I second being sleepy all last night, but I'm much better this morning. Even though it should be 2am according to my U.S. sense of time, 12 hours of sleep after 18 hours of travel has made it feel like morning to me. I'm hoping the switch is permanent.
My first impression of Switzerland: we get off our plane and follow the signs to an escalator (the only one turned on as no other flight was arriving at our time). The escalator takes us down to an automated tram that takes us quickly to the luggage area. I joke with Lexi that I bet our luggage is already there. She says, no way we came straight here. When we get off at the baggage claim, there is my bag, lined up along the conveyor with all the other bags that are all separated by the same amount of space. It was the best (though also surrealist) airport experience of my life.
There is a fascinating dichotomy in Switzerland. The modern swiss sense of style is very austere, superfuturistic, pragmatism. For example, the benches at the airport are brushed steel stands with small evenly spaced black foam cushions. But much of the architecture is still the old European style houses with carved wooden chairs and drapes and tapestries and all that, like the fondue spot we went to with a warm and welcoming fireplace in the center and carved chairs surrounding tables topped with floral tablecloths.
The people are very polite. There was not any honking even in the heat of rush hour. Even when someone had to stop suddenly because a pedestrian did not see him and the guy behind him slammed on his breaks to come to a squealing halt, no one honked or yelled.
There are a lot of bikes in the city, even though there is no extra room for them on the roads with all the trolleys and trams. The cars all seem to move around the bikes carefully. Even our cab waited (without honking?!?) for an opening to move around the bike that was blocking him.
All in all, the city seems to move methodically along with the unerring precision of a well crafted watch. No snags, no loud noises. I often find myself the loudest person in the crowd by default.
The one thing missing is convenience. Only restaurants are open late and late is 11pm. "Convenience" stores close when the businesses close around 5pm (4pm on Fridays). I'm too used to the American model of "I want a pint of Ben and Jerry's and a power strip at 4am and I'm gonna go get one."
My first impression of Switzerland: we get off our plane and follow the signs to an escalator (the only one turned on as no other flight was arriving at our time). The escalator takes us down to an automated tram that takes us quickly to the luggage area. I joke with Lexi that I bet our luggage is already there. She says, no way we came straight here. When we get off at the baggage claim, there is my bag, lined up along the conveyor with all the other bags that are all separated by the same amount of space. It was the best (though also surrealist) airport experience of my life.
There is a fascinating dichotomy in Switzerland. The modern swiss sense of style is very austere, superfuturistic, pragmatism. For example, the benches at the airport are brushed steel stands with small evenly spaced black foam cushions. But much of the architecture is still the old European style houses with carved wooden chairs and drapes and tapestries and all that, like the fondue spot we went to with a warm and welcoming fireplace in the center and carved chairs surrounding tables topped with floral tablecloths.
The people are very polite. There was not any honking even in the heat of rush hour. Even when someone had to stop suddenly because a pedestrian did not see him and the guy behind him slammed on his breaks to come to a squealing halt, no one honked or yelled.
There are a lot of bikes in the city, even though there is no extra room for them on the roads with all the trolleys and trams. The cars all seem to move around the bikes carefully. Even our cab waited (without honking?!?) for an opening to move around the bike that was blocking him.
All in all, the city seems to move methodically along with the unerring precision of a well crafted watch. No snags, no loud noises. I often find myself the loudest person in the crowd by default.
The one thing missing is convenience. Only restaurants are open late and late is 11pm. "Convenience" stores close when the businesses close around 5pm (4pm on Fridays). I'm too used to the American model of "I want a pint of Ben and Jerry's and a power strip at 4am and I'm gonna go get one."
posted by sfphotoblogger at 10:10 AM
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