A day in Zurich

Goodbye to the square in Santiago

Sat July 13 
A pretty mixed day. Some frustration at dealing with unfamiliar things, some gratitude for helping hands and a feeling of contentment after a large beer and a huge pizza. Now I’m settling down to a nice glass of red wine (still at the pizza restaurant in Zurich).

I slept in until 8am in the Parador in Santiago, had breakfast and embarked on the second half of the cathedral museum - this time an exhibition over several floors of the work of Master Mateo, one of the principal creators of the cathedral about 800 years ago.

After that, I made a determined effort to find the mysterious entry to the main cathedral, which is under extensive renovation.

Eventually I found it and wandered through the ancient building - a fitting end to my journey, which started in France on June 1. I couldn’t resist buying a few souvenirs too as I wandered back to the Parador - there’s no shortage of shops selling all sorts of mementos.

It was brilliant that checkout wasn’t until noon, so by 11am I was packing. The plan was to have in my day pack everything i needed for Zurich and Hong Kong, so I could store my suitcase at the airports (the best laid plans etc - didn't actually go to plan.

Here's an album of the final morning: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ARes5rfd8ruKEk8d8


I splurged 21 euro on a taxi and got to the airport in heaps of time. I was nearly out of cash, so tried to get more euro from an atm, but it didn’t want to know. As it turned out, that was a lucky break. Who would have known that they use Swiss francs - not euro - in Switzerland?

I had my walking pole sticking up from my pack, so got turned back as I tried to enter the departure area. I nearly tossed it, but trudged back to check it in as baggage - I think they are used to it.

It was a cruisy flight of just over two hours to Zurich. A beer put me into a little doze for half of that.

I wasn’t prepared for the size of Zurich airport or the number of people. As soon as I turned my phone on I had a warning from my phone provider that data was $10 a mb, same as Germany (in Spain it was 10c a mb).

There was free wifi at the airport, but you needed a code. You could get the code in several ways.

First, they would text it to you, but to receive the text you needed to turn on data. I turned it on for about two minutes. I later found that brief flurry of data cost $21, and nothing arrived.

Second, you could go to a machine and scan your boarding pass or passport, but I couldn’t find a machine.

I needed wifi to use Google maps to find my hotel, but I shelved that problem.

I got some Swiss francs and retrieved my bag and pole, then wandered off to find the bag storage. That wasn’t easy and the instructions were all in German. Also it was only 24 hours and I needed 27, so I shelved that too.

I found myself at an information desk and they quickly sorted the wifi, gave me lots of maps and advice and gave me instructions on the correct train and bus combo to get to my hotel.

It didn’t end there. The tickets needed to be bought from a machine, surrounded by dozens of tourists all trying to figure out what needed, where they were going and how to pay.

Mercifully I discovered an obscure ticket office. The attendant was delighted to help me in English and sell me a 24-hour ticket to use all trains, buses and trams.

I crammed on to the train, got lost at the huge station and eventually found myself in a huge bus and tram terminal. I was unsure whether I needed a number 31 bus or tram - further confused by the fact that both were available.

I spotted a 31 bus and took a chance. Not quite right, as I soon figured it was going the wrong way.

I got off, crossed the road and got another bus going in the right direction and eventually tracked down my budget hotel.

Nobody in attendance - punch your room code to gain entry (how the f... am I supposed to know that?). Eventually I found a phone and rang for help. I was directed to a tedious self check-in device outside the front door, which eventually delivered a slip of paper with my room number (47) and a code to enter the building and then my room.

Of course 47 was on the fourth floor and being a budget hotel there was no lift.

Made it in the end. I was ready for food, but I had no idea where anything was. Eventually I settled on an Italian place (I really wanted a Weiner schnitzel), and settled down after my pizza, beer and red wine.

I have a good plan for tomorrow. The budget hotel can’t store my case but I can do that (pack too) at the railway station, then I’ll go on a tour of Zurich.

Sunday June 14

During the course of the evening, I found there was a small luggage lift to take your suitcase up and down - something for the morning. 

Up I got. Breakfast wasn't included. I got back to the railway station and after a bit of coaxing managed to get a locker to close on my suitcase and pack. Grabbed a sandwich from a railway vendor (there were many) and wandered off to locate the venue for the day's activities. 

I'd booked a 17km tour on e-bikes. Once I found the spot, I sat in a cafe, had a coffee, used their wifi and toilets, then met an Australian couple at the bike shop. We thought we were alone, when a door burst open and another five tourists and a guide emerged. The e-bike thing was interesting - I can see why people like them.

Off we went - taking devious routes and seeing hilltops and lakes. It was  good way to get an overview of Zurich. I especially liked the diversion in the river which provided a live swimming pool where you could get in upstream and float down without danger of being washed away.

Here's an album from Zurich: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hgHfhcQRAerxiZAc7

The tour was over mid-afternoon, so I retrieved my back at the station, found the right train and returned to the airport. I was early by hours, but had an audio book and was happy to sit and watch the world go by until my 10.50pm flight to Hong Kong (which turned out to be an 11.30pm flight as we sat on the runway for some time).