Zurich

Hello from Zurich!  It was a little bit of an adventure trying to get here but eventually me and my two bags made it! I had tried to check in to my flight online  this morning but I couldn't get it to work.  Once I arrived to the airport I headed to the counter to check in.  After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, I was finally called up by the agent only to find out that I had to go to a different line to pay for my 2nd bag first.  So another 20 minutes  goes by waiting in  lines then I am finally back with bag receipt in hand.  Remember when I said earlier that I forgot how I packed my bags?  Well one of my two bags was now 2 kilograms (a little less than 5lbs) overweight.  That meant  I had to take them both away and rearrange everything.  Good thing my driver got me to the airport plenty early!

Because the check in process took so long I didn't have a ton of time once I passed through security.  I grabbed a slice of pizza (which tasted so good!) and got on my flight.  It was about an 1:45 flight and the scenery was beautiful - we passed over the Alps.  Looking at them made me want to go skiing! I landed in Zurich around 4:30.  After collecting my bags I started to figure out how I was going to get out to meet Anna.  She had said I could do the train or take a cab but warned me a cab would be expensive.  Being the cheapskate that I am I decided to try the train route.  Getting the right train from the airport was easy, but once I got to the main train station in Zurich things got a little tricky.  There are over 50 platforms there so it took me  awhile to find the right train!  Somehow I didn't screw it up and Anna was at the Starbucks where we planned to meet waiting for me.  From there her boyfriend Adrian picked us up and took us back to their flat.  Their place is super cute, kind of a similar set up to my condo in Manayunk.  It was interesting, I asked her if they rent or own it.  She told me that almost everyone in Switzerland rents because the homes are so expensive. She guessed that if her place was for sale it would cost around 1 million Swiss Francs (which are worth more than the dollar).  

After I got cleaned up a bit we headed out to a traditional Swiss dinner.  We went to this quiet little restaurant on a hill overlooking the mountains.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  I had a traditional Swiss meal called Zurich veal.  It was veal over a giant hash browned potato with a creamy mushroom sauce.  It was amazing- by far the best meal I've had all trip.  We then headed back to their place to get some sleep.  Anna has to go into work  in the morning so I'm going to do a little touring and we are going to meet up in the afternoon.  Looking forward to seeing a lot of Zurich tomorrow!