Brrrr ... Zurich ...

Monday night, October 15th - Tuesday morning, October 16th

There is only one word I can use to describe to describe this night; gnarly. The following is how my night proceeded ...

It turned out the 'ozzie' boys I met in Barcelona were going to be in Zurich as well but were leaving on an earlier flight. I said I would email them before I left asking for the name and directions to their hotel.
9:45 PM - I landed in Zurich and found an internet kiosk to check my mail. Mike (one of the 'ozzies') had wrote me inviting me to chill with them at their hotel and listed the directions from the main train station in Zurich. I jotted the directions down on a postit and hopped on the train from the airport to the city.
First, what a crazy station ... it had a beer hall inside of it! Second, I must be a complete idiot because I couldn't find their place after I spent 30 minutes searching for it. I then spent another 10 minutes trying to find an internet kiosk at the train station which I eventually found. I emailed Mike back hoping he was online so I could ask him to either meet me or give me the name of the hotel, but to no avail.
Then for some reason, thinking trains would run all night back to the airport, I decided to walk around Zurich for a bit. It is a sleepy town at least in the area surrounding the train station minus the McDonald's and one bar. After walking around a bit in the cold (like the idiot I am, my jacket was in my checked luggage which was being transferred to the next flight and would have be fine except for the fucking cold and my jacket being packed) I start walking back to the bar only to find that my head phones broke and that the last train until 5 Am had left for the night.

12:38Am - I got to that one bar by the McDonald's in hopes that they would be open until at least 2, but no, they closed at 1. After talking to the bartender a bit and finding out that Mondays were dead (as if I didn't find that out already) and that no all-night cafes existed anywhere I could get to, he told me about this club, Xtra, that puts on this thing called 'Cool Mondays' where they are open until 4 or 5 AM.

I thanked him and left after finishing my beer and headed out for Xtra. Once I got outside however, I decided it was too cold and I would just set up camp in the mall area underneath the actual train station (see video).



After I was starting to get comfortable although still cold, two security guards told me that the station was closed and I had to leave. The station reopened at 4 and my train left at 5:02 on track 9 (see video).



1:30 AM - I start making my way to Xtra with new found haste because it was definitely around 50 degrees or something like that. After wandering a bit due to my being unable to discern the illegible directions, I asked this one guy walking down the street while rocking out to his iPod. Being the awesome guy that he was, Thomas actually walked me to the place despite it being out of his way. It turns out that a few years prior, he was traveling the world (and did it for 2.5 years). The whole walk he kept telling me these crazy stores and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Upon arrival, I asked him to come in for a beer because, well, that was the only real/tangible way I could think of thanking him. We talked a bit more and he bought the next round of drinks because I only had a few francs left. He left around 2:20. I hung around a little while longer to find that the place closed promptly at 3. Yay ...

I wound up making my way back to the heavily fortified train station but found a crack in the fence by the crazy beer tent. From there I was able to get into the tent to find the stage still with all the instruments from earlier ( a band was playing when the beer hall was open). I was stoked. I mean c'mon ... shelter, bathrooms and GUITARS!!!

Before I grabbed a guitar I had to use the restroom. After walking back out of the bathroom area, I found myself face to face with a policeman and his trusty German Shepherd ... he then kicked me out of the tent.

3:20 AM - After leaving the tent and leaving the guard inside, I realized I was locked IN the station. I wound up choosing a corner to sit down out of the wind and cuddled with my backpack in an effort to stay warm.

3:30 or so AM - My eyes open to find myself, now eye to eye, with the German Shepherd from before. I told the guard of my plight to which he paid no mind but then actually helped me scale a big gate to get back out. From there I found a few others on steps nearby who were also waiting for the station to open up. I sat down next to them and just hung out.

4:00 AM - The same guards who kicked me out hours earlier welcomed me back in the train station. I went back to the bench, or makeshift bed if you will, and lied down. I had never been that cold before ( I later found the temperature had fell below 50) ... the concrete and steel just suck all the warmth out of you. After about 20 minutes with periodic gusts of wind, I found a phone booth and just sat there. It wasn't warm, but it wasn't windy.

4:50 AM - I exit the phone booth and hop on the train that was conveniently equipped with great A/C that also happened to be running.

5:02 AM - I left for the airport where I would wait for 4 hours before boarding on my flight to Cairo.

I know of only one person who has seen Zurich and hated it ... me.