Did I ever explain my major planning fiasco with this trip? Don’t think so. I’ll try to keep it brief and/ or entertaining. (Tbh will probably shoot more for the entertaining bit haha.)
Basically, my job choice and this trip were very closely tied. When I was offered my job, I was super confused and unsure what to do because I still had another position at a different company that I was wrapping up interviews for. I spent the whole day moping around, which is honestly kind of messed up if you think about it. I should have been happy! Ecstatic! Overjoyed!
This thought hit me at one point when I was sitting on my couch in the dark (super moody, I know), and I thought to myself, What would I be doing right now if I actually just let myself be excited about this job offer and didn’t worry about the other job or the future or… anything else, for that matter?
Uhhh… I’D BE FINALLY PLANNING MY EUROPE TRIP. DUH.
So I began doing just that. I looked at flights. I looked at dates. I looked at places and things to do. Okay, how many cities can I do if I’m there for a whole month? I can leave the day after graduation and get back the day before work. Yes. Yes that would be perfect.
So essentially, I only got truly excited for this job because I started getting excited for this trip. Pretty cray.
That Tuesday, I sent in my acceptance letter, booked my tickets, and spent the next day dealing with my dad being upset about me doing another solo trip. You see, when I was getting ready for last year’s September Adventure, my dad was super worried and, quite frankly, less than pleased. He sat me down at one point and said, ‘Now I know I can’t make you not go on this trip. You’ve already booked the tickets, and you’re going. But from now on, if you ever travel again, I want you to have somebody else with you. I don’t want you travelling alone.’ I agreed. It seemed like a reasonable request at the time.
But around day four of my trip, as I stood on top of a windy church tower in Cambridge, completely alone, I thought to myself, I don’t know. I think I’m gonna have to do another solo trip…..
Suffice it to say, he was not happy when I booked these tickets. However! I didn’t know that literally so many people were planning on being in Europe right at the same time I was. My trip planning started becoming less of, Hmmm, where should I go next? And more, Crap. How am I going to get to Venice on the first to see Rebecca without breaking the bank?
As my plans took shape, my solo time dwindled. A few days before my trip, I got to the point where I had one unplanned week left. I knew I had to start in Naples and end up in Venice, but there was a full week of no-man’s land in between. And I had to make a choice: do I spend this week gallivanting through Italy on my own? Seeing things and eating things and batting my eyes at Italians? (Seriously, though. Italians love me for some reason.) Orrrr do I spend this time flying all over the continent in a very haphazard and pricey way to see the last bits of people I haven’t planned time with yet?
Well. I chose the people. And the price. This explains the night bus from Copenhagen to Amsterdam. And because of flight prices, I planned only one day in Zurich to see Timmy, a friend from the dorms who is a Chemistry God and who is doing research in Zurich for the summer. What a crazy cat.
Luckily, Zurich is relatively small and super walkable. The high-priced museums and attractions also helped motivate an easy schedule. I arrived around ten and met Timmy on his campus at ETH to say hello and get the keys to his apartment. He had to finish up work for the day, so I was left to my own devices for a few hours.
Part of this time was spent marveling his apartment, because WOW. This place was nice.
I made my way into the city and spent an hour or so gawking at meal prices before settling for a to-go buffet-style café in one of the grocery stores. The total was still about ten bucks, but I got some curry, veggies, and dessert, and look at the view I had while I ate it!
After lunch, I decided the best thing to do was to wander, one of my favorite activities. I was not disappointed in the slightest!
All of downtown is centered around this giant canal, which makes for pretty views and lots of criss-crossing over bridges when I saw something interesting on the opposite side.
At some point, a shop worker standing outside his store’s enhance tried to hand me something. I almost said no to the creamy-looking green rectangle, but I figured I had nothing to lose, so I stepped over for it. As I thanked him and began walking away, he called out to me to notify me that it was soap I was holding and that I should not eat it.
I smiled and laughed as though what he said was ridiculous, but to be honest, I had been mere seconds away from devouring that thing. Bahahaha.
He offered to wrap it up for me so it wouldn’t melt, and I knew it was just a trick to get me into the store, like at Lush or Teavana, but my time wasn’t limited, and I figured I could maybe get a free hand massage out of it. (Spoiler: hand massage was 10/10).
After wrapping the soap, he proceeded to give me a one-fingered manicure with some sort of high-tech nail file/ polisher thing. He talked a lot and I nodded a lot, and when he was done, he said, ‘Okay, I show you now. Don’t scream,’ before lifting the file away.
I didn’t scream, but I was quite impressed. I’m writing this about a week later, and the nail on my left middle finger is still noticeably shinier than all the others. I was actually considering buying the buffer thing until he continued with his lotioning and massaging and it became clear that the buffer was part of a set.
A $150 set, in fact. I said no thank you.
Oh. Wait. No, I meant it was a $110 set. I said no thank you.
Oh. If it is price you are worried about, I will give you one whole set for free! Two sets for $110.
I said I would think about it.
Bahahaha. Poor guy. Maybe I’ll go back someday.
Timmy met up with me a while later at one of the large cathedrals, and of course the first thing we did was climb a tower.
The view was b-e-a-utiful!
We also found this engraving up there:
I have a hunch that each was made by the same person who visits the tower every couple years and keeps track of the dates this way. Seems cool to me!
Timmy was having trouble pretending he was enjoying himself, so this is the best picture we got up there. Hahahaha.
Next, I really wanted to go to the Zurich art museum because it had great reviews and was home to several Picassos, Montets, and Van Goghs, but tickets were $20 even at the student price. Yeesh. We did make a quick stop to see Rodin’s The Gates of Hell.
I studied this piece in my art class when I was in Denmark, and I think the story is so fascinating. The Gates of Hell was essentially Rodin’s life’s work, and he made several versions of it. I believe it was supposed to be the doors to a grand new church or cathedral, but he never really finished it. He could never get it perfect, so every version of The Gates is a little different, and they are all messy and full of anguish and have giant empty bits where there is clearly something missing. I saw another version at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, so it was really cool to see its sister.
At the top of The Gates is The Thinker, which is probably Rodin’s most well-known piece. He’s one of my favorite sculptures because his style is so passionate and raw and emotional. His characters always seem trapped in some way, and you can often see his fingerprints in the molding of the figures’ bodies. Gah. I just can’t.
Anyway. That concludes our art history lesson. Except for this super artistic cow that reminded me of my Aunt Mel:
After this, I had to pee, and we found this positively ridiculous public toilet:
It was so strange. Timmy said, ‘Good luck,’ as I walked in. Hahaha. That toilet seat was flipped up when I first went in, and because the bar it’s attached to was so high, the toilet seat was literally at eye level. What? And then when I flushed, water came cascading down from like… the walls of the bathroom instead of just the little toilet area. Actually terrifying.
But enough of that. Look at more pretty things!
The clock face on this church tower is supposedly the largest in all of Europe at a whopping eight meters. This sounds kind of ridiculous, and Timmy and I spent a good couple minutes trying to decide whether we believed this, but in the end, I think we agreed it seemed a reasonable estimate.
I was strongly debating whether I should get an actual Swiss army knife as we passed shop after shop, but I decided I didn’t really need it. Check out this wonderfully-modern one, though:
We found a park at one point and swung a bit, which is another one of my favorite things to do. The park was a bit strange though. Very militaristic and surrounded by a ten-foot-tall heavy-duty metal fence. Meh.
We snuck some free peeks at a Chinese garden that was closed for construction:
And then we began our search for dinner. Man, it was not easy, let me tell you. Switzerland is not cheap by any standards. We even checked out several restaurants that were touted online as being ‘reasonably-priced,’ only to find $25 burgers and $35 curry dishes! When all hope was lost, we lucked upon a small cafe that served $10 pasta. Win.
Timmy had been seriously craving spice, so when he discovered a jar of chilli sauce, he basically emptied the whole thing onto his pasta. Probably not how that was supposed to be used….
We caught one last look at Zurich under twilight:
And then it was back to the apartment. That couch was seriously so comfy. I want it.
I left early in the morning to head to the airport, thanked Timmy a bunch, and that’s all she (I) wrote!
Venlig hilsen/ au revoir,
Lizzy-wa
