Zurich - Milan

Market on a Sunday in Canal Area, Madrid

I finally got myself into gear and hopped onto a train to Milan for the weekend. Well, it’s never quite that easy, but it sounds good!

I went with Lena and in the end we decided to leave on Friday mid-afternoon and stop over in Lugano for one night and then go to Milan the next morning and stay until Sunday evening. This meant I could do some work in the morning, go for a swim and then catch the train, so I was happy with this plan.

We intended to meet on the platform but actually we bumped into each other at Starbucks beforehand, so that was a good sign that things would work out well. It was a beautiful 27 degrees when we arrived in Lugano and this, along with hearing Italian all around me, was enough to make it feel like a holiday. 

It was an evening where Switzerland was due to be playing in the World Cup, so the square in the town centre had a stand set up to show the match live and more and more people started to pour into the streets as the time of the match approached. We managed to find a rooftop restaurant – Seven – that seemed to be World Cup-free and was surprisingly quiet. We didn’t get a window seat, but the view we had over the lake was still wonderful. The food was amazing and I’d recommend it if you are ever there. It was my favorite meal of the trip.

We heard a roar, a happy roar, at one point and concluded that the Swiss must have won the match and, checking online, they scored a goal at the very last minute which won them the game. We wandered through happy crowds to get back to our hotel, but they weren’t rowdy or drunk or even particularly elated as you might see in the UK. However, cars tooted loudly in jubilation as they drove past and the atmosphere was definitely celebratory. It was a warm and fuzzy ending to the day.

The following morning we got the train to Milan. We were a bit puzzled by the tickets we got from the machine. They seemed almost impossibly cheap but stated that the route was restricted to use of regional trains. However, it is impossible to get to Milan without taking an international train. It turned out that we had to pay a supplement (not a fine) because we were on an international train, but we still couldn’t understand how they could sell a ticket that was impossible to be used in itself. This mystery was never solved.

It was my first time in Milan even though it’s only 3.5 hours from Zurich. It would be worth going for another trip, since we didn’t want to spend time queuing. Consequently,  we didn’t get to go inside the cathedral or climb up to the spires, and we didn’t get to view the painting of the Last Supper, which has to be booked in advance. Of course, there were other things we didn’t manage to do either, such as the botanical gardens or any museums, although this was, in part, because the weather was too good to be spent inside.

We did take a sightseeing bus tour, so we saw the highlights of the city. We spent quite a lot of time in and around the castle and the gardens just behind. There was a large security presence (here and by the cathedral). Music seemed to be everywhere in Milan (it reminds me now that Sheila said that the Italians have a habit of just breaking into song). There was a free band playing in the park (which had a pond with turtles!) and a number of good buskers.

Our main starting point was usually just by the cathedral, so we saw that many times even if we didn’t go inside, and we were also in the galleries in the same area where we enjoyed some wonderful cakes just before we left. I hadn’t realized before that the Italians were good at cakes. Pizza, pasta, and coffee are a given, but cakes was unexpected for me.

By the cathedral, there were lots of very persistent Africans giving bracelets away touting for money to support their country. There were also two bananas walking around giving out free samples as an advertising campaign.

On Sunday, we strolled down to the canal area. Probably in any other European country it would have been called little Venice, but I guess they don’t do that in Italy! There was a huge range of market stalls  and it was buzzing with people; the wares were mostly art, antiques, and clothes. We didn’t have enough time to see all of it.

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we ended up not leaving enough time to get the train we’d planned to take – partly because the queue to get the tickets was so long and partly because the machine was telling us that the train was sold out. We got a train an hour later, so it wasn’t so bad, and we had time to buy some food before we boarded.

It was a very enjoyable weekend and it was refreshing to go somewhere new. I’d definitely go again  and maybe plan tickets for things where you need to be a bit more organized in advance. But for this first trip, it wasn’t a hardship as there were plenty of things to see.

Zurich - Social Events

Storchen - My Brunch Location

I feel I haven’t really organised myself properly since my return; on the other hand, I keep on forgetting that I’ve only been back for just over two weeks. It feels like I’ve never been away!

I have a list of things I want to do – go to Milan, Lichtenstein, explore more of Austria, visit Idette, go to the UK, have a trip to Basel – but I haven’t arranged any of them yet. I’m not really very sure what’s stopping me, other than that I dislike going away from Zurich in the summer in case the weather is really good and I could be swimming in the lake instead.

So, my impression is that I haven’t really done anything since I’ve been back, which makes writing my blog difficult. However, when I think about it a bit more, I’m maybe being a bit hard on myself.

Just as I had to squeeze in Faust – The Ballet just before I left to go to Egypt, on my return to Zurich, I was keen to ensure that I got to see Nutcracker – Reloaded! This was at yet a different location from the two ballets I saw a month or so ago, which just goes to show how good Zurich is for places which hold events. This time I went with Caterina and it was in the Maag Halle.

I’d forgotten that this time of year is full of thunderstorms, particularly in the evening (which is quite handy if you want to swim during the day, not that I did on this occasion) and the night of the ballet was one of those nights. The rain chucked itself down and the thunder rumbled. I got there before Caterina, so I watched everyone running in with their umbrellas. With this being Zurich, which is not so large as cities go, I saw Florence and Nada from my old workplace as they ran in to come to the ballet as well. It can be quite hard to do anything here without seeing someone you know. Eventually, Caterina turned up, her umbrella blowing inside out.

We had to turn two people out of our seats since they were sitting in the wrong place (it took a bit of persuasion, enlisting the help of the people behind as well, but we got there). I thought the ballet itself was brilliant – very creative and very different. There was a guy introducing it making himself out to be from the Swedish Ministry of Culture and only there because he was the only one who could speak German. He explained the story as we went along (since it deviated from the normal Nutcracker quite extensively, it was a welcome interjection and he was very funny). I can’t even remember the proper Nutcracker story now, but this version was about how a rich woman needed a heart transplant using the heart from a poor orphan girl. Rich woman’s son falls in love with poor orphan girl (there’s also a side story of the parents trying to find poor orphan girl). Anyway, if it comes near you, I recommend seeing it!

Apart from that, I’ve looked after my stomach. I had brunch out at the Storchen (it was OK, but I think there are better ones out there), sampled the cuisine at New Bombay with Lena, met up with a former colleague (Marta) for after-work drinks, and, not least, in memory of Pam (it’s been a year now since her death), I had a meal out in Tito’s with Hye-Youn, since Pam often liked to go there. And I organized a publication team lunch at work, and also had lunch with a group of people from work on one other occasion.

So, if you put all that together, I guess I’m not doing so badly after all!

Zurich - Opfikon Overhaul

Opfikon Festival - 50 Years

It’s the year of Opfikon’s 50th birthday this year, so there are plenty of things going on. It was the main festival last weekend (and the weather has continued to be good, luckily for them), so there were fairground rides erected just by my local swimming pool, a mile of international food stalls, and various games you could take part in (such as a bucking bronco). I took the opportunity to wander round and saw a few bits of Opfikon I hadn’t noticed before.

At the open-air pool they had a competition as to who could jump and make the biggest splash. I was going to take a photo for this blog (if I could catch it just right), but I got called out on the megaphone with an instruction not to take photos. So, I thereby made my own metaphorical splash.

Although it was Opfikon’s main event last weekend, they are organizing things all year, including an ice rink from October through to December I think. They now have some funky wooden benches down by the river, too, so presumably that was also an initiative to mark the 50th celebrations.

However, I’m a bit gutted that they are closing my local pool for 18 months (18 months!!!) to refurbish it. That’s a long time for it to be closed and it means that next year I won’t be able to use it at all. This is a major dent to my quality of life.

The pool at Kloten, which I think is the nearest one has leafleted all the flats (well, mine at any rate). They are offering 13 months membership for the price of 12 to those in Opfikon. That’s not much good for me, since I’m not here for the entire year and they charge those who aren’t residents of Kloten more. I think they should give us the discount that the locals get, given that it’s now our nearest option! 

As it is, my swim will no longer be just a ten-minute walk and finding a new pool to use in the interim will mean that I will have to organize myself and possibly – horror of horrors – have to get up earlier, too, if I’m to fit my swim in before work. This isn't the life I'd envisaged!

Anyway, I’ll have to work out what to do about that next year. For this year, I can probably use Seebach as long as the weather is good (it’s only 7 minutes away by bus and it’s a heated outdoor pool [25 degrees], but still not much fun in the rain and they sometimes stop you from swimming if it looks too stormy). My pool shuts at the end of July, so Seebach should be fine for the most part, but next year I’ll definitely need some swimming time at Kloten.

That’s just as I was thinking how ideal my flat was because it was so close to the pool. Pah, no longer so ideal! 

Zurich - Back for Four Months

Balcony Cleaned and Seedlings Planted Out

Well, I’m now back in Zurich for the next four months. My flight was at 6pm, so I managed to squeeze in one last swim before I left. I’d made a list of things to bring back to Zurich with me, but unfortunately I lost it, so I couldn’t quite remember everything. However, there were some odd things in my luggage such as a funnel and a tray for baking cup cakes. I’d packed my electronic stuff mostly in my main luggage so that I wouldn’t have to haul it out during security, but unfortunately at Hurghada they insisted you unpack even laptops etc in your main luggage.

In addition, I had my TV streamer, which I’d forgotten about, and that was in my carry-on luggage, so I didn’t take it out. I got stopped the first time, and they looked at it, but they didn’t ask me what it was and seemed happy enough. When I went through the second set of checks I was stopped again and this time it was my baking tray in my hand luggage that flummoxed them (my hand luggage was a bit like one of those magician’s hats where all sorts of weird items are pulled out once you look inside). They hauled it out of my bag and the guy asked a colleague what it was. The security chap then asked me, and I explained. He nodded, since I’d just confirmed what his colleague had told him, and let me through. They probably thought it was a really weird thing for me to bring with me to Egypt on holiday! Anyway, this distraction was enough to make me forget to pick up my passport after putting it down to repack my luggage. But that too I got back. Phew.

I’ve found a café at Hurghada airport that does a nice carrot cake, so that’s usually my pre-flight treat. My excuse for indulging is usually that my flight is only economy and I deserve a treat of some kind. This time, because I’d booked myself on a business flight, I had to resort to the excuse that it was my last chance for a proper café latte for the next 5 hours (and really, I don't get to have cake that often do I?). That’s the advantage of having studied philosophy and the art of argument.

Since my flight was at 6pm, it was one of the flights where I’d drunk the most alcohol for maybe a few decades! I didn’t over-do it, but I was happy enough to have a few refills of champagne and to have wine with my meal, followed by another champagne (they were small glasses). I do like an evening departure.

I didn’t get back to my flat in Zurich until about 11.30pm; in my magician's hat luggage I also had a litre of skimmed UHT milk as I knew all the shops would be closed on my arrival (although it seemed a bit immoral taking food from Egypt to Switzerland). I had been a bit anxious that this item would cause me some problems during security checks, as I had no idea what it would look like on the security machine, but I needed it for breakfast in the morning. As it was, it was the baking tray that was the problem. Who would have thought?

On returning, I was curious to see whether my seedlings, which had had to survive on their own during my 27-day absence, had survived. Some of them I'd left in the germination container; others I had planted out really much too early. To my delight, they needed a bit of water, but were almost too big for the germination container and even the ones outside had survived the elements – even one that I thought had died before I’d even left!

My balcony was filthy so I spent Monday morning before work sweeping and cleaning it, as well as transplanting all the seedlings to their final containers so that they could finally be happy plants (I hope). I was surprised the balcony needed so much work as I’d spent a lot of time cleaning it before I left for Egypt, but a load of pollen had carpeted the ground, my windows, and my furniture. The weather was a beautiful 29 degrees or so, so I wanted to start using my balcony as soon as I could.

But once that was done, all was good!