Zurich 19/7

Milan to Zurich 19/7 - Single room Comfort Inn Hotel

Woke up a little hung-over again and checked out. Unlocked my bicycle that I had chained up inside the hostel because there was no spots left on the BikiMi rack outside the hostel, and went for a ride to Piazza Duomo. Found the square alright using Google maps, took a few photos and then realised my rear tyre was flat, so I swapped out my bike at the Duomo bike point, only for it warn me that I can only use a bike for 2 hours at a time, whoops.

I ate some hangover Maccas, bought some cold’n’flu tablets, and found a Barclays bank to withdraw some cash. Which I did, but it ended up eating my card as it gave me the cash first and then I got distracted. I freaked out a fair bit, before quickly reframing my mindset and talking to the security guard. Knowing I could do nothing about it, I rode on and found a massive Fort in the centre of Milan, surrounded by park land and a big Arch way after that, which were both very impressive.

Rode back via the Square and returned my bike. Then decided to try and get my card again, had to wait about half an hour for them to get back from lunch, then a lady from the bank appeared said she could give me my card as long as my bank gave them permission, after a lengthy amount of times and costly Telstra phone calls, I had my card cancelled, and then another one half organised because they couldn’t post it out to me as I had no permanent address. Once I realised I was getting nowhere, I spoke to the lady and saw my card, there, on her desk stapled to a bit of paper. I could of begged her, used my usually successful charm, recited my card number along with my passport, that surely would have been enough. But it was useless, as my card had already been cancelled, I slumped to the ground in front of her, knowing I had been defeated, thanked her and left the Bank.

I returned to the hostel, grabbed my gear and jumped on a tram to the station after I agreed to meet Isabelle in Zurich at 9pm. 

As I got off the train with my full backpack and I checked my phone, then seconds later to be greeted by a scream and Isabelle throwing herself onto me. I did surprisingly well to stay upright, it was so good to see her after my relatively shit day.

She took me to the hotel her Mum had organised, freshened up and went out for dinner at what I thought was an expensive restaurant, but 49CHF was the going price for a Rib-eye steak, which was amazing by the way. After dinner we went on a pub crawl, one drink, one bar, and started at a gay bar for a laugh. Both pretty intoxicated and it being 1am she had to catch a train, we agreed to meet up the next day for breakfast. I got back to my room and passed out immediately.

Zurich 20/7 - Single room Comfort Inn Hotel

I woke up several times in the small space of 6 or 7 hours, thinking I had overslept but I hadn’t. I got up 2 hours early anyway, and did a few push-ups, lunges and dips. Then went downstairs and found out I had buffet breakfast included.

I went back to my room and used the Wi-Fi for a while before Isabelle knocked on my door, we decided to go for a walk around Zurich and down the river to the lake via some clothing stores and a supermarket. We bought her some breakfast as I forgot we had agreed to have it together, and a bottle of red wine for the picnic by the lake.

Found a spot under a tree and laid down in the shade, intermittently passing out shortly after, an hour or two later I had a swim in the lake. It was surprisingly warm, but a struggle to swim in as I couldn’t float in the fresh water too well. I got out and we went to the Chinese garden, which was pretty cool, then went to a kids play park that had a rock climbing wall, and I obliterated that in a minute or two.

We headed back to the Comfort Inn as I couldn’t find any other reasonably priced hostels or hotels, I had a quick shower then we went out for dinner and had yet another expensive dinner, but it was a delicious Mexican meal. 

After dinner we went on another pub crawl, but ended it after the first bar as we couldn't find anything happening that early, so we went to the supermarket and bought some cheap vodka and orange juice. We finished the bottle over an hour or two by the lake, and listen to music. As I planned to skydive the next day we called it a night and said our farewells.