Switzerland - Day 1 (Zurich)

Friday, 9 September 2011

With no address and a non-international SIM card, we took a fast train to Zurich.

We had opted for a spare room over a hotel in this area, partially because we wanted another Wimdu experience and partially because hotel rooms in Switzerland are upwards of $300.

When we arrived in Zurich, we contacted the host from a payphone.  There seemed to be some tense vibes and communication difficulties, and even after boarding the train to Üetliberg (which is as far as her directions took us), we still did not have her address.  We had to borrow a stranger's mobile to contact her again once we arrived.

We stayed here.  The room is much like the picture.  But what the picture does not reveal is that the room is in a basement.  The lady did a great job as far as ambience could go, but because the "basementey" areas were simply covered with curtains, the room smelt musty.  This smell permeated our clean clothers that remained unpacked from our suitcases.  We figured we would only be there for three nights so we sucked it up.

Wimdu is a gamble to some degree.  We had a win in London, so perhaps it was time for a loss.  Still, it was a third of the price of a hotel room so remained worth it.

A plus side is that Uetliberg was up high and so we had amazing views of the pristine valley below.

Sarah was too tired to eat, so Jason went up to a restaurant at the station and enjoyed the sunset over a succulent pork schnitzel.