Monday, July 2, 2012

Monday, July 02, 2012 - No comments

Swiss-ing Gears




(from Tuesday, June 26th, on the plane)
Today I’ll finally see a long-held dream come true:  to eat Swiss chocolate in Switzerland!  Granted, I think the original wording on my list was “to eat Swiss chocolate on a picnic in the Alps,” but I think this definitely still counts.  On top of that, I’ll finally “deserve” the Starbucks Switzerland mug a friend brought me back from his trip to Europe ten years ago.  
This is the perfect “See the World on a Layover” day - 23 hours on the ground, minus a few for stowing my suitcase at the left luggage place and a few more for getting to the airport on time for my flight home tomorrow.  But the train and tram to my hotel look straightforward enough (this is, after all, Switzerland’s famed rain network - I expect it to run like, well, clockwork) and after a quick change into my cute new (and hopefully European-looking) dress, I should have plenty of time to explore Aldstadt (Old Town) and take lots of pictures.  
I’m meeting my friend Tina, who lives there, at 5:30 at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station.)  I think the idea of showing up in a cool European city and rendezvous-ing with someone under one of those big “meeting point” thingies in a crowded station is fun.  We’ll head somewhere yummy for dinner and then hopefully go somewhere cute for coffee, if it’s not too late.  The coffee is the part I’m most looking forward to.  To quote Dorcas Lane from Larkrise to Candleford, “Sidewalk cafes are my one weakness.”  :)
And then, after what I hope will be a good night’s sleep, I plan to get up early and roam the Aldstadt some more, as well as sit down at some charming bakery-cafe for pastries and coffee.  And, of course, somewhere in there will be the purchase of truffles.  Perhaps multiple times.
I’m always grateful for these “transition days” when I’m neither in Turkey nor at home, but just “out in the world.”  Helps me catch my breath and switch gears.  A little “espresso” in between the worlds of “Turkish coffee” and “Starbucks on every corner” is a very useful thing.  Not to mention a tasty one.

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