Category Archives: Travel

Sleep is so overrated

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This is what 3:30 in the morning looks like in Einsiedeln Switzerland.  Not a pretty sight is it?

I was dog tired last night and hit the sack at 9pm.  Slept great – until 1am.  Now I’m wide “awake” and dreading the fact that I’ve got a full day of sitting on my ass in a meeting to look forward to.

So what does one do at this time of the morning?  Watching TV is an option.  The hotel has tiny little TVs with 16 – count ‘em – 16 channels.  None of which are in English.  Usually you can get CNN International or BBC but not here.  I can watch Law & Order with German dubbing (surprisingly good) or these surreal soft-core pornfomercials which include naked tug of war, naked poker, naked rhythmic gymnastics, etc. wrapped around 15 second ads trying to get you to call on your “handy” (cellphone) and talk to beautiful girls who are waiting to satisfy your every aural desire.

I’d love to have a coffee but the idea of in room coffee makers hasn’t made it to this part of the world yet.  Everything in the hotel and the town is locked up tighter than a drum so I’m sucking back Coca-Coca Light and hoping for some sort of caffeine rush.   The alarm goes off in about 45 minutes and I know I could lay down right now and fall fast asleep.

1 day down, 3 to go

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First day of meetings is over.  It started snowing at midday and continued throughout the trip back to Einsiedeln.  Very pretty, very much a pain in the ass when you have to walk up steep hills to the hotel.  Cobblestone, snow and dress shoes do not a good combination make.  Tomorrow I’m wearing my Timberlands (should go well with a tie).

As is the usual, tonight’s dinner will be anything but Swiss.  Probably a pizza.  It’s not that I don’t like Swiss food; it’s just so dam hard to find.  Lots of Italian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Greek …… but hardly any “traditional” fare to be found at night.

Einsiedeln

Here’s another picture I took yesterday that gives you a little better idea of how much snow they have here. 

Pretty as a postcard

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Switzerland day 2.  Ok, I’m here again and it’s very pretty.  And cold!  Lots of snow.

This picture is from my hotel room in Einsiedeln.  The room is cold and the internet connection doesn’t work.  Remind me again why I’m so lucky to be able to travel?

Here we go again

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At 6:20 pm tonight Air Canada 878 lifts off from Pearson Airport and I’ll be tucked into seat 25K. In just under 8 hours I’ll arrive in Zurich Switzerland. Big farking deal. I’ve made this trip about a dozen times and usually I’m excited, but not this time. I never thought I’d ever feel nothing about traveling but I could really do without this one. It’s another week of training and meetings – been there. It’s another couple of flights in economy – definitely been there. Staying in the Hotel Drei Konige in Einsiedeln – ditto. Everyone thinks that being able to travel overseas on business is the greatest perk available. Everyone, that is, except those who have done it a number of times. Airports are a hassle. Aircraft are cramped, uncomfortable and either too hot or too cold. Trains, even the excellent Swiss trains, just roll along. I’ve seen the scenery and it’s pretty but no longer exciting. Walking to the hotel in snow – hell, I could do that here. Day after day of meetings. No fun there. This could very well be my last trip to Switzerland for quite a while. The economy has my company seriously looking at curtailing these trips. Conference calls, video conferencing or good old emailing are being looked at as alternatives. I don’t blame them. I’ve sometimes felt guilty about wasting their money. I’m not even taking my big DSLR. When the possibility of grabbing pictures of the beauty of Switzerland doesn’t get a rise out of me, then you know the magic is gone. Perhaps I’ll get more excited as departure draws near. Right now, I’m doing laundry and packing – as usual. *SIGH*

Back for 2 whole days

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Einsiedeln Switzerland

Just spent the last week in Switzerland for yet another training session.  When is my company going to learn that trying to train me is like trying to train a rock?  Actually, as these things go it was a productive week.

Flew with Air Canada last Saturday night stuck in cramped economy and then had to hop a train for a one hour trip to the town of Einsiedln which is famous for it’s Benedictine monastery.  Which, of course, means bells – lots of bells – all night long bells.

Einsiedeln Switzerland

The monastery has two bell towers and they’re not quite synchronized so at certain times of the day and night you’re subjected to duelling bells.

Yesterday, it was off to the airport at 4am Toronto time and then  to Montreal on a Swiss Airlines A330 which is configured like the worst low-cost charter plane.  The idiot in front of me decided to slam their seat back without warning which caused a glass of red wine, that I was trying to enjoy, to spill all over my jeans and coat.  Lovely stain patterns that I had to put up with for the rest of the day.  We arrived in Montreal at 3:30 and an hour later it was home to Toronto on an A320 that felt positively palatial in comparison.

So now it’s Saturday morning and I have 48 hours to rest and get ready for a flight to Hartford Connecticut for 4 more days of training (they’re not getting it).