With hardly any sleep from the night in Ibiza, we found ourselves back in the airport to catch an afternoon flight back to Barcelona. Upon arrival, we learned that the flight would be delayed for over an hour. Normally this would not be too big of a deal, however, that hour and a half delay would further complicate our travels North. The delayed flight caused us to miss our night train to Zurich by only a half hour which put us in between a rock and the Barcelona Airport. Since we were meeting Bernard and Anne in Zurich for only the afternoon and evening of July 1st, we decided that the only option was to book a flight for the day from Barcelona to Zurich via Vueling Airlines. Not recommended. After buying our tickets and discovering all of the wonderful hidden fees that accompanied our relatively "cheap" ticket, we learned we could not check into our flight until 4:00 AM the next morning. We analyzed our budget and realized that it made most sense to sleep in the airport, or so we thought. We were restricted to an area that was essentially the size of a football field, except on one sideline we had airport security, and the other curb-side check in. Seats on benches and chairs were hard to come by so we constructed a sleeping area on the cool marble floor of the airport in order to rest. Just when we thought we were in the clear, a security guard slowly approached our resting station and barked at us to stand up. We followed his command, as did the other airport squatters, but realized that once he was out of site, most travelers returned to their original sleeping positions. We did the same. This would be the first of many encounters with airport security. Nearly an hour later, the same officer, this time on a Segway, zoomed over to us and ordered us to stand again. Once he drove off to awaken more sleeping travelers, we finally understood the timing and route of his patrolling duty. From this point on, our James Bond instinct would kick in. We would relocate nearly every hour, sometimes behind ticket counters and benches, in order to gain another hour of undisturbed rest. The moral of the story is, no one knows why your not allowed to sit or sleep on the ground in the Barcelona airport.
We inevitably made it to 4:00 AM and passed through security without a problem. Unfortunately, Adam was leaving us at this juncture to head back to London for an early flight back to America on Sunday. After saying goodbye, Adam left for the train station and Chase and I continued to wait for our flight. Three hours later we were on an empty plane stretched out in our own rows and ready to sleep for more than an hour in one sitting. After the landing woke us up, we made it through the airport with ease and trained to the middle of Zurich in roughly 30 minutes. Flying into Zurich is the way to go, just not on Vueling Airlines. Our hotel was in walking distance from the train station so Chase and I casually strolled down the streets of Zurich along the Limmat River until we reached our address. Now before I start describing the hotel, I want to let everyone know that we had no involvement in the booking of the room. It was all Bernard. One week ago, I received a hotel confirmation email from the “ZicZac Hotel” in Zurich saying that they had prepared our room and were ready for our stay. Interestingly enough, the hotel turned out to be a Rock n’ Roll hotel that was randomly located in the heart of Zurich. Each room was dedicated to a famous rock singer or rock group from the past several decades and contained plaques and memorabilia from each rockers career. Luckily for us, room 401, the Guns n’ Roses room, was ours for the night. As we opened the door, we immediately noticed the 10 ft. by 10 ft. airbrushed painting of the Guns n’ Roses symbol. Definitely a comical scene for Zurich.
Bernard and Anne finally arrived in Zurich and met us for a quick lunch at a local restaurant that overlooked the beautiful clear water of the Limmat. We shared stories of our trips thus far and had a few laughs about our encounter with groups of naked men running on the beaches of Barcelona and their trek in formal attire through a gay pride parade in Paris to catch a wedding ceremony. I think it’s safe to say that there was too much skin involved in both stories. We munched down our baguettes and ordered a round of espressos and one piece of chocolate cake for the table. As you can imagine, the cake was delicious and finished within minutes of its arrival to our table. Although we had just met up with Bernard and Anne, we agreed that it was time to part ways. While they checked into their hotel, we made our way to the Starbucks down the street from the ZicZac. After checking emails and updating the blog, it was time to siesta.
Several hours passed before Bernard phoned us to relay the dinner plans. Most of our clothes were dirty from travelling so we figured the most we could do is take a nice shower before meeting them for dinner and drinks. However, unlike the airbrushed painting, the shower was about 2ft. by 2ft. and lacked the same rocker mentality that our wall possessed. We quickly used the handheld nozzle in our box of a shower then headed towards the lake to the Baur Au Lac Hotel where Bernard was staying. While his hotel room was no rock show, it did impress us with the some of its luxuries. The TV in the shower was the most appealing. With time to spare before our dinner reservation, we shared more stories over a few glasses of champagne and bar snacks. Luckily, the restaurant was in the back of the hotel so we didn’t have to move very far. When we finished our aperitifs, we headed downstairs to the restaurant and were seated for dinner. Craving a meal that was not originally wrapped in plastic or sold in a combo pack at a train station, Chase and I ordered a Gentlemen’s cut of Beef Tenderloin and a fresh piece of Veal Cutlet with Bernard’s guidance. Bernard also ordered the Veal while Anne chose the Salmon. I think the boys at the table forgot that we were at a restaurant that was located on one of the best lakes in the world for seafood. At least someone was thinking. Anyway, our food arrived and was everything that we could have asked for in a meal. The meat and salmon were juicy, flavorful and cooked to our desired temperatures. French fries and a nicely aged bottle of Merlot won the award for best supporting actor in this one. Once our plates were cleared, the dessert menus came our way and it was once again time to try some of the world’s best chocolate. We agreed on sharing a warm piece of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and waited for it to join us at our table. For me, this course won Best Actor. The only way to describe the cake is to say that it easily outshines the “Hot Lava Cake” from the Charthouse Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland.
We exited the restaurant, full and happy, and made our way back to Bernard and Anne’s room to say goodbye. They were leaving for the airport at 6:00 AM the next morning and we were exhausted from travelling so an early night for all was needed. With a night train to Austria late the next evening, we would have another full day in Zurich to enjoy.
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