We actually got home last Sunday, but I've been too jetlagged, and then too
busy with work to really have a chance to write anything...
We got back in at around 2pm, but our bags fell victim to Heathrow's
Terminal 5, and didn't arrive until around 11pm. I think I lasted until
about 8pm, when I had to crash. Poor Sarah had to stay up until 11pm when
they finally got around to delivering our suitcases.
The week in Zurich was wonderful. The Zurich office is everything the photos
make it out to be, and then some. One weird thing: apparently there's some
Swiss regulation about how much you're allowed to cool a building in
relation to the outdoor ambient temperature, so there's no air conditioning
in the office. Instead, you can open the windows. Unfortunately, there's a
fairly busy set of train tracks right beside the office, so it can get a tad
noisy... It was a pretty warm week, I think around 30°C. I certainly
prefer being colder rather than hotter when indoors, so found the lack of
decent cooling to be a shame, given the rest of the building's features.
That said, it was pretty amazing sweltering away in Zurich, and then looking
up and seeing snow on the mountains. It was surprising how much of a
temperature difference there was.
On the last evening in Zurich, we went on a reconnoitre to try and find the
river that we could hear (and see on the map) behind our apartment. We
eventually found some street access to it, and it was another world back
there. It was fairly thickly wooded, and the sunlight was heavily filtered
through the trees, so it was cool and shady.
The river was fairly fast flowing over some rocks in parts, which is what
was making it so audible. The whole setting was absolutely beautiful. There
were a couple of paths, and the whole thing felt like something out of a
fairy tail. We think we stumbled onto a fox, but we're not sure. It's a
shame we only discovered the place on the last day, as I'd have liked to
have explored it further.
I really liked Zurich. It was nice and flat, and had an excellent tram
service. Monday
Night Skate made me wish I'd packed my roller blades. We were wandering
around on Monday night, and it felt like the entire city had donned skates
and were going out. Apparently the authorities really get behind it, and
close roads, and the police go along behind the pack and reopen the roads
behind them and pick up the stragglers. Great way to encourage an active
lifestyle.
We've got all of our photos up now from the Europe trip, and they're here.
This brings the total countries I've visited up to 10, excluding Hong Kong
and Macau. I don't like selecting China when I generate this map, as I've
never been to mainland China.
