Last luggage carrying

After a pretty ordinary banana and chocolate yoghurt for breakfast (sometimes cheapest is not best), we strolled to the train and with Swiss precision we were at the airport. Everything ran smoothly. Staff were all super helpful. 

Nanna was placed in a wheelchair and I was the designated driver. Her first wine was on the plane for morning tea. 

The wheelchair gets you everywhere faster, first on the plane. She kept wanting to get out but the perks were too good.

12 hours to Singapore and we are  in the the wheelchair lounge waiting for our next flight. 

Stay tuned for Vietnam and Cambodia next year.

Oh, thanks for asking. Apart from a coughing fit on the plane, I think that I'm 99% over the sickness that started on 5 July. Just in time to go back to work. 

Lucky last

I'm quite getting into cheese and sandwich meat at breakfast. Maybe the Europeans have come up with something. There was also cucumber and mini tomatoes. It's like having lunch, only earlier in the day.

We made our way to the station. I put on my walking setting on the Garmin. I knew it. 803m, and not the 800 that Google maps claimed. 

It was only a 40 minute train trip, and once more, luggage storage was a thrill.

On arrival we walked to the hotel, dropped bags and took Nanna on one last walking tour. 

It's Europe, specifically Zurich, so pictures of stone buildings with stained glass designed by someone who is famous were taken. NOTE Oops, not so famous. We were at the wrong church.

Aldi was our lunch stop. No name labelled Cola for 0.39 francs is a bargain compared to 3.50 every where for the real stuff.

2pm was a 10 minute police station trip to see murals, including what I believe was Ringo Starr.

After lunch, we got a DVD (Emma) from the hotel for Nanna to watch while we went to find the actual church we were looking for (5 francs entry, so I gave it a miss).

Dinner and tomorrow's breakfast were purchased from a supermarket, Annette went to a museum at 6pm only to find it isn't cheaper after 6pm so bailed.

That's about it. Maybe I will get a last post done in Singapore. If not, hope you enjoyed the blog.

Time is on my side

Breakfast was good. The walk to the bus was good. The walk up to the gondola brought back memories of Rome. Gondola was good. Next gondola also good. Trip down in cog wheel car thingy good. Boat ride good. 

The only negative was the giant cloud/fog that covered the mountain all day. There was a brief 2 minutes when there was some visibility.

But we walked up some steps, sang Edelweiss in our heads, like everyone else,

and had a stress free day, unless you count the scream of Nanna as the gondola started.

Lots of scenery. Lots of cows with bells.

An all Aldi lunch to save our dwindling Francs was followed by a walk around town, including a Church visit.

I got myself a new beanie and more bottles of chilli to add to the collection. 

Note. This just happened. Annette searched everywhere in her bag for the shorts she would wear tomorrow. I said "Are you wearing them?" She was.

We had an Aldi dinner as well. If you come to Switzerland, this is how you save money.

And now ... Every second shop in Lucerne sells watches. All the big brands are here. All of the transport we have caught has been precisely on time. So why the need to have all the church bells ringing every 15 minutes?

Only 2 days to go. Is there any point in returning to work? Perhaps I ponder that on the flight home.

Do yourself a favour 2

My biggest worry with the Bernina Express train was that we wouldn't fit our luggage on board. When I say luggage, I really mean my own personal training weights that I have been throwing on and off trains the last few days. My stupid watch only credited with 6,000 steps yesterday as it's not possible to swing forearms when pushing a second suitcase.

Anyway, the luggage fitted and we sat ourselves in our "big viewing windows" for a 4 hour trip through the Swiss Mountains. We were on the recommended left side for optimum viewing. 

There was a 20 minute stop about halfway for the best picture opportunities and to give Nanna some practice at getting back on the train.

At the end, one of the staff members plonked some tea in a tetra pack and Lindt chocolates in a mini train on our table. The perks of upgrading.

Of course, with the end of every rail journey comes another rail journey. At least the station at Chur was civilised and ready to navigate. For the last time today, the luggage was unloaded and we were in Lucerne in a bit over an hour.

Google maps said it was an 800m walk to our hotel. Google maps is stupid. But we walked it, found the hotel, left Nanna collapsed on her bed and explored a bit.

At around 4pm, I got a chicken roll for a very late lunch. The 2 ship biscuits and chocolate muffin from the previous day at the bottom of my bag had sustained me until then.

At 6:50pm we decided to go to Aldi to buy dinner. We had scouted earlier in the day. We forgot to scout the closing time - 7pm. Doh. We walked out of the hotel, walked 20 steps, caught the escalator to a Chinese restaurant and paid 49 Swiss francs for 2 mains, a rice, and a drink. That's about Aud $90. Did I mention how expensive Switzerland is?

Back to the room. Not as hot as last night and actually got some sleep.