Uncategorized – Page 5 – An Idiot Broad Abroad

Day 25: Luxembourg to Esch-sur-Sûre

Sûre I know where I am.

Actually, there was a moment today when I walked into a gas station and couldn’t remember where I was and what language to attempt to poorly communicate in.

Anyway, the map tells me I am in Esch-sur-Sûre, Luxembourg. Here is how I made it:

The dawn broke as it always does and I was to live another day. The first day of the rest of my life. What excitement!

Breakfast at my hotel in Luxembourg was lux. Stolen sandwiches, check. Packed and on the road before 10 am, check. Complete and utter breakdown when I realize my pannier rack was detached on one side, check and check.

I was already planning to head to the bike shop for 10 am when it opened. The issue now was getting there with a bum rack. I didn’t have far to go – maybe 2 km – so I tried to gingerly attach the panniers and ride. I didn’t get too far before I couldn’t handle the sound of metal on metal, pannier rack on chain ring.

I stopped and took the pannier off the affected side. First, I tried resting the pannier on top of the rack, knowing it wouldn’t work, but just to give it a whirl. Obviously, it fell off immediately.

Next, I tried slinging the bag over my shoulder like a purse. This ended perilously. The bag slung from it’s resting place on my back into the path of my pedalling right knee and I had to stop, try not to fall, and reassess.

I would have to sling the bag across my body like a messenger bag and secure it tightly. This led to slightly choking myself the remainder of the ride. I didn’t think it would be much of an issue, but as I was nearing the shop it really wasn’t pleasant to be mildly strangled – surprising as I have heard otherwise from some…

Anyways, that was the point when I went through a slow-motion fall on the side walk next to a busy road. The pannier that was still attached flew off going over a bump, I slowed to a stop, the pannier over my shoulder swung abruptly and the bike was going down, down, down – but it all happened in slow motion and was extremely awkward. The stopped traffic watching this all happen must have been entertained.

I walked the remaining 200 m to the shop and talked to an employee. And by talk, I mean gesticulate wildly and try to communicate the issue. He understood well enough and readied to insert a new bolt into the problematic hole. However, he enlightened me to the fact that the previous bolt was actually still inside the frame, but the head had been sheared off and what remained was stuck. No way to get it out. Now there was a mild panic. Surface level, I remained somewhat calm.

He suggested putting a different rack on that didn’t connect with the frame in the same place. That wouldn’t work because it could only support 20 lbs. My panniers, full of god knows what, are way heavier. Next, he brought out some zap straps. He seemed to be seriously considering how to attach them and then managed to say, the problem is, they are a bit flimsy – yea dude! Oh well, he was trying.

I thought maybe if I could take it to a hardware store they could use some power tools to get the bolt out. I told him and he suggested a different bike shop that was closer that might have the expertise. Phew. I asked if I could leave my bags there and rode over to the other store.

Luckily, the guy working at bike shop number two seemed to think he could either handle it or provide a different solution. Only issue – it wouldn’t be done until the end of the day. No matter, as long as the bike got sorted. I left it there and walked back to the first shop where my bags were.

I asked if they didn’t mind if I left my panniers there for the day because I didn’t want to schlep them around with me all afternoon. No problem! I was mildly questioning my trust in random shopkeepers, but at that point I didn’t really care anymore.

I took the bus, still wearing – and sweating in considerably – my full spandex cycling get-up, to the city centre. The only silver lining of the day is that I could go to the National History and Art Museum, which was closed yesterday. It was an overwhelming display. I had to take a lunch break halfway through my visit. And it was free for students! Yes, I am definitely milking my nearly expired student card. Thanks, UBC!

After the museum, the thought occurred to me that if my bike was ready in the late afternoon I could take the train most of the way to my destination. It had been a long and trying day already and I didn’t know if I could handle a big ride into the evening hours.

So, I went to the central station and asked about taking the train in Luxembourg with a bike. No reservations, no extra charge – great! Only issue – no trains, at all, going in my direction for the next two to three days. Temporarily replaced by bus. Hmm – okay, can I take my bike on the bus? Yes. Great! But only if there is space. Hmm, again. I left and made my way back to bike shop number one pondering my options.

I picked up my panniers and then took the bus to bike shop number two. I hadn’t received a call from the guy at the shop yet, but I also had literally nothing else to do, so I alternated between sitting in the entry area and loitering around the store. I received a phone call from him at about 4:45 pm telling me the bike was fixed and that he would see me soon! He had no idea how soon.

I dawdled a little and used their bathroom before heading over to the service area approximately four minutes later. I was super close when you called, I said. Anyways, the bike was fixed! After some lost in translation dealings over tire pressure and my lock, I was on my way. I don’t know what happened with my lock today but I must have left it somewhere, so I had to buy a new one. Cool.

I decided to give the bus a shot and rode my mended bike, beautifully, to the main station. I got on a bus within 5 minutes and the bus employees were handing out bottles of water because of the heat.

The bus ride was pretty brutal due to rush hour traffic, but we made it eventually to Ettelbruck. The ride from there to my final destination was 18 km and 1 hour and 24 minutes according to Google maps. The terrain looked rather hilly. It was. Joy.

I won’t go into vivid detail about it, but I really was not surprised that the remaining ride would be hellish after the day I had.

When I reached Esch-sur-Sûre there was one final climb up to my hotel. The surroundings were glorious though. The town is deep inside a small green pocket of dense forest with a river encircling it. I arrived near 8 pm when the sun was casting a soft evening glow.

The hotel is called Gourmet and Relax Hotel… so I thought this was it, I would finally be able to relax after a hectic day. Little did I know I was walking into a modern day Fawlty Towers. The evening has been too comical to even be properly angry about.

The matron who checked me in was beside herself because it was clearly the evening dinner rush. She did her best to kindly check me in, while curtly ordering around the bellboy. He appeared to have no idea where my room actually was when he was trying to lead me to it. Once we had doubled back once or twice he found the correct hall and proceeded to try to unlock the door to room 1. I was staying in room 2.

Next, dinner: Since it was already quite late and a town this small surely didn’t have many options, I opted to dine at the hotel. Further Fawlty Towers moments ensued.

The bellboy made a reappearance during this scene in his main role as bread basket deliverer. There were only two waiters plus him and there was a clear hierarchy. The top dog took the orders and then relayed table setting and delivery instructions to the middle man. The middle man then pointed out to bellboy where to take bread. The whole operation was utterly inefficient and hilarious. I was so hungry it was almost hard to appreciate, but nonetheless amazing.

The icing on the cake is that I need to vacate my room by 8:30 tomorrow morning or I will be charged for tomorrow night as well. I guess I should set my alarm for 4 am to make sure I am through the breakfast service in time for check-out and to hit the road – direction: St. Vith, Belgium!

COTD: Cow of the day

Day 24: Luxuriating in Luxembourg

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Rest day in Luxembourg will best be told via the art of photo. Also, I have so much to say from today I really want to just get to that.

Highlights of the day included: visiting the art museum, eating an ice cream cone, and finishing my book. Yes – I am an 85 year old man.

View from corniche down to the old city.

Modern and Contemporary Art Museum. I was lucky it was open on a Monday.

Day 23: Saarlouis to Luxembourg

Leaving Saarlouis early on a Sunday morning was calm and peaceful in comparison to the sights and sounds of the previous evening’s nightlife – particularly when I was trying to sleep at 10 pm. It was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day and I set out with an exhale of relief.

I made my way to the Saar again and spent the first little while meandering along the riverside trail. Lots of cyclists and picnic goers were out enjoying the Sunday heat.

I knew that today’s ride promised a few hills and I tried to mentally prepare myself. However, all the mental fitness in the world never compares to the real thing. At one point, I was going up what I truly believe to be the steepest hill I ever have climbed via bike. The GPS said that it was 14.8%. Luckily no traffic on this one – mostly – because I was weaving back and forth simply to prevent myself from stopping and falling over.

But at the top of these climbs I was rewarded with great views, the coolest of which was the vast rolling fields and farmland with wind turbines. When I was riding right next to one I could hear and feel the force of the turning blades and no longer wondered how they can interrupt bird migratory patterns. It was like riding next to a jet engine.

I had another big climb and descent coming into Schengen – the first stop in Luxembourg. By the river Moselle there was a food festival taking place. Naturally, I had to stop and take a look around. I didn’t end up buying anything because it was early for lunch and I have also grown concerningly accustomed to my stolen hotel meat and cheese sammies.

For a while I dallied along the bike path beside the Moselle enjoying the sun and the breeze. Shortly after, I cursed the breeze which had turned into full force wind in the opposing direction. To make things worse, I had turned off the riverside road and was back in the hills.

I saw some cows and, of course, waved at them. I enjoy it when their ears twitch at that moment as if they are waving back, but really they are trying to get flies off their face. I saw people standing on their doorstep clearly waving to their friends but I waved at them too, thinking – for some reason – they were also waving at me. I don’t know how they felt about that.

I was running pretty low on water and kept finding reasons not to stop and get some. Mostly, there were just no places to stop. When I was about 7 km away from Luxembourg city I stopped at a gas station and refilled. Unfortunately, this did not deter a later dehydration headache.

I am staying in the centre of the city and walked to see a philharmonic band performance in the Place d’Armes that is part of the Summer concert series. Later in the evening I went out for dinner and waited the longest I ever have between ordering and receiving my food. Luckily, I wasn’t too hungry otherwise they would have had problems.

Luxembourg is glamorous, interesting geographically, and busy with tourists. To access the old city you have to descend a good 100 metres to cross a river and then ascend again. Because of this they have some very grand and expansive bridges.

I wasn’t rushed to do too much in the evening because I had the next day free in Luxembourg as well!

DOTD

Dog of the day spotted and touched in the Schengen food fest!

Day 22: Bitche to Saarlouis

Bye Bitche!

I am sweating quite profusely as I write this post. It was a rather hot day as I toed the French – German border, and the evening in Saarlouis is offering little respite. Not to mention my room is basically a sweat lodge with no air conditioning.

Anyways, about the ride and such.

Since I am somewhat out of the way of any Eurovelo bike routes at the moment, I made a strategic move this morning to follow the Google maps suggestion for DRIVING. No more of the unreliable, indirect, and questionable cycling paths today. I didn’t have the patience for it. The roads were generally fine and I didn’t have any crusty gravel roads running through axe murderer infested forests.

The most strenuous part of the day was a massive and lengthy climb out of Bitche. Really, should I have expected anything less? A real pain in the ass getting there and leaving – Bitche, indeed. Okay – I swear that’s the last you will hear of the Bitche puns.

Once I reached Sarreguemines, where I stopped for coffee, I switched onto the bike path along the river. This had a similar aesthetic to the Eurovelo 15 and 5 routes along canals, except I was riding beside the Saar River. On one side France and on the other Germany!

As I was nearing and later leaving Saarbrücken, I was keeping my eyes peeled for an inviting bench for my lunch break. I kept vetoing the possibilities at hand in hopes for something more picturesque. When I finally realized that I had passed through the main town area I opted to simply stop and sit on the ledge of the river embankment. Well, I guess the view was nice at least.

I arrived in Saarlouis relatively unscathed and found my hotel. Immediately, it was apparent that the town was at least more populated than Bitche. There are plenty of restaurants and bars with outdoor tables and people spilling out to enjoy the afternoon sun. There also appeared to be some shopping.

After settling in I headed out to see what Saarlouis had to offer. I found that there wasn’t much else than initially caught my eye.

One of Saarlouis’ greatest treasures: Big Parking lot

Later, when I was heading to get some dinner, I realized I had missed a nicer section of the town where the 17th century fortress was, and the where the Alte Saar (some body of water) flows through town. There was a cool beer garden on the island in the middle of it and a band warming up for a concert on the other side.

Beer garden in there… was closed though.

When I picked a place to dine I spoke to the host and he said that there was only space inside. I looked around noting that about half the outdoor tables were free. “Really?” I said. “The rest are all reserved,” was his reply. Yea, okay sure.

No matter. I walked two restaurants over and stared daggers at the previous establishment’s host while I sat there. I honestly don’t know if they were all reserved or if they just prefer to keep outside tables free for larger groups. Either way, I gladly took my business elsewhere. Then I had schnitzel.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to riding to Luxembourg! I have planned to stay two nights there so Monday will be a rest day. Yay!

DOTD

Today it was a tie!

Simply could not resist the Junk in the Trunk on this boy!

Day 21: Bitche Please

84.4 km +865 m / -722 m
Check out my ride here

Strasbourg to Bitche.

Yaaas Bitche.

The Bitche puns just won’t stop.

I will admit I purposely selected to stay in Bitche because I have the sense of humour of a 13 year old boy. However, glancing through some Wikipedia history over dinner I find it is actually a historically interesting place.

But first: finding my way to Bitche.

I followed Eurovelo 5, along the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, for the first 20 or 30 km of the ride. Like yesterday, it was nicely paved and a scenic ride.

I was actually somewhat excited to get off the straight, flat monotony of the canal side ride after reaching Wilwisheim where I had a lunch of stolen hotel sandwiches (oh, they’re back baby!).

Shortly after, I was wishing I could be back on flat terrain. My body has clearly become accustomed to 0% grade and it was a shock to have to ride uphill. The majority really wasn’t terrible, mostly ups and downs going through small towns.

At a certain point, I followed what Google Maps showed as the most direct route, which ended up being an isolated forest road with some serious slopes. The downhill was very fun, though.

It was kind of creepy because the sky was dark and threatening to rain, and I was in the middle of the woods and hadn’t seen any sign of life in a while (except for the fact that the road was paved, so clearly some human had to have done that at some point). The climbing was intensified with my effort to get out of the forest as quickly as I could – who knows what sort of French axe murderers and cougars were lying just out of sight.

Once I emerged into civilization again, I decided to take a slight detour to stay on more populated roads. I felt more comfortable until I looked at my GPS showing that I had 12 km remaining to Bitche, and an estimated time of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Normally, this distance would only take about 30 to 35 minutes… So yea, getting to Bitche was a real bitch.

Fear not, I emerged through a cloud of profanity and near tears a stronger and resilient bitch.

Bitche, itself: Visually picturesque with a massive Citadel towering over the town, beautiful old church, and the potential to be quaint. Unfortunately, this is not the feel it gives off – much like a physically attractive woman veiling her inner bitch. It seems to be a hub for young hooligans to roam around, play loud obnoxious music, and vape. Charming.

I walked up to the Citadel and around it’s perimeter. It was built about 3 centuries ago, adding upon a previously existing castle. It served as a fortress during the siege of Bitche in 1870. It is also part of the Maginot Line. It was largely impenetrable because it was built into the sandstone rock.

Below the Citadel, there is a cute area called the Jardin pour la Paix (Garden of Peace), which is the perfectly manicured and dolled up face of Bitche. I strolled through, bought a drink, and read my book. The loud mouth French elders sitting near me, the screaming children, and the bellowing sheep on the slope made it somewhat less peaceful than hoped.

Dinner options were few. Either an exorbitantly overpriced meal at the hotel or a pizza pie at one of the three or four pizza pie places in town. I opted for pizza pie. It was pretty good, mostly because I was very hungry after today’s hike.

So, like most run-ins with a bitch, I was first enticed by its appearance, but after getting to know it I am left somewhat underwhelmed by its inner character.

Tomorrow I am off to Germany – Saarlouis to be precise!

SOTD (Sheep of the Day)

Kind of weird to see a sheep with a long tail.

Sheeps on a hill. What is the plural for sheep? Ships?

The woman working inside saw me taking a picture so I felt obligated to go inside and purchase chocolate after.

Day 20: Colmar to Strasbourg

I slept in a little and had a petit dejeuner in Colmar before heading out (because my apartment did not include breakfast). I had to search quite a bit to find an adequate breakfast spot, which was surprising. I thought the French were famous for pastries for god sake?!

Today’s ride was glorious. I was riding next to a canal for about 98% of the time. Mostly on the Eurovelo route 15 again. This follows the Canal du Rhône au Rhin, which I just learned (when Googling how to spell it) is one of the most important watershed canals of the French waterways, connecting the Rhine to the Saône and the Rhône and thereby the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Most of the route was dedicated and paved bike path! Lovely.

There were plenty of other cyclists on the route. My face was pressed into a permanent smile – both from enjoyment of the route and smiling and nodding at other cyclists!

The only, slight, downside with the canal side ride is that it didn’t pass through any towns. I didn’t have any lunch packed so I had to try my luck going into a nearby town slightly out of the way. A quick phone check showed that there was a restaurant about 11 km away from where I was and, miraculously, it said it was open. The time was nearing 2 pm which is basically the cut off time for feeding in France. If you don’t find yourself near a restaurant between 12 and 2 pm, you will likely go without food until they reopen for dinner around 7.

I was legging it to the town with the restaurant and, surprise surprise, when I arrive it is “closed.” I say this with quotes because there were locals sitting in the outdoor area drinking beers when I got there, but a server came out and explained that they were indeed closed – even though it was a full half hour before their website said they closed at 2 pm.

Ah well, luckily I had noticed a patisserie not far back. I made my way there and then tried to decipher the sandwich options. The woman working there was kind enough to explain to me what each and every sandwich contained. When she had trouble translating, she was so helpful as to actually open each sandwich wrapping, open the sandwich itself, and then poke through the ingredients with her fingers. Exceptional customer service, if a might concerning in terms of hygiene in a food dispensing business. After her explanations I felt I had about the same level of knowledge of what was in the sandwiches as before, so I just picked one at random. It was good.

Finally, I made it to Strasbourg and to my hotel. This hotel is run by a company called “Happy People.” I was a little concerned when I recieved their welcome email yesterday:

“We are happy and impatient to welcome you to this hybrid place where a unifying spirit reigns for the great tribes, the travellers but also the residents”

I considered cancelling but I had already paid a non-refundable deposit. When I arrived I was pleased to find it was actually quite normal and comfortable. However, there was an issue of where to store my bike overnight and the hotel deskman was anything but happy to make the exceptional allowance to keep my bike inside the hotel. I guess he forgot to drink his happy Kool-aid this morning.

I stashed my stuff, showered, and then hit the town. I visited the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. I did a little meander through the important sights in town. The Cathedral is highly ornate and stunning. I bought a chocolate milk. It was a nice afternoon.

Rodin (but not the original, at least I don’t THINK so)

This evening I will try to find something for dinner other than bread, cheese, and meat (which all I have been eating for what seems like two weeks straight) and I believe there is a free musical concert in the main square.

I am very excited to report that tomorrow I will be riding to a place called Bitche.

DOTD

Day 19: Basel to Colmar

I wish I had a better excuse for missing yesterday’s post, but unfortunately it just comes down to admission of laziness. I was pretty tired after the 100+ km ride to Basel the day before and then simply couldn’t bring myself to ‘brain’ last night once I arrived in Colmar.

France / Germany / Switzerland triple point!

I left Basel around 9 am and found my way easily enough to the Eurovelo route 15 (The Rhine Cycle Route). Most of the route was nicely paved, with an unoffencive gravel path along the canal. I am no longer having issues with my panniers flying off my bike at every slight bump! The secret: industrial garden hose tape. I purchased some sort of waterproof tape in Marseille and fixed it to the rear rack. Now the panniers fit perfectly! In fact, it is becoming a bit of an issue trying to get the things on now because it is such a good fit.

A cool moment of the day was when I passed over a bridge that marked the triple point between the borders of France, Germany, and Switzerland. I honestly wasn’t even sure which country I was in on the other side of the bridge. It wasn’t until I stopped to use a bathroom a little further along and heard the woman say, “bonjour” to me – okay, I am in France!

It was a minor travesty not to have a croissant with breakfast as I have become so accustomed to. How dare the hostel serve thirteen different bread varietals but no croissants? To make up for this I had a Swiss roll (pastry thing with chocolate chips and flan) when I stopped in Hombourg. It was delicious.

Most of the ride was weaving in and out of small French villages and admiring the old churches. I really liked one – somewhere I can’t remember – that was bright yellow. It was a pretty warm day and there were plenty of massive flying creatures to dodge. One almost entered my ear.

The final 15 km or so was along the road, which was fine. In some places there was a large shoulder – others, not so much. Generally the drivers here are pretty respectful. I arrived in Colmar around 2 pm and was shown into the apartment I was staying in. It was gorgeous! I put on the Tour de France and didn’t leave the horizontal position in my room for quite a while.

I ventured out with plans to do a self-guided walking tour only to find that I had left the guide map in my room. Luckily, Colmar is small and I just wandered aimlessly with nearly the same effect. As soon as I stepped outside I felt like I was on fire. It was bloody hot out. A block or two later I saw a sign telling me it was 30 degrees – at about 6 pm.

I tasted some local crémant d’Alsace at a cute wine tasting market. I wandered a little more and pondered further sustenance. I couldn’t really get my mind off the cool comfort of my apartment room so I ended up buying a few things at the supermarket and dining in.

I spent the evening lounging and neglecting my blog. Tomorrow’s ride was to take me to Strasbourg.

DOTD

Many dogs today!

The girl knew I was leering at her dogs…

Day 18: Zürich to Basel

With the alarm set for 7 am, it was no surprise that I stayed in bed snoozing until 8 am. Still, an 8 am wakeup and 9:30 departure isn’t too bad for my first day back on the bike in a week. I set off from Jackson’s place in Zürich with a long ride ahead of me to Basel.

I honestly didn’t have too much of a plan for the ride today. I had consulted with Jackson, checked out the Eurovelo routes, and also downloaded the Swiss Mobility App. It was already looking like the journey was going to be over 90 km if I took a direct line to Basel. I had to decide how far I wanted to tangent off course to make my way to the Rhine. I played it by ear as I went and aimed mainly northwest following the Swiss national and regional cycling routes. Their routes are well signed and I felt that I would have to try very hard to get lost.

The first issue of the day become imminent quite quickly. The first time I went to brake, my bike emitted the sound of a robot giving birth. It was an unbelievably high pitched metallic scream. I realized there was some rusty build up on my rear disc break from the beer spill and subsequent wash I had given it a few days earlier. I admit – I forgot to dry off the disc brake before leaving it in Jackson’s bike storage room for three days (I can picture the cringe on my father’s face).

The screeching carried on for about 5 to 10 km whenever I had a hard brake. I tried to favour the front brake to avoid scaring anyone I was coming up behind from soiling their pants. Then I got a bit worried if I had to keep doing this for 100 km I would do something very bad to the front brake. In the end, I was glad that the noise subsided.

It was a little challenging for me to navigate out of Zürich and get heading on the right bike path toward Basel. I found myself on the Swiss Mobility route 5, which included nicely paved smaller side roads. Later I was on route 56 and then route 2 (also Eurovelo route 6).

I stopped for coffee around 35 km into the ride in Baden. I had another wee break in Brugg, which was not far from Baden. I decided the next break milestone would be a town called Frick. I kept muttering to myself, “where the frick is Frick?!”

I don’t know why but I expected the ride to be flatter than it was. I am in Switzerland, the land of the Alps, after all. But it was still a bit of a shock when I would come to an abrupt, and violently steep, ascent. They never appeared to be as bad as they really were. I don’t know how steep they were, but I don’t think the Swiss followed any sort of reasonable transportation design guidelines when they decided that human beings could ride up these slopes. I saw a lot of electric bikes ridden by locals…

When I left Frick and made my way toward the Rhine I found most of the ride was on gravel path. It was fine, but my back tire was looking a little low and I felt a bit of a weight pulling at me. I figured it would be okay, but prepared myself mentally for the worst. Thinking through this, I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen my hand pump.

When I arrived at a cute little German style Swiss town called Rheinfelden I saw a bike shop and thanked my lucky stars. I went in and had my tires checked / filled. Even better was when I spotted the definite dog of the day outside the shop. See below!

The portion of the ride along the Rhine today was really neat because it was right along the border between Switzerland and Germany. In a couple of areas it would have been easy enough to cross a bridge or swim across and I’d be there! Gotta love that about Europe. Everything is so close compared to Canada!

Finally, I arrived in Basel and had a beer close to my hostel and a riverside bar. People there were sun tanning and swimming as well. It was a hot day.

After I checked into my hostel and took a shower I wandered around the small but beautiful city of Basel. There are many museums and galleries I would have been interested in, however, because of my late arrival nothing was really open. I saw the Basler Münster (some old church), the Rathaus (actually not a house for rats as I had assumed), and many a water fountain.

People flocked to the Rhine tonight because of the fab weather. I noticed people floating down the river with water proof / buoyant (?) bags strapped to themselves. It looked very refreshing and fun! Once the float down the Rhine was done there was plenty of space to have a picnic by the water and people watch. Many people brought food and drink, but there were also a few bars and restaurants along the way where one could purchase such things. I bought a beer and ate my leftover sandwich for dinner. No complaints!

I wandered home in a sun dazed trance and simply admired the architecture and the way the sun was reflecting off various surfaces and casting shadows on others. It is indeed a nice feeling not to have to think about much else.

Tomorrow the hostel begins serving breakfast at 6 am… motivation to get up early and get going before it is too hot? Hmm – not sure. Either way, I will head up the Rhine and then slightly west toward my destination of Colmar, France, tomorrow – about 60 km away I think.

DOTD

Switzerland is awesome because you can drink out of any of the water fountains – they spew potable water!

Also, dogs sometimes find themselves inside of them.

Day 17: Zürich

Today was a rather relaxed day spent touring around more of Zürich, partially with Jackson until he had to leave for his evening work shift and partly solo.

In the morning we had a bit of sleep in, which was heavenly. We took the tram and then a bus about 30 minutes to get to the ETH campus that Jackson studies at. It was impeccably clean, modern, and well appointed with all things nerd. It had many cafes and student bars too – though, things weren’t very busy because it is the middle of final exam study period now.

Einstein was a student at ETH. Second smartest they have ever had, next to Jackson.

Also, ETH Physics. It was a cool building!

We had a coffee at Jackson’s fave spot and then headed downtown. Mission: find a watch. This couldn’t possibly be too hard in Switzerland. I forgot to regale readers with the story of my shattered apple watch in a previous post. Really, the story is simple and tragic. I plugged my iWatch in to charge on a high ledge and, without proper placement, it fell off said ledge and the screen shattered into a million little pieces. This happened when I arrived at the camping place in France the day after my tire went flat… yea.

Anyways, I am quite sure I have Apple Care for the watch, but until I can take it into an Apple store to get it fixed I have been completely lost without a watch. I feel naked when I don’t wear one. Jackson and I successfully found me a Swatch watch that was reasonably priced, Swiss, and real pretty!

Ass Bar was our next stop (you may remember this from yesterday’s post). This is actually a very cool place as far as bars for ass go, as it collects unused food (i.e. food that isn’t sold) from other cafes and restaurants and sells it at reasonable prices in an effort to eliminate food waste. We took our Ass bar sandwiches and ate them by the river.

Once we made our way home, Jackson had to ready himself to head out for his job on the railroad and I just wanted to be comatose on his couch for a bit.

A late afternoon surge of energy (via Swiss chocolate washed down with chocolate milk) led me downtown to purchase more fine chocolate as a thank you gift for Jackson (and to replace most of his that I had eaten). I walked a few kilometres to the Industrial quarter, which is the trendy, hipster area in West Zürich. I found a really cool beer / cocktail garden with shops, bars, restaurants and outdoor seating. I sat and had a drink.

I didn’t have to walk far to find a great Italian restaurant for dinner, Rosso. I had the beef ragu rigatoni and a glass of chianti in the understated ex-warehouse now converted into the Rosso restaurant.

I made my way back to Jackson’s house and have prepped for finally getting back on the bike tomorrow – I will ride to Basel in the Northwest of Switzerland. I am really excited and, again, my Swiss chocolate laden body surely needs to get back in the saddle.

DOTD

No real live floofers were pet today. How sad.

Day 16: I think I am Swiss now

Today was a quintessentially Swiss day.

Jackson and I rose at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am to milk the cows and then collect the freshly laid eggs.

Wait, none of that happened. Well, we did get up at 5:30. That happened. Against all bodily protests.

An early start to take a train, another train, and a bus to the bottom of a valley called Euthal. Jackson, two friends of his, and I hiked for a couple of hours through varying terrain into the Swiss alps reaching our summit at Chli Aubrig (around 1,600 meters elevation). We started at about 800 m so it’s not as impressive as it sounds. At the summit we had some baguette, cheese, and – of course – Swiss chocolate.

The hiking scenery was idyllic. We passed cows, goats, sheep, humans, aliens, and dogs! We passed barns and houses and people having picnics. The grassy slopes were smooth and rolling, appearing as if a large green felt mat had been layered over the land.

Not as much luck with donkey whispering.

The descent was nearly harder that the ascent, being tough on the knees in steep areas. Sometimes the pace would pick up and before you knew it you were running down the hill arms flailing and hoping not to fall and turn it into a roll down. Eventually we reached the bottom and waited for our bus. Then a nap on the train.

In the late afternoon Jackson took me for a tour around the historic city centre. It was a warm, sunny afternoon but toward dinner time storm clouds started rolling in and it threatened to rain.

A dam at the end of the hike opposite Waggitalersee (a lake).

To finish out the typical Swiss day we had Raclette for dinner. For those deprived souls who are not yet acquainted with this food, I highly recommend it. It is essentially a large wedge of cheese that sits above a heater while slices are shaved off in big, melty chunks. Your plate arrives with a perfectly crisped and melted cheese glob and then you use various items – potatoes, pickles, mini pickled onions, etc – as vehicles to shovel the cheese into your mouth. Best of all, this place was an all-you-can-eat Raclette restaurant. I won’t say how many rounds we had.

After dinner we walked off a bit of the cheese sweats by taking the longer route to a tram station near the ETH Zürich downtown campus. ETH is where Jackson will be starting his Masters in the Fall, however Civil Engineering is at a different campus than the one we saw tonight.

We ended up running for the tram as it had started raining and we saw it pulling into the station nearby. Not a good idea after a massive Raclette session.

The tram was having trouble chugging up the hill. Jackson thinks this was because of a worn flat spot on the wheel in combo with the rain. I happen to think it was because our post Raclette consumption bods were weighing down the back of the tram.

Either way, we made it home and I am ready for some Swiss beauty sleep.

Hoping tomorrow the Ass Bar will be open for business.

DOTD

Apparently Winston has been reincarnated as an exact replica of himself and lives in Zürich. Very cute cavy!