Day 2/3 -- Made it to Switzerland. It was a good day, pretty smooth all the way around.
My brother in law´s sister-in-law, (sorry for the confusion) who is very, very lovely was luckily working the flight to Toronto as a flight attendent, so the flight was nice and short and we had a good long chat. She spoiled me rotten, and gave me a free meal!! It's who you know baby, it's who you know !!
Pearson Airport in Toronto is just totally different now, I almost do not recognize the place. 20 years ago is a lifetime ago when I knew the place inside-out while at UBC. Made the connecting flight to Zurich, but Holy Cow, what a rip off it is to buy food there. $13 for a tiny sandwich?? You gotta be kidding!!
I pretty much got the last seat and I got some decent sleep towards the end of the flight. That was a huge help and we land early. We get out of the gate and have to take a short train ride to the other parts of the airport to collect our bags. A three minute ride full of stereotypical Swiss sounds on the PA system. Cow bells, sheep and cow sounds, yodelling chants, alpenhorns, you name it, it was there. You had to smile .... you just had to smile.
My relatives weren't home in Zurich, so I took the train striaght to Lucerne, which was nice and only an hour away. It's just so pretty on a nice day and I look to store my bags in the train station while waiting for my mother's cousins to be home. The cost for storage? 10 Swiss Francs per bag ($12 each and I have 3). I don't think so ... so then I go to the lock and key storage lockers .... 9 Swiss Francs ($11 CDN). Ok then .... I am carrying them for 5 hours ... piece of cake.
So, I wonder around the old city (Altstadt) for 5 hours. The Watertower and the Chapel Bridge are the same icons I had seen in my house since I was a young boy. But now I have a decent camera to finally take sharper pictures of them. I wander up to the Lowenplatz to see the famous Lion Monument which comemorates the Swiss guards during the French Revolution. Nice place to be in the shade for an hour or so, and drop my heavy bags. I meet a lovely older couple from San Francisco and to celebrate Canada Day, I am of course mistaken as an American by them. But that is more than fine. I tell them I'm from Vancouver, and we talk for maybe 30 minutes. The first thing they talk about is how lucky we are with our medical system. For all it's faults and problems, that conversation almost always comes up when talking to older Americans. They insist I help them eat their cheese, bread and fresh cherries, as they have bought too much. Ahhhh to be back with the Swiss food!!!! I had to smile, just minutes before I wander over to the Lowenplatz I had thought about lunch at a restaurant and saw a fondue place. I started to salivate, until I saw the price ... 66 francs ($80) ... my hunger disapated toute de suite. Until they offered their extras ... good call Dino. It pays to be cheap sometimes.
Four o'clock rolls around and I head up the hills of Gerlisberg where my cousins have this amazing view of the town. It's a tough walk uphill with my three bags and backpack, but I could use the physical workout. After 26 years, I still am in awe of their panaromic view of Mt. Pilatus and the surrounding hills & mountains. Even on a clouldy and rainy today like today, it's still impressive. And it is still free of charge.
Urs and Vreni are 75 years old now, and looking very good for their age. Urs just had his birthday and the timing could not be better. Just like in 2006, when I had a short visit, all the cousins will be together this coming Saturday for the official party. It's up in the local mountains, so that should be gorgeous, if the weather is decent. Fingers crossed.
We have a light dinner while we watch the big football match between the Swiss and Argentina. Just before we think we are destined for penalty kicks, Argentina finally scores to win at the end of extra time. A drum, way out in the distance, is beating the entire game, as their is a local game viewing party not to far away. The drum still beats well after the game is over. I guess he or she wasn't hungry enough to eat after the disappointment. The Swiss almost tie it up at the end, but the header hits the post. It was still a valiant effort, but there is little joy in the tiny confederation.
If the weather improves later, I might take the train to Interlaken. But it isn't looking good ... might try to find my other cousins on the other side of the family who also live here. Wish me luck, little Alice is usually tricky to get a hold of.
Stay safe ... I am ... the only danger I see is getting used to the altered keyboard. Where is the zed key again ??... it is switched with the y key. And where is that question mark key???? Ahh ... Found it again. :o)
My brother in law´s sister-in-law, (sorry for the confusion) who is very, very lovely was luckily working the flight to Toronto as a flight attendent, so the flight was nice and short and we had a good long chat. She spoiled me rotten, and gave me a free meal!! It's who you know baby, it's who you know !!
Pearson Airport in Toronto is just totally different now, I almost do not recognize the place. 20 years ago is a lifetime ago when I knew the place inside-out while at UBC. Made the connecting flight to Zurich, but Holy Cow, what a rip off it is to buy food there. $13 for a tiny sandwich?? You gotta be kidding!!
I pretty much got the last seat and I got some decent sleep towards the end of the flight. That was a huge help and we land early. We get out of the gate and have to take a short train ride to the other parts of the airport to collect our bags. A three minute ride full of stereotypical Swiss sounds on the PA system. Cow bells, sheep and cow sounds, yodelling chants, alpenhorns, you name it, it was there. You had to smile .... you just had to smile.
My relatives weren't home in Zurich, so I took the train striaght to Lucerne, which was nice and only an hour away. It's just so pretty on a nice day and I look to store my bags in the train station while waiting for my mother's cousins to be home. The cost for storage? 10 Swiss Francs per bag ($12 each and I have 3). I don't think so ... so then I go to the lock and key storage lockers .... 9 Swiss Francs ($11 CDN). Ok then .... I am carrying them for 5 hours ... piece of cake.
So, I wonder around the old city (Altstadt) for 5 hours. The Watertower and the Chapel Bridge are the same icons I had seen in my house since I was a young boy. But now I have a decent camera to finally take sharper pictures of them. I wander up to the Lowenplatz to see the famous Lion Monument which comemorates the Swiss guards during the French Revolution. Nice place to be in the shade for an hour or so, and drop my heavy bags. I meet a lovely older couple from San Francisco and to celebrate Canada Day, I am of course mistaken as an American by them. But that is more than fine. I tell them I'm from Vancouver, and we talk for maybe 30 minutes. The first thing they talk about is how lucky we are with our medical system. For all it's faults and problems, that conversation almost always comes up when talking to older Americans. They insist I help them eat their cheese, bread and fresh cherries, as they have bought too much. Ahhhh to be back with the Swiss food!!!! I had to smile, just minutes before I wander over to the Lowenplatz I had thought about lunch at a restaurant and saw a fondue place. I started to salivate, until I saw the price ... 66 francs ($80) ... my hunger disapated toute de suite. Until they offered their extras ... good call Dino. It pays to be cheap sometimes.
Four o'clock rolls around and I head up the hills of Gerlisberg where my cousins have this amazing view of the town. It's a tough walk uphill with my three bags and backpack, but I could use the physical workout. After 26 years, I still am in awe of their panaromic view of Mt. Pilatus and the surrounding hills & mountains. Even on a clouldy and rainy today like today, it's still impressive. And it is still free of charge.
Urs and Vreni are 75 years old now, and looking very good for their age. Urs just had his birthday and the timing could not be better. Just like in 2006, when I had a short visit, all the cousins will be together this coming Saturday for the official party. It's up in the local mountains, so that should be gorgeous, if the weather is decent. Fingers crossed.
We have a light dinner while we watch the big football match between the Swiss and Argentina. Just before we think we are destined for penalty kicks, Argentina finally scores to win at the end of extra time. A drum, way out in the distance, is beating the entire game, as their is a local game viewing party not to far away. The drum still beats well after the game is over. I guess he or she wasn't hungry enough to eat after the disappointment. The Swiss almost tie it up at the end, but the header hits the post. It was still a valiant effort, but there is little joy in the tiny confederation.
If the weather improves later, I might take the train to Interlaken. But it isn't looking good ... might try to find my other cousins on the other side of the family who also live here. Wish me luck, little Alice is usually tricky to get a hold of.
Stay safe ... I am ... the only danger I see is getting used to the altered keyboard. Where is the zed key again ??... it is switched with the y key. And where is that question mark key???? Ahh ... Found it again. :o)
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