Monday, November 19, 2012

Zurich: Days 62-64

Friday morning, I woke up late and went for my run before having a late breakfast/early lunch and then doing some work before finalizing my packing and heading down to Victoria station for my train to Gatwick Airport, which left at 3:30.  After arriving at the airport, I went through security and ate dinner before heading to my gate for a 6:15 flight which was delayed by half an hour.  But no matter.  I landed in Zurich at 9:30 local time.  The Zurich Airport is beautiful; a giant complex of glass and steel with floor-to-cieling windows and a train from the different terminals to the main building.  After going through passport control, I took a free shuttle bus to my hotel, which was right next to the airport and a tremendous value for how much money I paid.
Saturday, I was up by 7 in order to eat breakfast, a very nice Swiss spread that set me back 19 francs (about 21 USD), but was worth it as it filled me up for most of the day.  I then took a train from my hotel, in Kloten, into the heart of Zurich where my bus to Titlis, a mountain in the Alps, would leave from.  The start of the day didn't get off on that great a foot, either, because it was foggy and so I could not see any of the surrounding mountains.  On our way to Titlis, we stopped at several mountains and lakes as well as Lucerne, a small and peaceful city on a lake with water as clear as crystal.  Finally, at 2 PM, we began our ascent up Titlis in a gondola that took all the way to the top at 11,000 feet.  From the top, the views were absolutely spectacular - as far as the eye can see to the south are snow covered mountains and to the north are mountains that have escaped the cover of the snow (weird, I know).  I also got the chance to explore a cave inside a moving glacier before heading down the mountain and bussing back to Zurich as the sun set.  I grabbed dinner at a local cafe near Lake Zurich before heading back to the hotel and going to bed late.
I slept in on Sunday, eating breakfast at 10 and checking out of the hotel for my day of walking in the city.  That's literally all I did on Sunday - I walked around the city.  Up the east face of the lake, up the west face of the lake, through old town, through Chinese water gardens, along the river that feeds the lake, you name it.  I had a small bit of food before heading to the airport at 7:30 for my 9:30 flight.  Again, my flight was delayed, meaning that I didn't leave Zurich until almost 11 local time.  I landed at 11:30 london time with the hour gained, but it was still almost 1 AM by the time I arrived back in my flat and crashed.

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