The Lynnie heads to Florence, I go to the spa

Today I took Lynnie to the Zurich Hauptbahnhof for her send-off to Florence.  I hadn't realized (until she told me) that this was her first major train trip in Europe by herself.  She was a little nervous about the trip, so I'm glad we splurged a little and got her a first class seat.  Even so, the 6-hour trip was less than $200, a real bargain to go from town-center to town-center.  She has to change trains in Bellinzona, Switzerland (about an hour-and-a-half north of Milan), and then in Milan.  She's travelling pretty light, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Sure enough, she called in the late afternoon to tell me it was a very pleasant trip during which she read, slept, and admired the Alpine scenery.  Her old friend Sean, an NYU professor on assignment at NYU's 'La Pietra' campus in Florence, met her at the Florence railway station and whisked her back to his lovely apartment just across the street from the main synagogue in Florence.  The apartment has a view of not only the famous synagogue (immediately below), but also the even more famous Duomo (below that).





Something tells me she's going to have a lot of fun!

Meanwhile, I consoled myself by a trip to the Hurlimann Spa here in Zurich.  What a great place!  Right in the middle of Zurich, just a very pleasant five-minute walk from our house, a cavernous old brick brewery building has been transformed into a Romanesque spa.  It is huge: five big pools, including a stunning 'endless' one on the rooftop with views over all of Florence, and a quiet 'meditation' pool.  Here's some pictures:









On this rainy Sunday, it was no surprise the place was packed, but it is so huge that it wasn't really a problem. In fact, it was perfect for people watching.  All kinds of folks, with lots of families and couples.  You can stay all day if you like, as there nice rest areas and lovely cafe-restaurant with - surprise - reasonable prices on a great-looking array of salads, sandwiches, entrees, desserts and snacks.  Admission is just 32CHF (Swiss Francs), about $35 - not bad for all that all day long. Anyway, I'll certainly be back soon, with Lynnie in tow.

Somehow I managed to tear myself away from the spa so I could visit Marco, his wife Jeannine, and their two kids, Chloe and Eitan, at their beautiful apartment in Zollikon, which overlooks Lake Zurich.  I already told you about Marco, who is a champion swimmer, now running his own swim school here in Zurich.  Jeannine also has an interesting job - running the passenger rail system (SBB) for all of Switzerland!  At dinner, she described the many challenges that the SBB faces - a fascinating story to say the least.