A Travellerspoint blog

Sleepwalking and rocking through Zürich

rain 9 °C

16.2. Sunday

More precisely 6:50AM

T -3 hours for the train and I started to think as I drive home from work that I might be crazy. This will definitely be the last time that I will schedule a holiday after night shift! No matter how much more time it gives in the destination. This is the second time I do this and right now I don’t like myself very much.
This can go 3 different ways I think, fingers crossed that it will be the third and most unlikely option and I get some sleep in the train to the airport.
First would be the most likely one, I will be too hyped up to fall asleep and when we get to the airport I will be cranky as hell. Nice start for the trip, right?
Second would be that I could catch some Z’s but I will be even crankier than without them (I am one of those people who’s day will be ruined if for some reason I am to take a nap).
I am starting to think that I should pack some earblugs to Toni and tell him to ignore everything that comes out of my mouth today!

Same day, 20:00PM

Okay. I think that went surprisingly well. Mostly I kept my snappiness (snappinginess?) to myself, I got some sleep on the train and even drank the mandatory “Starting the holiday- beer” at the Oak Barrell in Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. And I also enjoyed it. The beer I mean, not the lack-of-sleep-travelling.
Usually when we go to the Oak Barrell, we know that it is going to be the most expensive part of our trip, the airport beer. But this time I had an inkling that it’s not going to be the case and I was right. That was flagrant already at the Zürich Airport. We both were spent after the day and I felt like an sleepwalker, so we took the easy way out and hopped in the taxi. The short 15 or so minutes drive to the hotel was already 55 Swiss francs (over 50 euros). But even thinking about finding the right train/bus to get from point A to point B and then to point D via point C felt insurmountable. So expensive taxi it was and I couldn’t be more happy after that short drive to get to the hotel and it’s more than friendly staff and the bed. Never in my life have I been more happy to get to the hotel. Usually hotel it just the place where I keep my staff and sleep but this time it was heaven!
We had bought bottle of wine and chocolate from airport and didn’t really feel like going for an dinner so we spent the evening in the hotel. Not my balloon-airplane-belly or more than dry eyes (I had the laser eye surgery month ago and I don’t need the glasses anymore! But the eye drops I need more than a lot!) could make this bed feel anything else than an pure bliss.

20200217_114949.jpg

Swiss francs

17.2. Monday or The Day if you will

The feeling are more relaxed than yesterday and not even the lousy weather can dampen my good mood! It’s raining if you are wondering. This evening is the Five Finger Dead Punch consert which is the reason we are in Zürich in the first place. I am so excited!
Hotel breakfast was expensive, as expected but good, fresh fruits, bacon, eggs, pancakes, everything a person would want to eat really.
Toni had found out one mall, ShopVille, that we could go to be spend time out of the rain. Surprise, surprise, neither of us wanted to spent whole day at the hotel. From the mall we would go straight to the Hallenstadion for the consert.
And neither of us wanted to spend all our money to taxi so we planned to try something neither of us has ever done before. We would try Uber. We are like silly kids eager to try new things!
And I can totally understand why it is so popular! The guy came almost immediately. I was little bit surprised when I realized that he didn’t speak any English. But as it seems, that wasn’t an issue. He picked us up and dropped us off where we wanted. And the Uber app handled the money transfer.
The mall was another surprise, there wasn’t that relaxed vibe that malls usually have. ShopVille is located under an train terminal, which isn’t so odd but all over the mall is the signs and portals to direct to the right stairs to the right trains. It feels more like an train station than an shopping mall. The feel of it is just so busy.

20200217_144300.jpg

Above ShopVille

Toni is on an holiday-vibes and in mood for an beer, we just don’t see any pubs anywhere. In all of possible places Toni spots beer in an Chinese fast food restaurant and wants to go in. I love Chinese food so I jump to the chance and start to order some food. When I am speaking with the waiter about the dishes Toni decide that he would like something too. He doesn’t like Chinese so I am more than surprised, happily! I pick him something I know he will like (fried chicken and sweet and sour sauce) and for me meat with vegetables. For the drinks of course beer for us both.
It’s first time I get Toni to go to an Chinese restaurant with me and tonight is the consert. This is a good day!

20200217_153303.jpg

Happy me with Toni and beer in the chinese restaurant

Food and beers later it’s starts to be an time to leave for the Hallenstadion. Inspired by the earlier success we get another Uber to get us there. This guy didn’t speak English either.

In Hallenstadion we join the crowd already waiting. Even the waiting don’t dampen my mood. Nothing can today!

20200217_175137.jpg

Can you see how excited I am?

20200217_175530.jpg

Toni at the Hallenstadion

Inside we get some beers as we wait for the consert to start. FFDP has two opening bands, Bad Wolves and Megadeth.
Bad Wolves I was actually waiting for too, their version of Cranberries Zombies has played a lot in the radio and is quite good. I waited for nothing. They tried too much and that didn’t work. The Zombies they had the audience to sing. I hate that, I am there to listen to the band, not anyone else.

Megadeth was better, they had been around for some time (since 1983) so it was no brainer that they would know what they are doing. Funny to see how you could like more a band you know 2 songs from than an band you have been waiting for. For some reason I took couple of photos of the opening acts but not an single one for the main band. I just concentrated in to the show.

20200217_200026.jpg

Megadeth

20200217_200311.jpg

Megadeth

About the main band, I loved it! If I would be better writer I would tell you exactly how amazing the singers voice is or how good their performance, the pyrotech and the atmorsphere but since I am just me, I just tell you that it was money totally well spent!

18.2. Tuesday

This morning we didn’t make it to the breakfast for obvious reasons. Toni is blaming me for the last beers, lightweight, lol. I am feeling good hangover-wise but Aunt Flo came for an visit so I am in different kind of agony.
Eventually we emerge out of the hotel room well past noon. Googling an coffee shop we found one on our way to the Old Town and got our breakfast there.

As we walk towards the Old town I find that I really like Zürich. Even the air smells somehow better than in home. It’s one of the things that, to me, strucks the most about travelling. The smell, it’s the first thing you notice when you step out side of the plane (car, train etc). No matter what time of the day, or how tired you are or what the weather is like, the smell is something that you can not not notice and it’s different than in home. Sometimes better, sometimes worse but always different.

We stroll around Lake Zürich, Old Town and stop for an beer. From Lake Zürich I got some photographs from the Alps. If someone who are better in Geography than me, and know that no, it’s not the Alps but it’s Hill This or Mountain That, don’t tell me. I am now seen the Alps and I am happy.

large_20200218_151702.jpg

The Alps

large_20200218_151456.jpg

Little girl with her granddad making soapbubbles

20200218_152501.jpg
Grossmünster and Fraumünster ?

We stop by in an souvenir shop to get the wall plate to Tonis mother and the fridge magnet. There is cuckoo clocks. A lot of cuckoo clocks! In the end Toni had to nearly carry me out of there when I was listening to the clocks and try to locate the one which was cuckooing.

20200218_153810.jpg
Cuckoo clocks

20200218_153848.jpg

Cuckooing cuckoo clock

We try Polybahn too, in that I feel little bit cheated. Was that really all, little ride up to the Polyterasse? How is it that it’s emblem of Zürich? It’s literally less than an 5 minutes long!

20200218_172534.jpg

Polybahn

20200218_174048.jpg

Polybahn

The view from the Polyterasse are nice but I could as easily walk up there. That is what we do when we go down, walk that is. From the Old Town we try to find somewhere we could get some food. Toni wants pizza or kebab etc. We have eaten junk food for days now so I persuade him that an real food in restaurant is way better. We even manage to pick one restaurant, really nice looking Italian and I already start to dream about shrimp pasta but when we step inside there is some funky smell in the air, maybe sewers? We don’t stick around to find out. Back to outside and finding another place. We stand outside of this small simple looking restaurant reading the menu when I hear one women walking by telling her friend that this is the place she has been talking about, and pointing the restaurant we are standing in front of. She loves the place. First hand, or maybe second hand (?), praise to the food, no argument from me. In we go.
She wasn’t wrong. Service is fast and good, the Riesling I choose is delicious, so is the fish I have and Tonis chicken. I even get dessert. Lime sorbet with an shot of vodka. Vodka you say, there can’t be much of it if the menu says an shot. The shot is really an shot, not an shot if you know what I mean. My sorbet is surrounded by ocean of 4cl worth of vodka. I like it though, when I don’t scoop up too much of the vodka on one spoonful. And Toni get dessert drink when I give him the remaining vodka after I have eaten all the sorbet.
Outside the sun has set while we have been eating so we get see night-time Zürich on a walk back to the hotel.

20200218_191950.jpg

Lock bridge at night

19.2. Wednesday

Breakfast and Uber to the airport. This time the driver was really nice Italian man who did speak English. We talked whole way to the airport. He told us how nice the city is on summer and it is not hard to believe him.

Posted by hennaonthetrek 15:18 Archived in Switzerland Tagged switzerland zurich oldtown rockconsert fivefingerdeadpunch megadeth badwolves hallenstadion cuckooclocks polybahn polyterasse

Email this entryFacebookStumbleUpon

Table of contents

Comments

How good that you heard the lady talking about the restaurant. In the country, I think it is a good sign of a place to eat if you see the Sheriff's cars out front.

If it is Switzerland, it has to be Alps. (There was an old movie and the title was "If this is Tuesday, it must be Belgium")

My children use Uber all the time, and even my grandchildren. I've just ridden with them. In south Florida, some of the Uber drivers don't speak English either.

by greatgrandmaR

We really had right timing to be infront of that restaurant when the lady was walking by!

I haven't seen that movie :)

We don't have Uber where we live so it was kind of fun to test it. Odd, is there a lot of immigrants in Florida which explains the lack of English in Uber drivers?

by hennaonthetrek

It is a very old movie - 1969 and it was making fun of the tours of Europe that Americans took - an 18 day tour which visited 9 countries.

There are a lot of Mexican, Caribbean (Cuba, Haiti) and South American immigrants in the US and some of them don't speak English. Their presence is the cause of a lot of dissension

by greatgrandmaR

Megadeth stole the show! I know Dave Mustaine is being treated for throat cancer but it's good to see he's still playing - and it seems his voice is still on point.

Happy you both had a good time. Any more concerts in the future? Have you figured out where you will go to escape the rain and wind in Finland?

by road to roam

It seems that cancer hasn't slowed him down!

We were thinking about Rockfest in Tampere at summer, a lot of good bands going to play there (Sabaton, Battle Beast, Nightwish......) but we might have lost our chance and all the affordable accommodations are already gone.

I am afraid that I will have to stick with the rain and wind, plenty of that going on! Maybe something on spring or autumn..I am thinking abut Romania but nothing decided yet :)

You have anything interesting planned? :)

by hennaonthetrek

No - just working here in Mexico, with the blog and other online projects. We'll return to the U.S. in April to house sit for friends for 5 weeks. After that, we head back to Mexico, then Central America, South America and then hopefully Southeast Asia.

Keep the Aeolian Islands off northeast coast of Sicily in mind for a future, yucky-weather escape.

Take care, Henna!

by road to roam

Nothing planned he said. Nothing but house sitting and all of the America (North, South and Central) :D

Sicily sounds worth remembering!

Thanks Jerry, you too!

by hennaonthetrek

Your stories and pictures are great! Thanks a lot! Keep well and take care of yourself!

by Vic_IV

Thank you for your nice words Victor! You too, take care!!

by hennaonthetrek

The concert sounds fantastic. And I love everything about Zurich and the Alps so I did enjoy your photos. It is one of my favorite places to visit.

by littlesam1

Concert was really great, well worth the "sleepy" start of the trip!
I would have liked to spend more time there, and explore the surrounding towns too!

by hennaonthetrek

Comments on this blog entry are now closed to non-Travellerspoint members. You can still leave a comment if you are a member of Travellerspoint.

Login