So on Friday, I skipped my Spanish culture class and headed to the Madrid airport so I could wait for my flight. The train from Valladolid to Madrid takes a little over an hour and it was nice to just sit and relax for that time. Daddy told me to get a seat by the window on my flight to Zurich because he said the view of Switzerland from the plane is absolutely beautiful.... I guess it would be if it wasn't overcast the entire time! Luckily, right before we landed, we got under the cloud coverage and I was able to see the beautiful green of Switzerland.
View from the plane... for some of the time I couldn't tell what were mountains and what were clouds
Beautiful Switzerland (the picture is kinda fuzzy because I was taking it from the plane)
When I got in to Zurich, I bought a train ticket to Oerlikon which is the part of Zurich that we were staying. A nice little old lady sat down and started talking to me in German, but when I told her I only spoke English she said "Oh dear, do you know where you're going? If you are going to Oerlikon, get off at the next stop." She was so cute and switched over to English like it was absolutely nothing.
Finally I met Daddy at the train station. We were both kinda wondering around looking for each other and I was so happy when I finally saw him! He gave me a HUGE hug which was what I had been looking forward to all week. That night, we dropped off my stuff at the hotel (a very nice Holiday Inn), grabbed a very nice dinner (pumpkin ravioli and red wine), and then went to bed.
The next day we woke up relatively early (although Daddy slept in a little late, so I just had a little bit of relaxation time), ate a wonderful breakfast of hash browns, eggs, bacon, and hot chocolate (aaah Swiss hot chocolate!) and started our day.
We took the bus to Zurich Proper where we were going to spend the day. The lady who was working at the front desk was very helpful and gave us a map with a very nice walking tour of Zurich.
Behind me are the super spiffy public buses!
As a little side note, the public transportation in Switzerland is impeccable!!! Theoretically we could have taken the metro without paying (nobody ever checked our tickets), but as Daddy said, "You almost want to pay to take public transportation." Seriously, nicest public transportation system I have ever been on.
For the rest of the day we wondered around downtown Zurich. We went up to a little park we had been told about and it looked down upon a lot of the city. We also popped our heads into some chocolate stores, took a "short" boat ride around the lake, and relaxed. There was an antique market set up next to the lake, so we made our way through the market and Daddy bought me a ring.
Me with a view of the city
Zurich
Antique market
Views from the boat
I forced Daddy to go to an American restaurant for lunch, but in hindsight that was not the greatest idea. We had nachos as an appetizer and then for my lunch I had a burger. It was good, but not as good as I get at home. I just really miss American/Mexican/home cooked food.
After lunch, we wondered around a little more and then headed home. We were both exhausted and just wanted to rest. At this point it was about 5 in the afternoon, and I fell asleep on the bus ride back to Oerlikon.
Once we were both a little bit more rested, we went downstairs and just grabbed dinner in the hotel restaurant. Once that was through, we went up to my hotel room and I showed Daddy pictures of my time in Spain. I told him who everybody was, showed him everywhere we'd been, and shared short little stories about my experiences. Although I bet he won't remember everybody's names (there are a lot of people to remember!), when he comes at the end of this month I think he will have an easier time of putting a name to a face.
The next morning we woke up super early because Daddy's flight was at 10 in the morning. Mine wasn't until 11:50, but I went with him to the airport so that I could spend more time with him. Luckily, the airport and the train station are the same thing so I could just hang out there, do a little bit of shopping, and relax. We went to a chocolate shop where we got delicious bars of chocolate (Thank you, Daddy!), grabbed coffee and pastries, then sat and had a lovely breakfast talk before it was time for him to go on his plane.
Although I was sad to say goodbye to him at the airport, I was still so glad that I got to see him, even for a short period of time. I can't wait until he comes to visit me at the end of November with my step mom, sisters, and aunties (Carol and Kathe).
I love you, Daddy! Thank you so much for flying me up to Switzerland so I could spend some time with you. I had a wonderful time. I love you and I miss you. Can't wait to see you in three weeks!
Just some photos of Daddy and me :)
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