Weekly News

We have finally found a flat!! It’s in Wandsworth, not far from the river and overlooking Wandsworth Park. We move in June which is very exciting!

Next Month (May) Lucy starts her new job at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London (the arch rival enemy of UCL where she currently works and previously studied – lets just say the move has not gone down so well with her present colleagues).

We have been very active lately going for regular bike rides – both during the week and at weekends. Our favourite place to ride at the moment is no longer along the river to Barnes but in Richmond Park. Last Sunday we cycled up some very steep hills (well I cycled, Lucy walked!). Of course, the best bit was then going now the equally steep hills (I bombed it down, while Lucy followed at a much more cautious pace) – Then we ate Ice Cream!

Zurich Overview

Thursday

 After our early start to get to Heathrow with plenty of time to check in and pass security (and as it turned out sleep for a couple hours) we were quite tired by the time we arrived in Zurich. Terry, who had not taken the opportunity at either the airport or during the flight, had a snooze, while I watched TV! Eventually I persuaded him to explore the area where we were staying, which ended up in the purchase of a new ski jacket for me! Having just brought the ski jacket, I then needed an occasion to wear it (summer is coming after all) and so we booked ourselves on a coach trip to Mount Titlis the next day!

Good Friday – Mount Titlis

 Another relatively early start today, as the coach was going to pick us up from our hotel rather than the meeting point so we had to be ready by 8.30 as opposed to 9.30am. You would expect that the earlier start would mean that the pick up point was a good half hour from the hotel, but in practice it was only a few minutes, we just spent the first 40 minutes driving round in circles through Zurich city centre! However, the bonus of being picked up first was that we got the front seats at the top!

Just before we approached Lucerne, where we would stop for a couple hours, we picked up a tour guide who started telling us about how we were only a few minutes from Mount Rigi and once there she would hand out two tickets – one for the cable car up the mountain, from up the top we would then catch a cog wheel train down and then hop on a ferry to Lucerne (the second ticket) where we would meet up with the coach again. Terry and I started to get excited because we hadn’t known that all this stuff was included, then, just as we approached the car park she pointed out that all of the above mentioned activities were only for those on the Mount Rigi trip and thus, not us. At first we were disappointed, but then Terry caught sight of the cable car going up the mountain - which was quite steep, and he turned to me and said “I’m glad we’re not doing that – that looks scary”.  It was then that I realised that Terry hadn’t fully grasped what it was we were going to be doing today. You see the peak of Mount Titlis – where we were headed - is 10,000 feet high, and although the coach would be taking us the first 2,500 feet, the remaining 7,500 feet would be travelled by cable car – well, three cable cars to be exact (the last one being the world’s only rotating cable car that spins to allow you a 360 degree view as it takes you up the mountain!). I decided there and then that the best plan of action for all concerned was to say nothing and pretend I hadn’t heard the comment. This worked very well until we started to climb the first couple of thousand feet up the mountain and the coach driver began to explain the process of catching the first cable car to the second stop, then taking the lift on the right up one floor to catch the second cable car, and then the third…….and then once on the peak their was a chair lift called the ‘sky flyer’ which takes you across the mountain overlooking crevices and waterfalls (which incidentally turned out to be invisible).

 At this point, it suddenly dawned on Terry that perhaps the trip to Mount Rigi wasn’t so scary after all!

Saturday

 After braving the trip to Mount Titlis Terry decided it would be best to stay on Terra Firma today so we headed into the city centre where we wondered around the shops and took a stroll along the lake. Terry got sun burnt.

Easter Sunday

Everything is closed.

Easter Monday

Everything is still closed!

It just goes to highlight the difference in culture when one bank holiday morning your in Zurich where everything that isn’t attached to the main train station and airport is closed and there’s no one about; and then in the afternoon your in Putney, London where everything including the charity shops and estate agents are open and the high street is packed!

Summary

We had a fab time! We took lots of pictures, saw snow, shopped and ate cheese!