The plane arrived at the Zurich Airport around 8:30 am. The good thing about that is my 15 days of leave do not start until the day after I land. The bad thing about that is Dan arrives at 8 am, tomorrow, so I can not leave Zurich until then.
Walked around the shops in the airport for a while looking at tourist stuff and chocolates! Looked tasty and delicious! Was contemplating buying some, but didn’t know which to spend money on. I could have hung out in the airport for 24 hours because they have food, showers, chairs, beds, relative security, but my checked bag was going to be waiting for me somewhere by baggage claim. I decided to head out and see what was outside. Of course, my bag was no longer on the bag claim belt, but I saw it sitting by the lost and found desk. I should have just grabbed it, but I didn’t want security to start chasing me down. So, I decided to wait for the lady to be done assisting the one guy she was helping. Unfortunately, by the time she was done helping that guy, another guy walked up and stood in the first class line, so of course that means he gets helped before me by the customer service people. Happened one more time with another first class guy, but finally someone was available to help who said, Sure, just take your bag. No problem. Like I said, I should have just grabbed it when I first saw it. So, I grabbed my bag, headed out of the airport and found a place to sit.. and sit.
Finally realized it wouldn’t be the best idea to sit out there all night so decided to check out the price for a room in the Radisson Blu, the hotel attached tot he airport. 325 Swiss francs a night for the cheapest room!! The conversion rate is almost 1 to 1 so even that didn’t help. Way too expensive! After heading back to the airport outside waiting area and finding no other hotels around, decided I had to break down and spend the big bucks. It was painful. I used the AAA discount and got it down to 295. Still hurt! Got the key to my room, all the while telling myself that being able to take a shower would definitely be worth it. My room was on the 6th floor – 639. Took the glass elevator up to 6, having to use my room key to activate the elevator. Finally found my room after walking halfway around the hotel (opposite the lift), opened the door, and was impressed. It was pretty nice, but for 300 it better be! One wall was a window, but I didnt have much of a view besides the building wall next door. The bed was large and looked comfortable.
The room came with free internet (but no free breakfast!) so I spent a bit of time sending emails to some people, looking up the area, and trying to find a grocery store. Took a really refreshing shower – it was wonderful. Had some hot chocolate. Had some tea. Got ready, grabbed my bags, and headed out.
i found a shopping center between the airport and the rail station. So, I walked around and checked it out. There was a grocery store in there! Very convenient. Lookaround and around and finally decided on a loaf of winzerbrot, pickles, and some cheese – gruyere, tilsiter, appenzeller, and emmentaller. I also bought some truffle yogurt stuff which was extremely delicious! I made sandwiches of the bread, cheese, and pickles and that was very satisfying also.
The store next to the grocery was a chocolate shop with gorgeous chocolate creations! Next to that was a deli/sandwich shop with sandwiches that also looked absolutely delicious. Decided that if Dan and I ate lunch before leaving on the train, that would be a great place to eat. After eating most of the bread, cheese, and pickles, I decided to check out the gym since I was paying such a huge price for the room – might as well use the amenities. Ran for a bit, but started to cramp up since I had just overeaten. Just did some weights instead then headed back to the room.
