Zurich - Busy Schedule

An Autumn Stroll in Basel

And wham, that’s two weeks already gone.

I’ve hardly had time to think while trying to pack everything in I wanted to do.

Much to my joy, the Zurich Film Festival went on until 8th October this year, so I was back in time to see some films there. I don’t get the chance to go to the cinema when I’m in Egypt, so it’s a luxury I enjoy while I’m over in Europe. And, of course, at the Film Festival, you get the chance to see some non-mainstream films that in any case you might not usually get to see.

I saw one documentary about a rinpoche (reincarnated Buddhist monk) waiting to be recognized as the reincarnation he was, although it was as much about the relationship between the young boy (the rinpoche) and his uncle. The other two were films, one called Custody (apparently the word in French also means something like “kill by strangulation / stifling” or something) about a custody fight over their son; the other one was weird (I like weird!) and called Animals and blended the distinctions between space, time, dream, and reality with a basic story about a woman who thought her husband was cheating on her. I wished I could have seen more films but there are only so many hours in a day!

I also went to Cirque de Soleil’s Ovo, which, as ever, made me marvel at what the human body is capable of (not mine, though!) and how amazing it is that we are equipped with this wonderfully flexible tool!

It’s also been busy at work, which is why I’m over in Zurich, and I’m blaming the fact that we had to start a meeting at 7.30am, and the dinner out the evening before, for the fact that I’ve got a cold (which is also why today’s blog is a little bit late). I’m just not used to working these long hours any more!

As for food, well, I’d lost my appetite a bit when I returned to Egypt. I think it was the heat. But as soon as I arrived back in Zurich, I just couldn’t seem to stop eating. I’m sure I’ve eaten more than the two weeks of less food that I had when I was in Egypt. And I’ve had plenty of opportunities to eat – whether catching up with people at work over lunch, eating out in the evening before a film or show, going to a friend’s place for dinner to see her new flat which overlooks the lake, having a lovely bit of cake before embarking on a walk…

This last week it’s been unseasonably warm, but wonderful. The trees are all looking amazing this year, particularly when the sun shines, and I feel privileged to have been able to experience this again. I was a bit disappointed, but also happy, to discover that the plants on my balcony had actually fared better in my absence than when I was tending them. Several are still in bloom even though it’s mid-October. My neighbours will have to get the benefit of that.

And now I need to pack up and leave. It’s been a wonderful , if short, two weeks.

Zurich - Brief Visit

Zurich - Boats Closed for Winter

And so I’m back in Zurich again, but just for two weeks.

I’d been warned that the weather had turned colder, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been and I was lucky that the day after I returned, it was bright blue sky. This time, coming back to my flat finally felt like home. After all the effort I’d put into getting curtains hung, sorting out my finances, buying extra furniture, arranging my internet access, etc, this time, there wasn’t really anything to do to the flat and I could settle right back in.

The flat itself was also surprisingly warm. My rental contract states that I have to leave the heating on even if I’m away, so I’d turned it all right down, but the flat was plenty warm enough. It’s sufficiently cold at night that I need to shut the windows, so I’m spared the noise of the planes now. I’m also using my duvet, but I’m sleeping pretty well.

There’s still quite a bit of admin that I wanted to get done and almost a week has gone and I haven’t made much progress. I sometimes feel that everything goes wrong for me much more often than for other people!

I’d applied for some credit cards with Swiss airlines so that I could build up some airmiles – and mostly, to take advantage of their 20,000 miles welcome bonus so that I could upgrade my flight to Miami in December (more about that later this year). The credit cards arrived, but my welcome miles haven’t been credited and my flights to and from Zurich to Hurghada also haven’t been credited, so something’s gone wrong there. Also, they require an MTAN (a code sent to your mobile phone) for you to login to their internet banking, but the MTAN is just not arriving to my phone for some reason. So one step forward (got the cards), and three steps back (need to get my flights credited, need to sort out the MTAN, need to get my welcome bonus miles).

Another thing that went wrong was my bike pump. I bought a new one when I was here last and took it back to me to Egypt, since I can’t seem to get my pump over there to work on my Flying Pigeon. I brought my hand-held pump with me back to Zurich to see if that would be OK for my Zurich bicycle. I pumped up my back tyre without too much problem, but when I did my front tyre, I couldn’t unscrew the pump from the valve afterwards. At the moment, the pump is still hanging from my front wheel as I just can’t remove it. I can only hope that if I try every day, it’ll gradually budge and I’ll get it off. I spent ages on the internet to see if anyone had a similar problem, but this seems to be fairly unique to me.

On the plane coming back to Zurich I wondered why I’d been so keen to come back to Switzerland so soon, but actually on entering my flat, everything suddenly felt good and the time too short. Time is always too short, wherever I am!

El Andalous - My Return

El Andalous and Bougainvillea

My return to Sahl Hasheesh was, as usual, a bit of a jolt as events unfurled to let me know that I was back in a different culture again.

One of Esmat’s drivers was at the airport to meet me punctually, which was a relief. I’d informed Esmat that I wanted to go to the bank to change some money before going to El Andalous.

Unfortunately, my driver started insisting that I use his friend to exchange my money, which I didn’t really want to do and I didn’t really want to tell him how much money I wanted to change. But it’s hard to say no, because he made it into an issue of me not trusting him. I was definitely back in Egypt! Fortunately, it turned out that his friend could only exchange Euros or USD and then I refused the next place he took me to on the basis that the rate wasn’t good enough. So, it ended up with me not changing my money after all and just paying more taxi fare for the longer journey to the exchange places. Only I couldn’t pay the taxi, because I didn’t have any money, but fortunately I knew Esmat wouldn’t mind if I paid a few days later.

Anyway, I arrived back at El Andalous. This time I hadn’t had any apprehensions at all about returning and it had completely escaped my mind that every time I come back, something always goes wrong.

So, the first thing that went wrong was that I entered my flat only to find it hadn’t been cleaned. I rushed out, initially thinking I would have to complain to Medhat, the manager, but then realized when I saw him sitting in the reception, that to be polite I would have to shake hands and exchange niceties. This gave him enough time to apologise for the flat not being clean and to arrange for the cleaners to come straight away.

It was a bit of a nuisance because I couldn’t settle back in straight away, but I unpacked a bit, put my swimming costume on, and went to the beach for a few hours while the cleaners did their job (it’s a hard life).

When I got back to the flat, after their working hours, I discovered that my kitchen tap was now no longer working. Well, actually, it had come off completely, although they’d balanced it on in place so that it wasn’t obvious when you first come in. That’s also very typical here – they always try to cover up breakages rather than letting you know about them.

Luckily, the plumber sorted it out the very next day and gave me a new tap, but unfortunately I still didn’t have money at that point to pay him.

I was a bit horrified at seeing all the water come out in a solid brown colour when I turned on the taps in my bathroom and for my shower, but it’s like this any time when you’ve been away for a while. It’s the sand that builds up while you’re away. I let the water run for a while and it was soon back to normal. I’d just completely forgotten about that.

Another thing that I soon realized had broken in my absence was my power bank, which I use with my solar panel to charge all my appliances, including my laptop. I suspect that the power bank just got too hot when it was left in the flat with no air conditioning over the summer. It’s still under guarantee, and I’m hoping to be able to get a replacement, but it’s not going to be easy because I suspect it will have to be delivered to the UK and I’m not planning on being there for quite some time. Electricity prices have risen a lot over the last year, so I had been looking forward to using it so that it could earn some of its cost back.

Otherwise, though, it wasn’t so bad. My internet purchased at the airport worked straight away, and my phone was still able to make and receive calls. I’m always astonished that my phone sim in Egypt just keeps on functioning even after I've been away for 6 months; most other people say theirs doesn’t work after they've been away. I feel like I have a magic phone! Anyway, I’m very grateful, because I would really rather not have more hassle with my phone than need be. My return journeys are definitely slowly improving!

El Andalous - Adapting Back

Back to My Other Lifestyle

It’s autumn, so it’s time for me to move back to Egypt. A different residence means different routines, and I’m really surprised at just how much I’ve forgotten.

My daily life for the first few days seemed to have been spent re-learning what it was I used to do.

One of the first things I did wrong, and I only realized after two days, was to make my ice cubes with tap water instead of bottled water. I think I’d got confused because my kitchen tap broke as soon as I returned (maybe a topic for another blog). Consequently, I had to constantly remind myself to get water from the bathroom and on no account to switch on the kitchen tap (which would result in water gushing out over the entire flat). I proudly filled up my ice cube tray with water from the bathroom thinking I was so clever not to have used the kitchen tap, only to realize two days later that I shouldn’t have used tap water at all. Oh well.

As it turned out, I haven’t got ill from using those ice cubes in my drinks, so I’ll just continue to use them up and then go back to using the bottled water afterwards. For those who are reading this and feeling horrified at my total disregard for my health, the water in my flat is filtered twice before it comes to me anyway, so it’s not too bad; I just don’t generally risk it though.

I’d also forgotten that it takes a while for my shower to produce hot water. Consequently, on my first morning, I stood under the shower and thought I’d forgotten to switch the hot water on. I dried myself off, clutched a towel round me in case anyone was looking through the window, and went to switch on the water heater only to find it was already on. Doh.

Another thing that I’m still struggling to remember is to clean my swim shoes after I come off the beach. If I don’t do this, my flat gets covered in sand from the shoes. I think I’m finally getting back into the habit but at the moment I forget more often than I remember and it’s annoying going onto my balcony every morning and seeing a pile of sand by my shoes.

I also have my established routines for the things I do frequently – such as going on the beach or working on my laptop. At first, I’d go to the beach and find I’d forgotten my kindle, forgotten my sports watch, forgotten my sunglasses, forgotten my shampoo for my goggles… these are usually all packed in a bag, although some things, like the watch, the kindle, and the sunglasses, have to be added in before departing because I use them also at other times.

Similarly, I’d get the laptop out, then realize that I’d forgotten the power cord, or my mobile phone, or pen and paper, or the lap table that I have for the laptop (so that it doesn’t get too hot on my lap). I’ve finally gathered all these things together and have them stored in a corner of my lounge, ready for me to pick up and take out on the balcony whenever I need them. It was just second nature before.

When I was in Switzerland, I’d often thought to myself that when I’m back in Egypt I mustn’t forget to turn the TV off as soon as I’m not really watching it anymore, because when I’m in Egypt, my TV usage eats up my internet allowance (and thus costs me money). I remembered this on returning and have been very good at turning the TV off straight away, but I completely forgot that I needed to set it to standard definition rather than high definition, as the latter also uses up at least twice as much of my internet allowance than the former. It’s taken me four days to remember this, so I’ve already used up a third of a month’s allowance now. But at least I remembered in the end!

I don’t recall ever having such a hard time of remembering my old routines, so I’m obviously long-overdue for having a stint in Egypt.

Zurich - Autumn

Autumn Sky

Autumn seems to have arrived very quickly this year; usually there’s a bit of a transition, but this time we seem to have gone straight from summer to autumn. We haven’t been given a chance to get our heads round the change.

I’m slowly adapting back to the rain. On the first downpour each year that I’m in Zurich, I’m always taken aback at just how wet I get. I exit the bus or tram, the rain drenches me immediately, my sopping skirt sucks itself to my legs and I feel like I’m barely wearing anything at all. How did that happen? Now, I’m just back to that state of resignation that this is just how it is for the next few months.

I’ve swapped back from dresses into trousers and am returning to that state of annoyance at all the effort it takes to dress in the morning and to wear all these clothes. I’m so used to life in Egypt where I just pull a light and loose dress quickly over my head and that’s it. Now, if I want to go swimming, it’s a right hassle with all these items (socks/tights, jeans, heavy shoes, t-shirt, cardigan, coat…). I swear it all takes a lot longer.

To my surprise, I’m now using a duvet on my bed. Last winter the flat was too hot because I couldn’t turn the heating down (that’s been sorted now), so I just used the bedspread. Then, this summer, I also needed only the bedspread because the nights were fairly warm (not hot like in Egypt, though, although I did miss having the air conditioning that I have in my flat in Egypt).

The open air swimming pools closed for the season this weekend, which also to me signifies the end of summer.

I’m suddenly getting mosquito bites for some strange reason. I think I must have one trapped in my flat that is using me as its sole feeding ground. I have all my mosquito repellent in Egypt – I’m not used to needing it here.

But along with this sense of a shift, I also feel the anticipation of events starting up in Zurich. Zurich is pretty good for having lots of things to do, but now that autumn is settling in, we have indoor events such as the Film Festival at the end of September / beginning of October, Cirque de Soleil is performing, the Blue Man Group are here, so are some dance events (I went to see Pearls of Ballet just the other week by the Singapore Dance Group). So, although outdoor options are dwindling, indoor activities are ramping up to see in the time between now and the ski season.

It’s this choice of cultural events that I miss in Egypt, but I guess a large part of that is due to the poverty in Egypt where most people are more concerned about finding money to eat rather than spending their precious resources on luxuries. I am lucky to live the life that I do.

Zurich - Mindful Triathlon

Wanderlust Mindful Triathlon in Zurich (photo (c) The Yoga Affair)

An event I booked a while ago was the Zurich Mindful Triathlon (5km walk/run, 90 minutes of yoga, 30 mins of meditation). I think this might be the first year it’s run, but I’m not too sure.

As usual when I book things, I spent the day before the event kind of regretting it – this time, I was sulking about the fact that I had to be there at 8.45am on a Sunday and I’d really prefer to lie in. I really do need to book things for myself because given the option on any day, laziness always wins.

The day started off rather stressfully – not really the aim of “mindfulness”! Firstly, we were supposed to be wearing company t-shirts to the event (work had paid for our tickets), but I’d left it until last thing on Friday to collect mine, and the person who had them had already gone home. I decided I could wear the company t-shirt that we had for a charity day a while back – it was bright orange instead of bright green, so I would be visibly very different, but at least I would have tried to be “corporate”.

And then I realized that actually I didn’t have any gym stuff at all. I’d left it all in Egypt. I’d meant to bring it across to Zurich since I never do the gym in Egypt, but I’d completely forgotten (I think I got too sidetracked into packing the bucket!). I could do the 5km walk OK in my skirt and t-shirt, but not the yoga. In the end I decided to use my pyjama bottoms. Very hippy-like!

And finally, the bus pulled away just as I got to the bus stop. This meant – horror of horrors – that I had to use my phone to inform my friends that I was going to be a bit late. It was all a bit of a shambles.

As it turned out, the others were also late and I wasn’t even the last one of us to arrive. I was surprised to see so many people on my train also heading to the triathlon but at least this made finding the venue easy, even if I was feeling a bit intimidated by their sporty appearance and possession of yoga mats.

It’s amazing how people can create events like this and people actually turn up. If I’d been organizing it, I’d have been petrified that it would fall flat on its face. It takes some guts. But I think there were probably about 1000 people there – apparently all tickets had been sold out.

Most people ran the 5km, but there were also a fair number walking. I don’t really do running but might have tried if I had the correct gear with me, but since I didn’t… anyway, I ran through the finishing line which is what counts but unfortunately nobody took a photograph of that. The run/walk was through a wooded area just by Sihl City and along the river, so it was also good to see a bit of Zurich that I hadn’t seen before.

Then there was time to look round the stands and there were a few other side activities. I tried doing the hula-hoop but I just couldn’t get it to stay round my waist. I’m sure I could do it as a child, so I don’t know how I’ve lost that skill.

The yoga, performed outside on a large field with a stage in front, was preceded by a quick warm-up of “breakletics” which is based on break dancing as a form of exercise.

I hadn’t done yoga for maybe decades now and I was a bit shocked at how demanding it was and how incapable I was of doing it. The weather teased us. It started to drizzle just as the yoga started and then it stopped, almost as if it had heard the collective “no!” that I’m sure all of us were inwardly whispering. At another point, it also started to rain, but again, it didn’t last long. I guess it was one way of getting in tune with nature!

You could choose which bits of the yoga you wanted to do and when you didn’t want to push your body any further. They also had people on the sidelines to correct you if you were doing things wrong. Despite having sat out at various points, I still ached the next few days, so it must have done something.

The meditation was a bit curtailed as we’d overran a bit, but all in all it was an enjoyable event and I somehow felt I’d achieved something. On top of that, it’s got me going to yoga every Thursday now, so you could say it was a life-changing experience!

Zurich - Rainy Day Activity

Glass Labryinth at Hergiswil (c)Mums:Tots:Zurich Blog

The first time Geraldine ever visited me in Switzerland, it was a September, she had glorious weather. Sunshine, blue sky, high temperatures – it couldn’t have been better. And, of course, it was never like that again on any subsequent visit.

So, we had some rain during her stay, but I did have some wet weather activities planned. Somehow, it’s always the children’s stuff that sounds the most fun and I got the suggestion of going to Hergiswil glass factory from a mother’s blog on rainy day activities for children (sorry, Geraldine!). Her blog is actually a far better guide to the factory than mine, actually, so do visit her site if you’re interested.

The factory is located right by the lake, so I imagine on a sunny day it would be really spectacular. It is located close to the Hergiswil train station and was well signposted. It’s a bit confusing when you get there because there’s a museum and then there’s the factory exhibition and there are arrows pointing in two directions.

It was a bit disconcerting when we first arrived because we were told to wait to one side while everyone else went in – apparently it was the next “sitting” which was going to be in English and the others were all German speakers. However, there were lots of people still milling about and we were scared (or I was, at any rate!) of missing our correct time to go in since we were totally reliant on the woman serving at the desk (who was busy).

But all was well and she signaled to us as to when to go  in. The tour was quite clever with doors suddenly opening out of nowhere after each historic scene played out before you, and you just had to hope that you were going to the right place each time. It felt a bit Indiana Jones-ish! They are very proud of the fact that they still use the hand-blowing methods, which is presumably part of the reason for the cost of some of the items.

We were able to watch people making items with the glass afterwards, although the area for the finer aspects of design was closed, so we didn’t see any engraving or animals being molded, etc. My ticket included the cost for blowing my own glass bauble, but the queues for this were long and were clearly primarily meant for children, so I skipped this in the end.

I agree with the mum’s blog that the best bit is the glass maze. You have to pay a small fee to go in and you have to wear slippers and gloves (provided) and leave your bags behind at the desk. You enter through a darkened door and then you find yourself in this maze of mirror and glass walls. Your aim is to come back out of the door that’s just next door to the one where you went in. It’s still fairly dark inside and I’m sure that when they change the lighting, some of the glass turns into mirrors and some of the mirrors turn into glass. You have to feel your way round gently as you can’t tell where the glass ends and a corridor begins.

I didn’t even think to try to get out, actually, as it was fun groping about. In the end, Geraldine spotted a father who she thought knew what he was doing and we followed him to get to the exit. My spatial awareness isn’t very good, so this isn’t the sort of thing I’d do well at anyway, but it was a lot of fun.

There were lots of other games to do with glass as well – from hitting the glass to see what sounds it made (I only noticed half-way through my enthusiastic hitting of it that they warned you not to do it too hard!), distorted mirrors, prisms, etc. Because it was raining, we didn’t do the massive “Kugelbahn” outside where you can buy marbles and roll them down the chute and they go through a whole massive obstacle course. That would also no doubt be a lot of fun.

There’s a seconds shop and a shop with premium quality items, so plenty of shopping opportunities too, if you want them. All in all, it makes a good rainy day activity for children and adults alike!