Switzerland
My travel day has been smooth so far. Canada was nice. I had a delicious double-cheeseburger from True Burger, and met some college students heading to Israel with a Younglife group. Reminiscing about my journey through the Holy Land earlier this year made me want to go back.
I had a window seat, 31A on the flight from Toronto to Zurich. I sat there for all 7 hours. I watched multiple episodes of the Big Bang Theory, taking breaks to raise the window and watch the sun set in the West behind me. It never got completely dark, flying at a high latitude in the summer the days are longer and I had a four and a half-hour sunset which turned into a sunrise in the morning ahead of the plane. Ice crystals formed on the window accompanying water droplets, making for an interesting photograph.
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| Sunset through the icy window- look carefully at the water- does it look like Africa and India to you? |
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| Sunrise over the south coast of Ireland |
Arriving in Zurich the Alps were completely stunning. I want to ski them. They loomed in the distance, shattering the previous notion I had that they were right next to Zurich. We flew over pastoral landscapes, farms, cows, fields, lakes, and forest that I could imagine were full of all kinds of interesting things.
On our approach, we were low enough to the ground that I could see birds. Game on. I ticked two new species: Common Buzzards sitting on the airport signs, and some Rooks foraging in the grass.
Zurich Airport
Walking around the airport in Zurich I have doubts about my bag going through to Nairobi, but the airline said it would, and I don't have enough time here to leave the International terminal (riding an underground train) going through customs/immigration, picking up my bag, re-checking it, and coming back through security, riding the train, and making my flight in an hour. So, I'll take my chances.
Impressions of Zurich:
Language: GERMAN! It's neat to hear so many different languages being spoken, but it seems from my limited knowledge of German (Thanks, Anna and Anne) it is a German/Swiss mix. There's enough words in English on signs for me to understand and find my way around, but hearing everyone speak another language is really cool.
Bathrooms: The water closet for men was through a door way, past the women's WC, up a double staircase, and directly above the bathroom for women. It smelled nice and had flush-less toilets. Innovative. Gift Shop:
The airport gift shop had all sorts of Swiss gifts, ranging from chocolate to girl's dresses to cowbells. When passing the magazine racks I was shocked (and slightly amused) that the XXX magazines were not in back with black covers over them, but prominently on the front of the shelf, for all to ogle.
Smells: The whole airport smells differently than anything I've smelled before. It's a mix of perfumes (duty free shops) baking bread, and a fresh/clean odor.
Looking out the airport window I ticked a Red Kite (a raptor) White Wagtail, domestic-type Rock Pigeons, and a Black Redstart. I had to look the Redstart up in my book since it was completely new to me.
Looking around the boarding area, everthing is picking up! Time to stop writing and fly to Nairobi!
