Emily came over for a visit from the 14th of August to the 28th of August. After 5 months of being here, it was great to have her come and visit and see how my life in Zurich is playing out. I must note that according to everyone here, the summer has been rather rainy, but for the entire time Emily was here, it was absolutely brilliant outside (no rain and lots of sun). Maybe a reflection of my mood for entire time she was here.
*Travel Tip*
Em was able to secure a very cheap flight with AirTransat that flies from Montreal to the EuroAirport in Basel, CH for less than $700 taxes in. That's a pretty sweet deal and even if you aren't coming to Switzerland, the airport is on the border with France and Germany. The only downside is that they only run 1 flight a week and it runs from May to October only.**
We hung around Zurich for a couple of days so that Em could deal with the jetlag. Unfortunately, my lack of planning prevented our participation in the Limmatschwimmen (an annual 2 km swim/float down the river in the middle of Zurich). To make up for it, we took a boat trip around part of the lake and had an excellent picnic lunch on the lake. On the Sunday, we went to Luzern for the day. After touring the town, we took a cablecar up Mt. Rigi, took some photos and had a beer on top (a nice feature of Swiss mountains), and then took the cogwheel train down the other side of the mountain, catching a of course prompt train to egt us back to Zurich in time to catch the Women's final between Lotus and Stella from the CUC. Perfection.
On Monday we took off in the afternoon for a trip to the Lötschental where my research is based. We camped on the mountain after a brisk hike as dusk closed in. Did my field sampling in the morning (I'm such a romantic) and then hiked to the glacier at the end of the valley (running into numerous cows along the way). Not all that strenuous, but great views. On Wednesday we made a trip to Lausanne to visit a couple of museums that the Lonely Planet thought would be good (La Musee De L'Art Brut and the IOC Olympic Museum). Both very enjoyable and recommended to any visitors. We also managed to go for a swim in Lake Geneva which was a nice cool down after a warm day. Thursday and Friday were spent in Zurich cruising around to a few of the sites and seeing a couple of museums in the city.
Friday night we took a night train to Slovenija (j is pronounced as a y in Slovenian) for the best part of the time Emily spent here. I was in Slovenija for a conference in April (blog post here) and loved the country and made a promise to come back. Em was also intrigued so we decided this would be our trip outside of Switzerland. We arrived in Ljubljana on Saturday morning, but right away (after morning coffee) took a train/bus to Piran on the coast where we spent our first day/night. A very hot day so we ented a peddleboat and swam in the Adriatic, then toured about the small town that feels very much like Venice without canals, ate dinner and then were able to watch a spectacular lightning storm as it crossed the Adriatic and then moved just north of us. It was windy, but no rain fell on us. The next day we bussed to Divacja and spent the day exploring the UNESCO Karst caves at Skocjana. Very impressive. The local museums that we toured afterwards were also very nice and offered great contextual information about the archeology and history of the area. we stayed in Ljubljana overnight and then caught a bus to a new top 10 town for me, Bovec (pronounced Bovets) in the Soca Valley. It's basically the smaller Slovenian equivalent of Canmore as outdoor sports rule the roost. Emily and I had a chance to partake in some white-water kayaking on the Soca, which was great, despite the low water levels at the end of the summer. I wa simpressed with Em as she had never been in a kayak before and handled it with perfection not having to wet exit in the river once (although we did have to practice before taking off with our guide). The next day we went to Kobarid where WWI played an important role and checked out the museum dedicated to this theme and the trail they have designed in the area. Then on our way back to Ljubljana to catch our train to Zurich we stopped for a couple of hours in Bled to admire the scenary.
Once back in Zurich on the 27th, we spent some time doing souvenir shopping for Em. On the 28th we took the train to Basel and I had to say goodbye until the next time she can make it over. It looks like December will be the next time we will see each other in person when I fly back to Canada for Christmas. It seems like a long haul, but I'm sure the time is going to fly by (I mean, it has already been 2 weeks since she left).
Overall, it was a great time and I was glad she was able to come and visit.
