Zurich - Taking Advantage

Zurich, Limmat

I think I arrived here with a total of three suitcases (brought at different times), so the most I can go back with is also three suitcases. One suitcase will have to be returned when I go back to Egypt for Christmas; the other two will have to come with me on my final return. I hate not travelling light. Consequently, I made a promise to myself not to buy anything while I was here. I have no room or capacity to take anything back with me.

Oh dear.

I’ve bought a microwave. Well, I can tell you now, this isn’t coming back to Egypt with me! Denise can have it if she wants it, or I’ll give it to someone, or even throw it away. I’m glad I have it.

I’ve also bought my books for learning Arabic. The main one is quite a hefty tome, but I will probably want to take it back with me. Having said that, I’ve run out of space on my bookshelves in Egypt, so heaven knows what I’ll do. I always forget to take a notebook with me to my class, so I’ve been scrawling inside the book (sacrilege!), thus immediately making it not re-sellable.

More deliberately, I’ve bought 5 summer dresses for the beach so far. It’s not so easy to find a reasonably-priced dress in Egypt. The European stores are generally European prices and in the Egyptian stores you have to barter. Also, rather surprisingly, a lot of the summer dresses in Egypt are rather immodest. There’s not so much choice either. So, I’m taking advantage of the sales and the wonderful ease of shopping over here (I tell you, those marketers, they know a thing or two!).

Despite trying on every single dress in Zurich, I haven’t found one that is perfect and in my price range (I’m not paying 150 CHF for something that’s only for wearing to the beach!). I comfort myself with the thought that the ones I’ve bought are at least better than some of the ones I already have (which, by being wrong, have helped me set the criteria I require: easy to put on, light fabric [weight and colour] but not see-through, below the knees, not too low-cut, not too strappy as my shoulders are rather broad, and not body-hugging). I’m not asking a lot, but try to get that at a reasonable price and it’s impossible. Still, I have 5 compromises (mostly on length).

I’ve purchased a new electric toothbrush. How bizarre, you might think. Indeed. Especially as I already had a rather fantastic Oral-B electric toothbrush. But I’m converted. This new one is from MegaSmile and is supposed to make your teeth a shade whiter without chemicals etc. I really do think it works and I’m convinced that my teeth aren’t quite as yellow as they used to be. It’s a bit loud (I wonder if I’m waking the neighbours at night), but it’s great. I don’t know why they don’t advertise it more. Having said that, mine seems to have a fault now, and they seem to have taken them off the market until October. I’ll now have to make sure I take enough replacement heads back with me. More luggage.

I was happy to find a plug-in sonic mosquito deterrent, at long last, so I snapped that up as quick as I could, but obviously have yet to test it out in Egypt.

Weirdly, I’ve bought 2 pairs of flip-flops. I’ve no idea why. I bought some before I left Egypt so that they’d be waiting for me when I got back (my old trusty pair was looking rather worn), as they are cheap over there. Consequently, I didn’t really need to get more and pay Swiss prices for them (albeit only around 20 CHF, I think). But I was finding it irritating putting on my faffy sandals to go swimming; flip-flops are so much easier. That still doesn’t really explain why I got two pairs, but never mind. It’s done now. They will also have to fit in my luggage, somehow.

Talking of which, I also bought another bag – a beach bag. Yes, you see, my list of purchases just goes on and on. I don’t know what’s got into me. Maybe I’m pining for Egypt. I’m not even one of those girls who has a thing about bags. In fact, I find them rather boring.

But the bag I was using as a beach bag (actually, it was a shopping bag that folds up tight – thank you Pam, yes, it was the bag you gave me as a present one year!) has broken. It wasn’t really large enough for my beach towel, drink, kindle, etc. I’d looked for one briefly in Egypt but hadn’t seen anything I liked and they weren’t so cheap. And the bags over here, well, they’re all so nicely presented, and no-one is hassling you, and there I am, thinking about Egypt, and, somehow, I found myself getting my gym stuff out in the shop and stuffing it into the bag as a test to see if it would all fit. And it did, really easily, and so I ended up with this big blue bag that’s all ready for my beach towel. It will also now be my new hand luggage for the flight. I hope they allow bags of that size.

I went through a phase at one time when I seemed to lose swimming costumes on a regular basis. I’d somehow forget to pack them in my bag after swimming, I’d go back to collect it, and it would have disappeared into thin air. I even got to buying really ugly swimming costumes specifically to deter theft. I can’t think what people would have wanted with my old ones (I can’t remember which country I was in at the time, but it wasn’t Egypt). Anyway, now it seems to be sunglasses.

It can’t really be humanly possible to lose them at the rate I do. I didn’t bring any over with me and I’ve already lost one pair and purchased my second pair this last week. And this is in Switzerland where you don’t really need them as much. I also bought a swimming costume for good measure, not because I thought I might start losing them again, but because my current ones are getting old. Moreover, they are very much functional swimming costumes rather than anything for the beach, so I don’t feel so bad about that purchase. Hopefully the days of me losing swimming costumes are over.

Anyway, all this shopping does make me wonder if I’m being a bit obsessive. But it’s part of the point of working after all!