managed to get a ticket before, so those who have applied four times and never got entry have priority over those who have been rejected only once before. It’s a whole different world from me and my swimming!

Anyway, the main popular lake crossing swim is just 1.5km and is hugely popular. Numbers are limited to 9000 people; it used to be unlimited with over 10,000 people taking part and starting the swim whenever they liked, but recently they’ve changed it and now you have to apply for a specific starting time as well.

There are usually three prespecified dates - two in July and one in August. The swim only takes place on one of these dates, but the lake has to be warm enough (21 degrees in the middle; it used to be 19 degrees, if I recall correctly) and there have to be no storms, so there are three chances each year that it can take place.

This year conditions were good on the first available date – I can’t remember when this last happened. My memory is that it almost always ends up taking place in August. If all dates are bad for some reason, then it’s cancelled for that year.

This is Switzerland, so it’s very well organized. You check in with your ticket and then get a swimming cap and a luggage tag with your number on it. You attach your tag to your bag and then leave it in your allocated luggage group. Wearing the swimming cap is compulsory.

They transport the luggage across the lake while you swim. Each group starts on a countdown at their allocated time. It’s a bit of a free-for-all at first as everyone jostles for space in the water, but after a while it settles down. Fast swimmers used to have their own lane, but that’s not provided any more.

The route is marked out with buoys. Boats are positioned at regular intervals to pick up anyone who needs to give up or is injured or becomes unwell, etc. You aren’t allowed to use swimming aids. It’s a fun swim and not a competition, so you aren’t officially timed and there’s no ranking.

I’ve done it before, but only using breast stroke; this year I was trying it for the first time using crawl. I felt a bit nervous and unsure of myself, but it turned out that I did it easily and without even feeling tired at the end. At the beginning I panicked that the stress of all the people around me would use up all my energy, but that soon dissipated. The water was a wonderful 25 degrees, so it was absolutely perfect. I had no problem getting in the water at all.

On arriving at the other end, you get a cup of soup (you keep the cup, which is branded with the swimming year; it used to be glass but now it’s plastic) and the luggage is set out in numbered groupings on the grass. You change in one of the tents. To get out of the area, you have to show your swimming cap and your luggage tag, the numbers on which have to match in order for you to be allowed to exit. The luggage tag then serves as a food token that entitles you to some risotto and a bottle of water. See what I mean – super organization!

It really was a fabulous swim this year; I was proud of myself that I found it so easy and am now looking for a longer swim later in the summer, either across Lake Zurich or some other lake in Switzerland. I will miss this when I leave!

Zurich - Doh!

At Least the Bee had Success

I had one of those days this week where my brain just never seems to get into gear. I don’t really know why this happens every now and then, but it does, and I’m sure (well, maybe “I hope” is more accurate than “I’m sure”) it’s not just me who experiences this.

Friday was supposed to be a good day. It’s Friday, after all. I woke up at a reasonable time (maybe that was the mistake?) in contrast to the rest of the week where I’ve struggled to get up before 10am. So that should have augured well.

I put on my laptop at home first so that I could do my timesheet for the middle company. That was where it started to go wrong. I’d taken a spontaneous extra day’s holiday for my trip to London and I’d forgotten to put it on my timesheet, so I needed to log an extra holiday day this week to compensate and ensure that I was putting down all the holiday I’d taken. I got myself a bit confused, so I did it, then decided it was wrong and re-did it.

The weather was beautiful, so after that I went to work early, thinking I could finish earlier and spend the afternoon by the pool. As I sat and worked, including filling out my contracting company’s timesheet (another timesheet that I have to do), it suddenly dawned on me that actually I’d done my other timesheet wrong as I’d claimed the wrong day as holiday (it matters, because I do 4 hours on Fridays, and 5 hours on Mondays). So, when I’d “corrected” it earlier, I’d actually introduced error. How can I be so stupid.

I emailed my manager to let him know to reject my timesheet and I’d do it again later in the day from home (where my other laptop was). I needed to comfort eat, so I went in the kitchen and got the melon that I had in the fridge. I carefully scraped all the seeds into the bin, but made a bit of a mess of it because the hole at the top of the bin was so small. I could see the cleaner watching me and I began to feel a bit embarrassed about being so messy.

Some time later, when I returned to throw some other rubbish away and realized that there was ample room to fit the rubbish in, it dawned on me that I’d put the melon seeds into the bin reserved for paper only. Doh. No wonder the cleaner had stared at me like she did.

It wasn’t my day and I felt like giving up. I’d had lunch planned with Candice, so I thought I may as well get going early. It was at this point that I suddenly realized that I’d left my purse at home. The additional problem here is that the purse also contains my travel card. It’s psychologically fine when you travel without a ticket when you’re ignorant of it, but once you realize you don’t have one, it’s really stressful. I felt it would be just my luck to be caught by an inspector (they come in plain clothes on random inspections; 90% of the time you don’t get controlled, but sometimes you do), but I had no other option but to travel home on the bus without a ticket in order to get my purse. I studied every single person getting on to see if they looked like someone who could possibly be an inspector.

Fortunately, I wasn’t caught, and I got my purse OK. I had a good lunch with Candice and then went swimming afterwards. For some reason, even though the weather was beautiful and the pool wasn’t horribly crowded, I just wasn’t in the mood, so I gave up early, which really isn’t like me. The bus came almost immediately and I set off home.

Just before I reached my final stop, I suddenly realized that I’d left my purse in the locker at the pool. Really? Can you believe it? Twice in one day. Once again, I had to get on a bus without a ticket and hope that I wouldn’t be caught (and fortunately I wasn’t). What a lot of stress for a Friday.

Of course, my purse also contained my card to get into the swimming pool, so I had to queue and then explain what had happened to the guy at the desk so that I could re-enter; I had the locker key still on my arm, so at least he could see I was telling the truth.

I got back home, re-did my timesheet, then checked if I was behind on any of my SOPs. I saw that one was overdue and started doing it, only to realize later that actually it was due at the end of July and not the end of June. Similarly, I’d been struggling to get the form completed for terminating my employment (which includes making pension and insurance arrangements) on time for the last working day of the month, when I re-read the email I’d received and it was asking for it by my last working day, not the last working day of this month. Grrr.

Finally, it was the weekend, I put some chicken in to cook and sat down in front of the TV. After some time, I became aware of a loud sizzling and I realized that I’d totally forgotten that I was cooking my supper. The kitchen was full of smoke. I opened the door and the windows, my eyes watered and smoke billowed out. The bottom of the pan was black, as was the bottom of the chicken. A smell of burnt food pervaded the room. Fortunately, I wasn’t massively hungry, so I salvaged what I could (which didn’t taste very nice; even the meat tasted smoked) and just ate that. It wasn’t quite what I’d planned.

To top it all, when I looked at my share account later that evening, I discovered that they’d re-classified some of my shares in one company as a “worthless liquidation” for no apparent reason. Working hours were over and there was nothing I could do about it until the following week. At least this last one wasn’t my fault (I hope).

At that point, I went to bed.

I really hate days like this!

Zurich - Open Air Season

Opera for All

Well, the longest day has come and gone and it’s officially summer. It’s time to enjoy the warmer weather.

Open air events are now starting in Zurich, which I love, since in the UK you don’t get so much of these – likely due to the rainier climate, although with the hotter summers over there recently, maybe that will change.

Anyway, I finally braved my first open air swim. Well, I wasn’t really that brave because it was in a heated outdoor pool. Nevertheless, last year, for some reason I got it into my head that 24 degrees was far too cold, so hardly swam outside at all. I’ve reasoned to myself now that the sea is probably a few degrees colder than that, so I need to kick myself into order.

The first day I went, it was a really hot day. I was on my way to the indoor pool when I changed my mind as I suddenly felt myself in the mood to be outside and in cooler water. Consequently, I got off the bus early and went to the outdoor pool instead. It didn’t feel as cold as I was expecting (the water was 25 degrees, and I do find the extra degree can make all the difference) and was manageable in terms of business (it got busier closer to lunchtime as I left).

The next day, it was overcast and started to rain, but I decided to go again. The joy of swimming in the rain is that not many people go, so I had a whole lane to myself and there was a spare lane beside me, too. That’s just how I like it – no pressure to swim fast, no waiting for the lane to be clear to start my next length; I just go whenever I’m ready. Also, there’s somehow a sense of daring and adventure in swimming outside when it’s raining.

But it’s not just swimming, of course. I went to a classical and folk music festival in Lenzburg after work; well, I went to the classical section. It wasn’t your typical concert, but themed, so this year it was in conjunction with narrated ghost stories (just up my street!). It’s usually held outside in the castle grounds, but unfortunately this year they decided the risk of rain was too great, so it was taken inside. But it was good to see inside. The concert was a mixture of stringed instruments and something else that I didn’t know what it was. However, looking it up on google it appears it’s a hammered dulcimer. Well, now you know! It was beautiful but I have no idea how the guy managed to play it so well. I can feel a new ambition coming on, since apparently it’s one of the easiest instruments to learn (but sounds so complex!) …

And then, on Saturday, the Royal Opera House held its yearly Opera for All where they transmit live a performance from the Opera House for free to a screen in the square outside; you could buy camping chairs for 15 CHF. The photo above was taken with my phone, so it didn't take the video capture very well, but maybe you can just about make out the crowd reflected back. This year it was the ballet of Romeo and Juliet; the choreographer / ballet has just won an award that’s the highest accolade in ballet, apparently. It threatened to rain for most of the evening, but it held off apart from during the interval, so we were lucky. Some interviews with the ballet dancers and the people who work behind the scenes were shown beforehand. It was very interesting. 

The usual joke is that you don’t get anything for free in Switzerland, but this is one occasion where it was indeed possible!

Zurich - Trip to London

Close Up of Exhibit at Summer Exhibition

I decided last-minute to take a quick trip to London. The main reason was to attend the AGM of a company that I’m invested in (Iofina, IOF), since I felt it would be interesting this year as they’ve just done a fundraise, are planning to finally execute on their expansion plans and also possibly to enter the Cannabidiol market. It’s also been over a year since I was last in the UK and actually I can’t remember when I was last in London.

The more I looked into it, the more excited I got – the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition was on. I used to go there as a child / teenager with my parents, so it would be a trip down memory lane. There was also a BP National Portrait competition on at the National Portrait Gallery. Then I noticed that Cinderella was playing in the round at the Royal Albert Hall as a ballet. There’s just so much to do in London and I was fired up with excitement.

“Unfortunately” (well, not really the right word), I was booked for the ballet in Zurich on Saturday so I was unable to stay for the weekend. However, I decided it was still worth the quick trip.

I’d forgotten how expensive hotels were in London, but I got a room at the Assembly Hotel on Charing Cross Road for around 155 GBP a night, which was just 20 minutes’ walk to the AGM venue. I was delighted at being so central; I don’t think I’ve ever stayed right in the middle of London before and it was so convenient. Even better, there were a couple of chippies round the corner and a good Indian restaurant just two doors down. This was everything I wanted.

When I went in the chip shop to indulge my desire for proper British chips, I was confronted by the fact that it had been ages since I was last in the UK. I pulled out two coins that I thought were pound coins, but it turned out they weren’t. Then I gave the guy serving me a five pound note, having given up on the coins. He looked at me and commented that it was obvious I hadn’t been in the country for a long time. The five pound note wasn’t valid as they’d switched to plastic instead of paper notes. I had heard about this from a friend, but had forgotten. Subsequently, I tried a twenty pound note (for a bag of chips!), and apparently that was OK. I felt like a foreigner in my own country.

I was pretty much on the go the entire time. The AGM was well worth attending even if I didn’t really get the chance to meet anyone. I dashed straight off to the Summer Exhibition afterwards. For those who don’t know, this is an open art competition that happens every year. Your grandmother can submit a painting alongside Banksy. The submissions are judged anonymously; indeed one 12-year old boy had a self-portrait with dog accepted (and Banksy had his entry on Brexit accepted). The exhibition is crammed with art of different styles and most of the pieces are available for sale. It’s a fun place to go.

I thought it might take me all day, but actually I had enough time afterwards to see the BP portrait competition. This was smaller and comprised only around 42 portraits. The National portrait gallery was only 3 minutes’ walk from my hotel; the Summer Exhibition was about 10 minutes’ walk in the other direction. Really, it couldn’t have been better. And there were plenty of cafes around for me to stop and gather up my energy again.

Just walking round London reminded me of so many things – the New Year’s celebrations I’d had with Rachel, Alastair and Sheila, my student days in the second hand bookshops on Charing Cross Road, the time when I was young and shocked that a cup of coffee cost 60p in London, and when my dad bought us all tickets to see a ballet one Christmas. It was quite strange to reconnect with my younger self.

In the evening I went to see Rosmersholme at a theatre just five minutes’ away. The play was good, but I was quite tired after my busy day and the play was quite heavy, so I might have preferred something a bit lighter. I didn’t really have enough brains left by then. But I’m not complaining – the acting was brilliant and it was wonderful to soak up the London theatre life.

The next day, someone at the AGM had recommended the Science and Magic exhibition at the Wellcome Foundation, so I went there. I used to work in this kind of area, so again it was a trip down memory lane and it was nice to see names of people I know and to learn a bit at the same time. It made me a little nostalgic for the academic life.

After that, I went off to the Royal Albert Hall to meet Geraldine as we had the ballet booked. I got there early as I didn’t want Geraldine to have to hang around unnecessarily, but the bar where I said I would meet her wasn’t open yet. I went for a coffee and walnut cake (another thing ticked off my list of things to do), then headed back to the entrance. I popped into the toilet and lo and behold, there was Geraldine!

After the ballet we went to see the Diana memorial park, which neither of us had seen before. And after that, we went for a curry. I was really surprised to discover how close Green Park was to Picadilly Circus and how close Picadilly Circus was to Leicester Square and I’d forgotten that Charing Cross is that same area as well.

But for all that, the thing that most impressed me about London, weirdly, was the underground system. I’d read beforehand that I could now just use my debit card on the card readers by the entrance and exit gates and you’d pay a cheaper fare than getting a normal ticket. Moreover, you would be charged a maximum of a day ticket if you travelled several times and used the same debit card. It made using the tube so easy. I didn’t have to queue for tickets or stress about what ticket to buy, nor did I end up with loads of change. I felt a surge of happiness each time I used my debit card in the station – such a sense of freedom to travel around without worrying about what ticket I’d bought. It was great.

It was a full-on two days, but I’m so glad I did it.

Zurich - Boring Admin

Detail of Operahaus

I’ve managed to see Giselle (ballet) at the opera, been out to eat in the beer garden in Kusnacht, and saw Almodovar’s Dolor Y Gloria at the cinema, but somehow, subjectively, my life seems to have been dominated with admin since I’ve got back.

The first thing was to extend my lease on my flat in England. Fortunately, my friend Julie informed me that at some point the law had changed and now, rather than less than 60 years, it’s now less than 80 years remaining on your current lease where charges for extension rise dramatically. It had been something that I thought I’d leave until I was in retirement, but now I only had 7 years left to wait instead of 27 years. I don’t know why it’s not obligatory to inform all leaseholders of such important changes!

Anyway, I wanted to start the process while I’m still earning. As usual, these things somehow explode in scope once you get started. First of all I had to find a solicitor. This wasn’t so difficult. But then to officially hire the solicitor I needed a copy of my lease. I was just going to get them to do it for me, but then it turned out I also needed to appoint a specialist valuer for the lease. In the information they sent me, it turns out that you just have to look on a website to do it yourself. I thought I’d do that, but of course, I couldn’t work out how to find it and had to contact the registry. Maybe I should have just let the solicitor do it for me.

Then my solicitor also wanted a copy of my passport and one utility bill. Because I’m not in the UK, it had to get certified by an English-accredited solicitor. I ended up going back and asking if a notary would be OK (it was). Inconveniently, it seems most notaries close for the entire lunchtime. I looked to see whether there was one near me; there was one in Wallisellen and one in Oerlikon. Someone had given the one in Oerlikon a really bad review saying they’d refused to do their simple notarisation and had been rude and arrogant. I remembered that I’d found them unfriendly and daunting when I used them years ago, so I decided to try the Wallisellen one, which had really good reviews.

I got to Wallisellen and I just couldn’t find the office. In the end, I arrived, sweat running down my face, just as they were shutting their doors at 11.30am for their long mid-afternoon break. Fortunately, they were indeed very kind and made no fuss at all about notarising my documents for me, even though they were supposed to be closed. I thanked them profusely.

All my documents are in Egypt, so even answering questions such as who is your freeholder was quite difficult and I had to turn to my letting agent. I also had to admit to having installed a new door and windows without consulting the freeholder (I hadn’t realized at the time that it was my obligation to do so). I hope this won’t come back and haunt me. And then there was the request of proof of funds (not so difficult, but it always seems a bit personal!).

The second admin thing that’s taken up time is a leak in the flat above my Edinburgh flat wrecking the ceiling and walls in the hallway of my flat. My letting agent advised me to get my insurer onto it. Again, my documents were in Egypt and I couldn’t find my policy number. For most people, phoning up the insurer and asking wouldn’t be a problem, but I’m not the sort of person who likes to be on the phone, so I probably made things difficult for myself.

Anyway, after spending an inordinate amount of time trying to work out how much the call would cost me and then how to top up the phone, I did finally get in touch. However, they couldn’t help me because I had an old policy from a company that they’d acquired and therefore it wasn't on their main system. I had to phone again at an earlier time of day (and top up my phone again).

In the end, I suspect I may have even contacted the wrong company as, after a lot of to-and-fro-ing, I eventually phoned another insurer. And since I was dealing with my lease extension at the same time, I initially gave them the postcode for the wrong property, so no wonder they couldn't find it. It was all too much. Then I discovered that my policy was home insurance rather than landlord insurance (I must have forgotten to change it), but they kindly swapped it over for me (I had to pay extra, but I was relieved that it wasn't totally null and void).

All of this is still ongoing, but it sucks such a lot of time and energy!

Hurghada to Zurich

Goodbye, Beach (For Now)!

And that was my quick month back in Egypt already over. The good thing about leaving my Egypt flat is that I only need to tidy up; it doesn’t matter if it’s dirty because I’ll have it cleaned before I return. The hardest things on leaving are getting rid of any remaining food (I handed it in to reception, but it was Ramadan, so not sure how useful it was and, in any case, the staff are provided all meals) and coming back with relatively little luggage when I have three laptops that I need somehow to cushion. In the end, I decided I’d put the laptops in my hand luggage. With any luck this will be my last trip with 3 laptops.

My taxi arrived early. The taxi driver was a bit exhausting. I think he thought he had to put on a hyperactive, extrovert, exuberant act, whereas I really just wanted to sit in silence and contemplate. His English wasn’t very extensive. He asked me my name, and then spent a good ten minutes repeating over and over again that Fiona was a very nice name, very nice name. Fiona (he flourishes his hands in the air). Very nice name (more hand flourishing). Fiona, yes, Fiona. Very nice name….

I asked him if he’d been busy, but he didn’t understand, so then I asked in Arabic whether there were a lot of people here (I was just making conversation and trying to switch to something other than my name being nice). However, I didn’t inflex my tone of voice properly, so he understood it as a statement, agreed, and then told me again what a nice name I had. He asked me in Arabic if I was on my own, so I said I was (I really wish Egyptians wouldn’t ask women this question!!) and he then started telling me with a huge smile and an emphatic hand on heart that his family was now my family.

After that, he insisted that I ask for his taxi when I’m next in Egypt and proceeded to write his number down on a bit of paper while he was driving! I suggested he wait until we’d got to the airport, but he didn’t understand. I could see him struggling to think how to write it in our alphabet, whereas I’d rather he put his attention on the road (which was thankfully straight and empty). He did pay more attention to the road once we got to a busier area. Anyway, he was harmless enough, and I got there safely.

At the airport, I got stopped at security as they discovered two steel cake forks in my handbag (“not allowed, not allowed!”). I had no idea they were there. Actually, before I left, I’d made an attempt to clear my handbag of superfluous items to make it less heavy. So much for that! Anyway, the forks were confiscated (I realized in the end that they were left over from my trip to the Wildnispark with Stephanie) and so my cake fork collection (or Stephanie’s) is now two short.

The flight went smoothly, but a little delayed. It was strange arriving in Zurich and finding that all the trolleys bore adverts for Aberdeen Insurance. It made me wonder if I’d arrived at the right place, particularly since I’ve been thinking recently about perhaps spending a little more time in Scotland next year. On the other hand, it was exciting to see a place set out in Zurich airport for the forthcoming KFC and also a large unit being prepared for Pret a Manger. At this rate, I’ll want to live in Zurich airport. They just need a swimming pool, and I’ll be sorted!

My Zurich flat was in good shape on arrival, my seedlings had all survived and not used any of the water in the slow drip feeders, indicating that it had indeed been a wet May while I was away. I evidently brought over the Egyptian weather with me, because it’s been sunshine and blue skies ever since I’ve got back.