Ok, I'm a fucking tool. But at least I know it, right?
But I have an excuse, because I'm on an insanely long layover, and there's no way I can sit and keep drinking (either coffee or beer). I'm already severely over-caffeinated, and it's 11:20am local time. Which of course makes it 5:20am in my brain, and I didn't sleep a wink on the flight from JFK.
So, I got into Zurich around 7:15am today, and with my flight to Munich scheduled for 11:55am, I decided to ask about getting the hell out of here. I went to the information desk, and the lady said that as long as I had my passport and boarding pass, I could leave. And leave I did.
Passport Control barely even looked at my passport, and they didn't even stamp it. I ended up knowing someone on my flight, who was flying to Zurich for work, so she and I shared a cab into the city. She went to crash at her hotel, and I went to roam. It was 8am, I was in a city (let alone a country) that I'd never been in before, and I'm walking around.
And it was nice. Really. I like some time to roam by myself in foreign cities. I spent hours doing it in Lisbon earlier this summer. It's a great way to get to know the non-museum and non-monument aspects of a city.
I was also hoping to score some breakfast, and some coffee. Everything I passed was closed. And the other walkers were sparse. I found a Starbucks, but I eschewed. I get enough of that shit at home.
So, after a half hour of wandering aimlessly I turned a corner and saw two things: a train station, and a cafe that was open. I figured this was fate telling me to get a quick cup and head back to the airport. It's not like I had 5 hours to wander, and I didn't really feel like spending $50 on a cab back to the airport.
Turns out the station was Zurich's Hauptbahnhof, the central station. Once I figured that out, my decision was made. Done and done. And I mean done.
Since all I spent in Zurich proper was an hour or so, I've got nothing at all to report. And no pics. Though I did get a shot of my company's new global ad campaign at the airport on my way back in through Passport Control (where they again gave my passport just a cursory glance; I guess my days of looking shady are behind me).
Anyway, what the hell am I doing blogging at what's now 11:25am when I have a flight in a half hour? Well, after a five hour layover, my flight is delayed. With a non-specified new time. They told us to go to the gate at the correct time, and an announcement will be made. Super-duper.
So yeah, I'm sitting in the Zurich airport blogging.
I'm going to head to the gate, and see what's up. Could take me a few minutes to clear security. Though if the passport screening process is any indication, I suspect I may just be able to roam straight through to my gate without so much as an X-ray. Mmm... Radioactive beams.
With any luck, this is where this ends. But believe me, if I get stuck here for any length of time, this baby's going to have an update tacked right on the bottom of this post. More thrilling airport tales!
Comments