A hike through the fog

Today, I took the train north to Sissach (near Basel) to meet up with our great friend Andrea, who recently moved up the Basel area from Zurich, where we met her some years ago. She had planned a hike up a local mountain that, at 750 meters (about 2500 feet) high, was supposed to take us above the fog line, where we could get a wonderful view of the Alps.  We made it to the top, but sadly the fog was not cooperating and all we got at the top was a great view of .... the fog. :-(  However, it was lots of fun anyway, and plenty of 'typical Swiss' local scenery, as you can see below.  Also, I definitely got my exercise, hiking up, down, and around for about five hours.  Andrea, who does this a lot more often than me, kept me going through thick and thin. This helped me to shake off the last of my jetlag, and I'm pretty sure I'll sleep quite soundly tonight. :-)  Thanks again, Andrea!

Other than that, not a lot to report.  Tomorrow (Monday) will be a busy day, as I check into our apartment and meet up again with Philipp and Maxi to start looking in depth at their new software tool.  I also talked with Lynnie tonight, and she's raring to go - I can't wait to meet her at the airport on Tuesday and take her home to our 'new' apartment.  Then the fun will really begin! :-)

Many, many thanks again to Felix, Kathy and their kids for putting me up (or putting up with me!) these last few days.  As eager as I am to be with Lynnie in our own apartment, I'll miss having their whole family around to keep me amused, and the peace and quiet beauty of their wonderful house in Illnau.  Of course, we'll be visiting again very soon, as they will just be about a half-hour away by train.

A very nice way to start this adventure

Well, I already managed to break my own rule about posting something everyday, missing both Thursday and Friday, my first two days in Europe :-(.  Let's just blame it on jetlag, and I'll try to redeem myself today and tomorrow.  In the meantime, here's the short version of the last two days:

Thankfully, I had a very comfortable and uneventful non-stop flight from Philadelphia to Zurich, leaving the evening of Wed, Sep 26 and arriving early the next morning.  After buying my Swiss 'half-fare' railroad card (the holder pays 50% of regular fare), plus an all-paid pass for Zurich city, I headed out to Illnau to stay with Felix and Kathy and their three delightful children. This is great, because I have been able to not only get to hang out and catch up with these wonderful old friends, but also get over jet lag before I take over our apartment in Wiedikon on Monday (Oct 1), and Lynn arrives on Tuesday.

Thursday was mainly about catching up on sleep and spending some time chatting with my gracious hosts.  On Friday, however, I had a temporary surge of energy and decided to take the train to Zurich and check out my new neighborhood.  That area of town has a lot of stuff packed into a relatively small footprint, such that the neighborhoods change every couple of blocks.  There are a lot of different nationalities, and lots of cool ethic restaurants, boutiques, coffee houses, theaters, art galleries, bookstores, second-hand clothing stores.  There is a bit of urban grit, and much of the area, which includes the old Langstrasse red-light district, is now gentrified.  Lynn should have a great time exploring all this.

I also met up with my good friends Phillip and Maxi, who are building some very interesting software tools for business modeling, and work in the same area.  Then I headed towards the lake, and spent some pleasant time around the aptly named Bellevue area, one of my old Zurich haunts.

By comparison, today (Friday) was pretty tame, but quite pleasant.  It was raining, which limited my options, so Felix invited me to join him on a shopping expedition to Konstanz, Germany, about 45 minutes drive away.  This gave up a lot of time to talk, and he got in a month of discount shopping.  He goes there because prices in Germany are quite a bit less than in nearby Switzerland, so he saves a lot stocking up on staples, and also various tools and hardware he needs from time to time.  We mainly discussed American politics, which remains a mystery to most Europeans, even those who, like Felix, have lived in the US and have American family members.

My jetlag is definitely improving, but still kicks in from time to time, including right now.  So, it's off for a late afternoon nap. Ciao until tomorrow.....

Actually got packed with time to spare!

Can't believe I actually finished prepping and packing with an entire half-hour to spare!  It's been a long week getting everything ready in the house, breaking in my new computer, and taking care of endless administrivia - I'm bushed. Now not much left to do but sit back and enjoy the ride :-)  It's gorgeous here today, and rainy and chilly in Zurich - guess you can't have everything.  Be back tomorrow with my first post from Europe.....

Leaving on a jet plane...

"Leaving tomorrow on a jet plane".... to Zurich, Switzerland!  Right now I'm swamped with packing and last minute details, but I need some comic relief, so why not enjoy boring you with my very first entry for this blog.  Yes, this blog is facetiously called "The Fall of Europe 2012", not because I expect anything all that dramatic to happen, but just because we are going in the autumn, and 'Fall of Europe" sounded more exciting the "Fall in Europe" :-)

Anyway, Lynnie and I will be gone about eleven weeks, starting with a month in Switzerland (based in Zurich), a few weeks in Northern Italy, and then pretty much winging it from there, most likely in Southern France. We've done other trips to Europe with a somewhat similar itinerary, but somehow each one turns out quite differently. So, we've put the bulk of our expectations on hold, and we'll just have to see what happens.

First stop after landing in Zurich will be a few days stay with our old friends Felix and Kathy and their three delightful children, all hailing from the historic town of Illnau.  Illnau was relatively important in about 1200AD, but after the railway bypassed it in the late 19th century it went back to being a sleepy village and eventually a bedroom suburb of Zurich.  Here's Illnau a few decades ago:



and here it is just a few years ago:


I'll have lots more to say after I arrive tomorrow!

Ciao for now, and back to packing.....