Final Day in London 9/3/2018 Hetchless
London: 3 September 2018
Short break between eating !! Trying to get as much packing done as possible so we can get to sleep earlier than in previous days here. We leave from Heathrow quite early in the a.m.
OK.. not such a complicated day.
Started out by walking from the hotel (past the wonderful Leadenhall arcade) to Borough Market – the oldest market in London; functioning as a market for over 1,000 years – albeit in different forms. We strolled the stalls, picked up a nice goat cheese, some fruit, and juices and sat at one of the share tables and enjoyed breakfast. I picked up a great iced chai tea latte made with coconut milk, and all was good.
We strolled back to the hotel and after doing a bit of work we walked to the building referred to as the “walkie talkie” – a new building that has a “skygarden”. We had reservations for a late lunch at the top of the building. 20 Fenchurch Road (address and real name of the building) is located in the “city of London” about a 10-minute walk from the hotel (in the financial district). It’s nicknamed ‘The Walkie-Talkie’ because of its shape. The three-floor ‘sky garden’ was opened in early 2015, about a year or so after the actual building was occupied. The shape gets wider as it gets higher. While some people like the building, it was named the worst new building of the year when it was opened.
But as an amenity, the building has a public garden and great views of the city on the 34th floor. Lunch on the 37th floor was actually quite wonderful. Started with some kind of cod foam and tomato amuse bouche, followed by a beetroot and plum salad. Then my main course was the hake which was poached(?) sitting above a delightful set of the most thinly sliced tomatoes you could imagine. Then poached pear with tiny scoops of cardamom and also chocolate gelato.
Strolled back to the hotel documenting photographically the odd juxtapositions of the old and the new – which seems to be more visible and apparent in old cities like London than in American cities. Packed for a while and then dashed out to meet Emma and Hem for dinner (hadn’t connected since Geneva) at a little Peruvian place in Shoredich about a half-mile from our hotel. After pisco sours and ceviches and assorted other yummies, we bid them adieu and walked to our hotel to pack.
We are now at the lounge at Heathrow and I’m signing off from this trip. We board shortly and Terminal 2 is so big that it can take forever to reach your gate. I’m a bit exhausted; went to bed around 1 a.m. and wake up call was at 5:15. Short trip, sweet visits, action-packed, and glad to head home — most especially to get my “H” back. See you all stateside.
Best – Fern
London Day One. 8/31/2018
G’Day! Busy day today.
Started out at Spitalfield Market – and surrounds, great shakshuka at Ottolenghi …and some interesting pear and basil juice. Then ran a few short errands. The bag I was carrying somehow separated from the strap. I remembered from previous trips to London, that this particular neighborhood has a lot of little shops near the Underground station (Liverpool Street). So I stopped into a shoe repair place. And as I was having breakfast I realized that time was standing still – my watch battery was dead. So I also located a watch repair right next to the shoe repair.. and Voila! Everything fixed and ready for the day.
Hopped on the tube and headed to Notting Hill to meet up with Lara at the Czech Centre at Kensington Palace Gardens. They had a small 50th anniversary show of cartoons from Prague Spring 1968. And in the words of the explanation of the exhibit —
“These cartoons perfectly capture the injustice done to Czechoslovakia in 1968. And they remain a pictorial record and a warning to us today as a resurgent Russia once again flexes its muscles.” Spent some time talking with the young Czech woman who worked for the Centre. She was born after the fall of the Berlin wall and only knew about life in Czechoslovakia in the 70s and 80s from her parents. She was surprised to learn that I had traveled to the old Czechoslovakia several times while under Russian communist control (in 1970, 72, and 86) and several times after that – 1992, 2003, and 2012 and that I had driven through such a large part of the country (now two countries). The cartoons were fun and poignant and also interesting technically.
From there we walked (total walking today = 7 miles) through Kensington Gardens (past the Diana memorial – with spontaneous memorializing by Brits and tourists, especially today on the anniversary of her death.
We continued on through Hyde Park to see Christo’s new floating artwork, constructed with 7,506 brightly painted oil barrels. It was a spectacularly beautiful day — not as hot as it has been in London these past few weeks, and not as cool as it might have been.
From there we walked to the new Japan House – sort of like being in Japan (new Japan). The building is intended to provide the city with a chance to learn more about Japanese. It’s basically a showpiece to entice Londoners to travel to Japan, but it’s a high-priced store with exquisitely designed objects. There’s also a sleek restaurant upstairs, and the most amazing bathrooms – about which I will not go into detail at the moment! The layout of the building is designed to provide “maximum space for peace and tranquility.”
At that point I realized that my neck was very red and itchy… so I bolted to the pharmacy to find out more information. I am now taking Claritin and also using an anti-steroid cream and can already see that it is fading.
Then, after a few hours at the hotel doing work (and having a huge argument with Apple on the phone — My keyboard is not printing the letter “h” (hetch in the UK), Apparently it is a “known issue” and requires a three-day fix by bringing your computer to Apple Store for repair. … So, every “h” you see in this note has been inserted through cut and paste! I tried the shaking fix that is shown on several You Tube films and I also bought a can of compressed air – nothing has helped at all. Naturally there aren’t any appointments available for tomorrow at the Genius Bar. I’m going to head to the Apple Store on Regent Street in the morning, but I can’t give up my computer. I suppose I’ll have to go to the local store when I get home and might have to use my older MacBook Pro for a few days. (Not a happy camper). If you see any missing “h”s… I apologize – complain to Apple!
Mike and I then headed to dinner (planned some time ago) at The Ledbury – Three Michelin stars… and listed as one of the best 50 restaurants in the world. It’s located across town from where we are – near Notting Hill – about 6 miles from here.. Dinner takes about 3.5 hours.. The menu was something like this:
- Starters (not counted in the 6 course meal) included some kind of very thin parmesan meringue with foie gras inside, smoked muscle on top of seaweed crackers, and some other little gem
- Datterino Tomatoes, Crab, Sorbet and Shiso
- Warm Egg, Celeriac, Wine, Dried Ham, and I think a Truffle
- Cod Caramelized in Honey with Radishes on the side
- Grouse with chantrelles and sweet corn and ??
- Pre-dessert: custard with peach and raspberries and sweet basil
- The supposedly “real” desert: tartlet with ice cream, tiny diced fruits
- Then the next desert – a sort of “good bye” as the dinner was ending – some kind of eucalyptus chocolate and also some kind of juniper cookies
OK… Not good for dieting. And I don’t think my 7 miles of walking today came close to countering the meal. No food pictures.. seemed too tacky.
It’s pushing on 2 am… and I’m fading. Have a great Labor Day weekend. More tomorrow. I like the fact that we’ve been to London together and separately many, many times. It’s comfortable; I know my way around; and there aren’t any requisite sites to see anymore. So it’s merely hanging out, walking neighborhoods… and visiting. Tomorrow after I get some work done, I’m heading to Mareylebone and we are going to an off-broadway type theater.
Fern
Geneva 8/28/2018
Bon Nuit –
Woke up early to head to the Four Seasons Hotel to pick up birthday present for Julia (we had ordered the spa gift certificate while in the states, but hadn’t picked it up yet). The walk took us through downtown and across two bridges. One is always crossing the Rhone or the Arve rivers. Along the way we had a quick breakfast, and then headed to Carouge to meet up with the family (everyone except Louis who was in the “transition week” of child care). Apparently they schedule a week where every day the child stays an hour longer to get prepared for full day care. The child care is contracted through Julia’s employer: Credit Suisse. Sounds like a good place with a very high adult to child ratio and rooms where they have water play and another room for art. A musician comes weekly to “entertain” the little ones.
From Carouge we headed to Le Saleve where we would scatter the ashes of Mike’s brother. The drive to the Saleve (which is actually across the border into France) in the French pre-Alps. It’s about a 30 minute drive and about 20km from the center of Geneva. You can drive up or hike up (I think an all day hike) or take the teleferique (cable car). There is a spectacular view of the Jura mountains and of Mont Blanc. This spot was chosen because Richard liked to take day trips to the Saleve, to walk Gatsby (their terrier) in the area, and because it can be seen in the distance from their house (from the kitchen window). We scattered the ashes in a secluded area just off the trail, and then headed for lunch nearby. We joked and told some funny stories about Richard, and then headed back to town. Mike and I went to the hotel for a few hours to get some work done and then met up with everyone for a wonderful salmon dinner at Elizabeth’s.
It was an emotional day. …………………
Au revoir…por le moment…
Fern
En Route to London from Geneva 2018. 8/30/2018
Greetings from across the pond. Very short note about a mostly-travel day.
Had our regular porridge at Birdie… Mike then went to Elizabeth’s to help think about reconfiguring the house now that she’s alone. I hung out in the area near the hotel and also packed so that we could head to the airport after lunch.
Once packed, I headed to Carouge (Elizabeth’s house) where we all convened for a simple, quiet lunch.
Mike and I then taxied to the Geneva Airport which is uniquely situated on the France/Switzerland border. Immigration control is unified as both France and Switzerland are parties to some kind of an agreement between the two sectors. So, while most people leave from the Swiss side, it is totally possible to leave from the French side. If you are headed to France, it is much easier to leave from the French side – making it a domestic rather than an international flight.
Our plane was a bit late, so we arrived at London City Airport (avoiding Heathrow) at about 7 pm… Settled into the Andaz (where I’ve stayed several times before) which is located near the Liverpool Street underground station. The hotel is on the site of England’s first mental hospital, the Bethlehem Royal, which opened in 1247. Today it has 267 rooms and is quite modern with simple grey walls, somewhat dramatic lighting, and modern amenities.
We then headed for a late dinner and drinks at the New Street Grill, where we met up with our god-daughter and her husband. They have been living in London for many years. After a lot of meat (!) we headed back to our room at about 1 am. I’m headed to bed – lots of plans for tomorrow.
Best Fern
April 10, 2005: Finding my Roots. Arrival in Romania
This will be short as I think I’ve been up close to 50 hours now…and I’m beginning to fade, big time…
Left Delray Beach on Saturday at about 5 am to go to Fort Lauderdale. Flew to Chicago, arrived at about 11 am and had 6 hours at O’Hare…then flew to Frankfurt — plane landed a bit late and connection to flight to Bucharest was quite tight.. I managed to land the window seat in the last row of the flight to Bucharest and immediately remembered that Europeans smoke…the smell on people’s clothing was like a high dose of second hand smoke… lots of it in a small space… Arrived in Bucharest at about 3:30pm today (Sunday).. It’s now about 1 am.
After checking in to the hotel, and unpacking quickly, Adrienne and I met up with her friend and caught a cab to the Jewish Museum..which was closed.. Very few people (except for young people) speak English and the only other language that is marginally used appears to be French… Anyway, we eventually found our way back (via a tram and a taxi) to attend a flute concert at the concert hall, which was quite beautiful, but the music was rather sleep-inducing… The concert hall was fantastic and apparently the scene of some resistance against Ceaușescu…. After the concert (which seemed to go on forever) we went to dinner at an old bistro close by… Food was actually quite good… a little heavy but portions weren’t obscenely large, so it was bearable…
It’s difficult to get a full understanding of what’s going on without language, although Eleanor (our friend here) is teaching at the law school and she has some insight, although I think a bit tainted by the U.S. Embassy…
After a bit of hassle, I’m now functioning on the cell phone and as you can see (assuming you get this) I’m email-ready…Took a bit of clever mechanics, but it’s all working.. My room looks like some experiment — with plugs going everywhere — charging computer, the WiFi charger, the batteries for the cellphone, charging the camera, etc., etc., etc..
Bucharest is dusty, clearly without any sense of zoning… and filled with 50’s style Soviet housing that goes on for blocks and blocks… They have parks scattered throughout the city, which is nice, but they are not very well kept (and at this time of year, not very “green.” Many historic buildings were destroyed or are in disrepair and the street pattern is chaotic.. Sort of a set of concentric circles and then lines radiating out A la Paris and DC, but the concentric circles are erratic and the lines radiating out aren’t straight…So it’s hard to figure out where you are.. No one seems to be able to read maps, so having one is pretty useless… Even taxi drivers seem stunned when you show them a map (which we brought from the US) and cannot figure out where you are and where you want to go. …They either know the location or they don’t…kind of a simple process.. It’s also a lot hotter than predicted, so I’m a bit stuck with clothing for colder weather.. It was supposed to be 40-60 and it’s easily 75 today…
It’s been a hectic 40 hours…More to follow…
Hi all-
This will be shorter than I’d like, but it’s nearly midnight and I’m pretty wiped out… I also don’t have any Internet connection in my hotel room and Internet cafes are much harder to find than I thought.. certainly not like Cambodia and Laos where there were Internet cafes on every block.. So I’m here in the hotel’s business center. The computer is slow and I’m the only one here.
We arrived on Saturday night at about 8 p.m. — body time — who knows! The Peace Hotel is a bit tired.. probably was a grand place in its time.. but it’s well-situated and just fine, except for the Internet situation and the fact that the beds are like sleeping on a sheet of plywood. We are scheduled to be here 3 days and then on Monday we move to the Four Seasons, which I suppose will be like staying on the moon. Actually, we like it here, but the woman in Hong Kong who helped with the arrangements really pushed for a different hotel. Immediately after unpacking we went up to the rooftop bar for drinks and to get a view of the city at night… which is definitely “something else”… Over the past 14 years, more than 5,000 giant skyscrapers have been constructed in Shanghai, and each is lighted like a stage set.. As you are probably aware.. each is also competing with the other architecturally and height-wise (They definitely have a thing about height.) So the Peace Hotel is dwarfed at a mere 10 stories… with buildings 90 and 100 stories all around.. but the Peace Hotel is in a great location at the river, so the rooftop allows for some nice views.
Oh– It’s pretty cold.. about 40-50 during the days and about 32 at night.
We woke up fairly early on Sunday and began a very long day.. walked several miles from the hotel to Peace Park, along a pedestrian mall absolutely lined with shops.. the place is like consumer heaven. Everyone wants to sell us Rolexes (fakes) and shoes and DVDs and what have you on the street.. Shops are teeming with people as are the streets.. mmm 17 million people in Shanghai??? that’s more than twice NY…
We eventually found our way to the Urban Planning Museum which has an incredible model of the entire city of Shanghai — the model is 5,300 sq. ft… takes up an entire floor of the building.. impressive, and interesting in that it does seem as if there is a lot of thinking going on in terms of what gets built. We did a quick run through the Shanghai Museum and the Shanghai Art Museum, stopping for lunch at a rather unexpectedly sheek little cafe at the museum… then some strolling in small streets perpendicular to these skyscraper streets, only to find the more usual older Shanghai… complete with stores selling insects! and merchants hawking goods.. and tiny stalls selling anything you could imagine and more. Then hopped a cab and went to the top of the TV tower, which requires three elevators each getting smaller than the other… zipping us up about 95 floors… the elevator moves faster than any I’ve
been on and is absolutely silent… You’re body to body on the elevator, so if there was any bird flu or other germ floating around, be sure I’ve got it.. Anyway, once at the top the views are spectacular.. sort of like what Windows on the World was like in NY before 9/11… but probably more spectacular..
But the city is a real study in contradictions. .. and everywhere you run into some bizarre mix.. As you wait to board these ultra modern elevators to take you to the top of the tower, music is playing everywhere and it’s always things like the theme song from Ponderosa.. or other corny American tunes. Can’t be for the tourists because there are hardly any Anglos here.. and we haven’t run into a single American.. The few non-Asians we’ve seen have mostly been from Australia.. After the Tower, and a walk back to the hotel we found our way to a little Shanhainese restaurant in the old French section of town — Yang’s Kitchen.. which was a real feat to locate, down some alley.. Food was great. Restaurants all seem over-staffed, but I suppose since the salaries are ridiculously low it’s possible to have lots of help. We ordered a fish.. and in a few minutes the waitress appeared with a plastic bag from some department store.. In it was some water.. and our fish.. for approval before cooking!
We left dinner at about 11 and headed to the top of a 90 story building called Jinmao, where we had drinks at the bar called Cloud 9… advertised as the highest bar in the world.. I think I believe it.. Here too you get the weird mixes… sleek bar in this rather high tech building.. but with a guy who comes around with a parakeet to tell your fortune.. I was told that I would have a long and successful life but that I carried around too much stress which could affect that long life with heart problems.. smart little parakeet.
We taxied back to the hotel at about 2 a.m.
Today was even more complex… Left the hotel for a long walk that took us to the old section of Shanghai.. through markets and meandering through tiny alleys… Gotta sign off.. more on Sunday’s excursions when I tell you about Monday.. I’m fading.. it’s about 1:30 a.m.
Fern
Geneva. 8/29/2018
Bon Nuit
August 29 2018
Hoping all is well.. or as well as it can be – as we follow CNN and hear the utter craziness increasing back home.. So now he’s after Google! And talking about “violence” and “poverty” if he is impeached.
Life in Switzerland is calming!
Headed out for breakfast this morning to our favorite little café called Birdie. We ate breakfast here every morning on one trip.. so we headed back. Great hot porridge with milk and apples and honey and almonds and many other things.
Walked back to the hotel and then I headed downtown to meet up with Emma, while Mike did email (I figured I could do all of my emails in the afternoon while everyone else planned to head to what is known as the UN Beach – a private area at the lake’s edge that is reserved for card-carrying UN officials ??!! Since Elizabeth was rather high ranking at W.H.O. she carries such a card and has access.). So the plan had been that I would walk back to the hotel and everyone else would pick Mike up and head to this beach. But as luck would have it, it started to rain so plans changed. Julia and Julien picked us up and we all had a wonderful lunch at our hotel. Then I went to the room to do work and emails; Julien and Hem both had conference calls to take and did that in the hotel and the car. And Mike, Emma, and Elizabeth hung out until Emma and Hem had to get to the airport to catch their plane home to London.
At about 4:00, Mike and I headed out and walked (about a mile in each direction) to see the Smurf Houses (?) – a complex of affordable, subsidized housing located a few blocks from the train station. I had read a little about it and we had never seen it. What a charming surprise! The photos do not convey enough of the fun, the uniqueness, or the fascinating (somewhat Gaudi-esque) structures. Nor do they explain everything going on at this site which includes at least 500 units, with about 200 being subsidized, I think.. The project was designed by Swiss architects Christian Hunziger, Robert Frei, and Georges Berthoud, and it was built between 1982 and 1984.
Included in the project is a child care center, an infant center, a theater, some private offices, including a small architecture office, parking garage, a café, gym, beauty salon, health clinic, art rooms, and more. The large courtyards were filled with kids and seniors and young parents; Swiss, Africans, Muslims, Asians, and more — more diversity than I’ve seen in all the times I’ve been to Geneva.
To set this geographically, the neighborhood is called ‘Les Grottes’, and it is behind the Geneva railway station. It was home to political refugees in the 1930s and considered a very impoverished area. At some point, the city decided to buy the entire area with the intention of demolishing it. But as WWII approached, the project was shut down and nothing happened until sometime in the seventies. At that point most of the houses in the area were vacant and many stores were illegally operated. Squatters were on the site and they refused to give up their homes.. They wanted renovation, not destruction. The authorities finally gave in and brought the area back to life. They created a social and architectural experiment that appears to be quite successful.
Got caught in the rain as we walked back to the hotel… Did some work and met up wit Elizabeth for dinner. We leave tomorrow evening for London.
Au revoir…por le moment…
Fern
Short Journey to Geneva and London: 8/26 and 8/27 2018
Wasn’t sure I was going to write a blog for this trip because it is so family-oriented and probably of less interest to you than the usual travels to more exotic places. But alas, I figured if I get out of practice I may never be able to start up again. So, before beginning, I should alert you to the fact that most of the 300+ posts regarding travel over the past 12 years can be found at https://fernstravelnotes.wordpress.com … I’m gradually finding time to post the photos for each entry (and while I’m short a few entries, it’s coming along).
Anyway, we flew to Geneva on Sunday to visit Mike’s nieces, spouses, grand nephew (now 8-months old) and Mike’s sister-in-law. In addition to seeing everyone, we had planned to scatter Mike’s brother’s ashes. When we were here in December we attempted to do this, but the cover of the urn was pressed in so tightly that we couldn’t open it and decided to wait until summer, (now).
Arrived via London and after settling in our hotel room at the Hotel Tiffany — a 19th century building located in what Geneva calls its Arts district; more specifically, it’s at the edge of the Old Town and has an Art Nouveau style. Staff are friendly and accommodations are good.), we set out to meet everyone at Elizabeth’s house in Carouge. Carouge is a small town within Geneva – it was modeled after Nice and has a Mediterranean flair. Carouge is referred to as the “Greenwich Village of Geneva” — probably because it is home to an assortment of boutiques and art studios and cafes and jazz bars. They prepared a mixed grill barbecue… discussion was lively, especially about the American political situation.
Then we headed back to our hotel…
On Monday morning, we all met up at about 11 am and head to the small village of Bourg-en-Lavaux on the opposite end of the lake (Lac Leman) from Geneva.. I believe it is on the northeast edge of the lake. Anyway, the setting is spectacular, with vineyards as far as the eye can see and also the majestic snow capped alps. Julien (Julia’s partner) had arranged for a private wine tasting.. mostly chasselas (a unique white wine of the region). The vineyards were planted and tended for centuries by monks. After the tastings (about 5 different wines I believe, but I began to lose track), we went to the little Auberge du Raisin for a birthday lunch for Julia. Wonderful food, leisurely, and lots more wine and champagne later we headed to a small beach along the lake and then back to Geneva through Lausanne.
Everyone else had swimsuits except Mike and me… But we enjoyed the peacefulness and the beauty of the area.
Way too full, and with a bit too much wine, we opted for simple salads for dinner.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be hectic and emotional as we scatter the ashes of Mike’s brother in the Seleve just over the Swiss border into France.
Best – Fern (and regards from Louis)
23. Milan. Day 7. May 2 2023.
First the really good news…. Mike tested Negative today!!! Just in time to leave Milan, so by the time we leave tomorrow, he will have spent 7 days being in Milan, looking at the four walls of his room… and the weird television shows he’s been watching. Today he said he watched crayfish make in a stream while raccoons were hunting them. But, all is good. We are going out to dinner tonight and then we leave the hotel at 8 am tomorrow morning (Wednesday); we arrive at SFO around 10 pm same day.
Today it actually didn’t rain so I headed out—first to the Shoah Memorial which is located at the Central Station, in the area where between 1943 and 1945—away from the public, where previously mail was loaded and unloaded. In this area, hundreds of deportees, mostly Jews, were forced onto rail cars that had been used for livestock. The cars were filled body to body with Jews and then raised in a railroad car elevator between tracks 18 and 19 and then departed to concentration camps. The area has remained mostly unchanged physically. It is filled now with some of the original rail cars and then with small viewing areas where videos of documentary interviews with survivors are shown.
From there I walked about a 1.5 miles to the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, which is dedicated to social practice art. It’s within an interesting building. When I arrived, there weren’t any exhibits (everything was under construction), but the 5th floor was open and there were good views of the city. Then, somewhat exhausted I took a taxi to Peck—a gourmet food shop established in 1883. Pretty amazing place.
Then a little packing, and off to dinner at La Brisa—a charming little restaurant with amazing food. We started (after two different “gifts” from the chef) with the beef diaphragm tartare which was great; shared the pasta with octopus which was prepared perfectly—octopus was soft and tasty; then we had the crispy pig with some veggies; and finally we had the pear tatin which had a bit of whipped ricotta on the side. I had wine; Mike is abstaining for a few ore days until the Paxlovid is out of his system.
That’s it… gotta pack and get up really early to get taxi to the airport.
Be well –
We’re ready to get home; sorry we missed Geneva, but we will figure out when to come—most likely Christmas.
Fern
11. It’s a Wrap! Last Day in Switzerland. 9/7/22
Greetings on our last evening in Switzerland.
First a few things I forgot to mention yesterday:
The parking garage in Zurich, where we left our car overnight because we arrived in Zurich pretty late and didn’t want to hassle getting the car to the rental return, has copies of art works throughout the garage: paintings, poetry, quotes by famous people who have some relationship to Switzerland, etc. And the garages are all brightly lit, clean, walls painted in primary and secondary colors, and floors painted in near white with white columns. And still on the car topic, when we returned the car to Hertz yesterday, there were three guys, who we think were Saudis (a father and two 20-ish-something sons; with wives, in hijabs, waiting on chairs inside the rental return building) trying to rent a car. As I waited at the counter, I overheard the conversation. The guys wanted a “fancy and fast car.” The Hertz representative listed all the cars available but none of them appeared to satisfy the guys. Then they turned around and saw our Alfa Romeo being returned, their eyes lit up and they said “We’ll take that one!” The representative said they had to clean it but then they could have that car. Then as one of the guys stated “it’s got good pick up and goes very fast” the Hertz rep said… “you need to be very careful and not speed; there are cameras everywhere; you could be stopped and then the car could be taken away….” I don’t think the guys heard a word. And then I was wondering how they were going to fit 5 adults and one child plus luggage into that car. Well, we were gone before we could see how they did that.
Now for today and some summary comments –
We went back to Odeon – trying to become part of the regular crowd and the history of intellectuals and artists. Learned today that some of the other regulars over time included Somerset Maugham and Toscanini. And then we actually went into the pharmacy whose space used to be part of the larger Odeon in its day. I had gotten some kind of rash on my ankles (don’t think it’s monkeypox because it’s not blistery) and I hoped the pharmacist could recommend something and also confirm that it wasn’t serious. Two different pharmacists looked at it and asked a lot of questions. They didn’t seem alarmed and gave me some kind of cream to put on. I think they would have given me some kind of antibiotic if they knew more about my medical history and if I was staying longer. I think the cream is working—but of course way too slowly for me.
We then walked about 1.3 miles to visit Le Corbusier’s Pavilion (which we had seen many years ago). Apparently, it underwent some kind of renovation a few years ago and it is stunning… As wonderful as it was years ago. It’s a gem. It’s about a block from the “Zurichsee” and is at the edge of yet another beautifully maintained and immaculate park. From there we strolled back to the hotel to regroup and figure out the rest of the day. We stopped for a salad at an outdoor café and then of course had to have our daily fill of gelato (which is quite wonderful here and is offered in about 30 different flavors). Me- pistachio; Mike- banana.
By the time we reached the hotel, it was about 4:00 and Mike decided it was nap time… so I strolled alone to a part of the city on the east side of the river, alone. And then I began packing with the goal of finishing all packing before dinner.
… Well I didn’t quite finish packing, but we headed to Kronenhalle for our last dinner in Switzerland (until we return again in January)… Kronenhalle, like Odeon which is just around the corner is a local institution – established in 1924 as a high-end restaurant. It was home to many artists who wound up paying for their dinners (and drinks) with their art. Thus, the restaurant has an amazing collection of Chagalls, Miros, and many other 20th Century painters. There’s a long history here, but I’m too beat to tell it. In any case, it’s rare to be having dinner with such ”valuable” art staring you in the face as you eat your salad. I’m also presently totally stuffed…
As we close up this trip, I am reflecting on the realities of Swiss life—at least as much as one can when one is a visitor and not a resident. And I think about the comments and responses to questions with folks who live here. For us, Switzerland is a very homogeneous country. Everyone (or at least the very vast majority of people) are White. And yet, people here feel the country (especially the cities) are very diverse. They talk about Poles and Spaniards and Greeks living here. For us, those don’t seem like big differences.
And people say that at least 10% of the population of the country is “poor.” But, we have not seen any unhoused people; we have not seen tent communities; we were approached for a handout for the first time today and the young woman looked like a student—decently dressed with a backpack. We haven’t seen any RVs with people clearly living in their vehicle full time; we haven’t seen litter in the parks or on the sidewalks. Still, we’ve seen how expensive it is to live here. We’re told housing is very expensive—more than the Bay Area. We filled up the tank with gas and gas was about $9.30 per gallon (yes, we did the conversion from liters and the conversion to dollars). Our shared salad today plus mineral water was about $35 (yes, we were in a nice location but not at a fancy restaurant).
I certainly don’t have the answers but it’s clear that a strong social safety net system as they have here makes a huge difference; good schools; decent wages help as well, as does a tiny military budget. And while our travels usually take us to developing nations.. we know from other travels that Switzerland is not alone. Finland and all of Scandinavia seem to be able to make life work for their residents, and so do many other countries beyond Europe. While I don’t have the count, and I’m not saying this is the reason…. But many of these countries have female presidents and/or prime ministers.
After 12 days here, it’s easy to say, “Shame on the US,” but maybe the bigger point is to truly learn from other countries and just to rethink priorities.
See you stateside, beginning tomorrow-Thursday.
Next travelogue will be in December/January (Ethiopia, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel).
Fern's Travel Notes 