12-17 June 2012
I ensured that the new variant human flu was communicated to everyone on the plane by ensuring that I sneezed liberally as I walked around. A job worth doing is worth doing well. Keiko managed to resist the sickness in Tokyo and during the plane journey, but my persistence was rewarded when the next morning in Zurich she too gets sick. The stage is set for our European tour.
The hotel in Zurich is a testament to the accuracy of customer reviews. It was unfortunate that we didn’t pay attention when we booked it. The hotel was indeed in the middle of the red light district, surrounded by street walkers, had a bar instead of a hotel lobby, and catered to the local professional trade with both rooms and showers. But it didn’t really matter because in the end it was convenient and surprisingly comfortable.
We need to pick up the car in Geneva at the end of the week and return to Zurich to collect Keiko’s parents, so we spend our time down the Geneva end of the country. A couple of days in Lucens, a small village in the hills of the Swiss Jura, and then walking around the vineyards of Lake Geneva was pleasant with a bit of cycling, a lot of walking and much sneezing. This time was intended to see us healthy again, but I think it just gave the cold more time to settle in.
On Saturday morning we set off for Geneva airport to find the French side so that we can pick up the car. The french side turns out to be a 200 square metre pocket out the side of the airport with a long chain-link lined road reminiscient of a jail yard that joins it to France itself. We pick up the car without a problem, and despite a bit of hassle with putting fuel in it, programming the GPS and otherwise operating the damn thing, manage to get back to Switzerland for a night of camping in the Jura before driving back to Zurich.
Photo album
2012-06 Europe Week 1 (90 photos)
Image may be NSFW.
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