This was written on the plane on the way home...
Today was my last day in Europe. While I am sad to be leaving, I'm also looking forward to getting home and getting back into a normal routine. My flight wasn't until 5:15 Zurich time so I had most of the day before I had to head to the airport. I wanted to do something relatively active (vs going to a museum) since I would be sitting on an airplane for 9 hours later in the day. Anna suggested that I go for a hike at Uetliberg. Uetliberg is a mountain area just outside the city that has a hiking trail that offers amazing views of Zurich and the Alps. The plan was to store my luggage at Anna's office then take the train up to Uetliberg, go for a little hike then come back, meet her for lunch then head to the airport.
I was able to find the train line that takes you to Uetliberg pretty easily. Only one slight problem - not all of the trains on that line run all the way up to Uetliberg. So the first train I was on started out going the right way, then all of a sudden started going the other direction! I was so confused! I got off at the next stop and caught the next one to the turn around station. I was able to look at the schedule board there and figured out that every 4th train goes all the way up to Uetliberg. Fortunately, I got on the correct one and eventually made it up there. It was definitely worth the trouble, the views were amazing. I followed one of the trails that was supposed to eventually lead me to a gondola that I planned to take back down into town. Along the way there was a cell tower that had an observation deck open to the public. You could see everything, it was gorgeous. I took a ton of pictures but I doubt they will do it justice. When I entered the trail, there were signs about the gondola but unfortunately they were all in German so I couldn't read them. I just assumed they said it was in a certain direction - bad assumption. After what I think, based on a map I took a picture of, was a 7.5 km (just under 5 miles) hike I found the gondola and realized the sign said it was closed for maintenance. Opps. Fortunately there was a trail that you could follow under the gondola that got you down, it was just really steep and a lot more work than I wanted to do! When I eventually made it down to the bottom, I found the train that would take me back into town. I had planned to meet Anna between 1-1:30 and despite the train and gondola snafu I had about an hour and a half before I had to meet her. Yesterday when I was downtown I saw you could rent pedal boats on Lake Zurich. I decided to continue my active day and do that for a little while. It was fun, it offered some really pretty scenery and it was nice to be out on the water. I did that for about 45 minutes then headed back to meet Anna.
We got lunch at this little take out place close to her office and ate outside along the river. I wish my office had something like this setup, it was so peaceful and nice. After lunch I went and got my stuff to head to the airport. I made it there in plenty of time and was able to relax for a bit before getting on the plane. I land at 8:15 EST in Newark. I'm getting a ride home from there so the goal is to be back in Manayunk by 10:30 or 11. Then, a little more than 12 hours after landing in the states after being away for 2 weeks, I go to the final walk through of my new house! After the walk through I'll empty my bank account, sign the papers and get the keys!
I'll do a wrap up post or two in the next few days but this was another fantastic trip! The tournament was great in all aspects and I really can't thank Anna enough for hosting me in Zurich! It was great to meet some new friends and reconnect with an old one!
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