Ends and Beginnings

I think I might have to give in to just writing about events after they happened awhile ago. Work has been intense these last couple of weeks, and in the interim I have changed gears and started on a new project, this time in bloody London! ;p

The last couple of weeks in Zurich were a lot of fun though, aside from being slightly sick on my last week there. Sara and Oli had their housewarming in Basel which was really fantastic. It was two Fridays ago, and we got hammered proper. They lived on the top floor of their building (I think something like seven or eight flights of stairs) which was quite a workout, but once you reached the top, they also had roof access, which we utilized to its fullest. The drinking barrage lasted until 7 or so in the morning with a broken chair being tossed from the roof – at which point the neighbors downstairs complained and the guys went down to pick up the pieces…

The following Wednesday I went to a live jazz jam session in a small jazz café close to where I was staying. Sushi and her friend (Andrea?) took me to this small crowded place off a side street that would prove relatively difficult to find unless you knew where you were going. Apparently a bunch of cats from the local music school at the University get together once a week and jam out different tunes and styles. The sound was really good for such a small establishment, and they were also webcasting the show, although I have yet to find out what the URL is…

The last week of work in Zurich left me with little time to think much less go out and do things. I did get to try one of the local foods which was absolutely delicious there – traditional cheese and potatoes. Basically they take a large block of indigenous cheese – ‘raclette’ and use a torch to melt the top layer. It is then scraped off onto the plate, whereupon you would take a small potato and cover it with the cheese to eat. Small side portions of pickled vegetables also accompanied the meal. It was delightfully delicious!

On the last weekend I went out to eat with my friend Carine at a place called Bodega Espanola. There we had a bottle of wine and some traditional Spanish tortilla along with tapas. There isn’t quite anything in the world like real tortilla. It is absolutely amazing! After this we went to her boyfriend’s friend’s place, (Tanja) where I ended up staying up until the morning partying with them, and ended up going to a day club. Tanja explained to me that it’s possible to stay up from Friday night until Sunday evening in Zurich, all the while going from club to club. It was pretty crazy to go into this club at nine in the morning, order a beer and roll a joop – all the while watching a dozen other people chatting and dancing away to some durrrty beats. Talk about after-after hours! Crazy indeed. Luckily I didn’t eat anything that would have kept me up too long so I didn’t last past 12 that day. However the recovery process did take the rest of the weekend.

So I packed everything up on Sunday and left for London, where I am now. The ‘First 24’ here was a much crappier experience than my first in Zurich. The hotel where I was staying decided to charge my entire stay onto my card before realizing what I had told them from the beginning, and that was to charge the company card. Less to say, I arrive in London Sunday evening without a penny to my name. Ffin’ great! I think to myself as I try to figure out a way to get to my new flat. Luckily my check card worked when I attempted to purchase a single ticket to get where I was going.

The weather was miserable – cold and wet, and it took me a little while to find my apartment. (I demanded a flat for this project, as I was not about to spend another 6 weeks in a hotel!) It’s incredibly nice to have an apartment now though. Unlimited internet access that I don’t have to fight over or pay extra for, a kitchen I can COOK in and a decent living space! I have to do my own laundry, but it is a miniscule price to pay for the freedom of having my own space…

The following day I roughed it through the city with by backpack full of computers and headed out for the office. Since I couldn’t get a ticket, had no phone, and no means of contacting them (the batteries on my laptops were dead) I set out for my office. I didn’t even have an address for it, but I knew it was in Trafalgar Square, right in the heart of the city. By subway it takes about 10 minutes to get to from where I was, but by foot, with a backpack, and little sense of direction, it ended up being several hours…

I followed the Thames river bank all the way up to the Square, whereupon I found a hotel with a concierge that looked up my company information for me. Luckily it was not too difficult to find after this. Finally, after reaching my company, I was able to get a phone and have some cash floated to me so I could eat and get around. Talk about a pain in the ass. No more giving out my credit info to hotels when the company should be taking care of it!!