Friday
18th September
Zürich
This
morning we awoke early to ready ourselves for the adventure ahead ...
only we didn't quite know what or where that was. Norbert and Gerd
have planned our day and it's a big surprise.
We
very reluctantly said our goodbyes to Gerd at the house. Norbert then
drove us to the train station and handed us an envelope. Contained
within was a 1st class ticket to Zürich, a voucher
for the five star Hotel Opera (bed and breakfast), two tickets to
tonight's performance of Don Giovanni at the Zürich Opera House
and 100 Swiss Francs to deal with the taxi ride to and from the
hotel. What can we say? We are blessed with wonderful friends and
look forward to the chance to host them in Australia in the,
hopefully, not too distant.
As
we speed across the German country side and head for the Switzerland,
we leave Germany with heavy hearts. Andy, Norbert and Gerd, have all
enriched our lives in so many ways. Once again, thank you all if you
happen to be reading this. You guys rock - please come down under and
play soon!
We
arrived in Zürich at 1:00pm and headed straight to the Hotel
Opera as per our instructions. A beautiful hotel right next to the
opera house and one block from the lake.
We
headed out to pick up the opera tickets and then to walk the quaint
and picturesque streets. Highlights being the Grossmunster (double
dildo cathedral – obvious when you see it), the lovely Lindenhof
park, the beautiful Zürichsee (lake) and the narrow lanes that
wind their way through the city. Every imaginable luxury store is
here and prices that need to be seen to be believed. The cars here,
too, are almost exclusively luxury. Mazzarati, Mercedes, BMW Austin
Martin etc .... not like down town Petersham!
Lunch
was a wurst by the lake. Two sausages at a road-side stall will set
you back $40 Aus. Tasty nonetheless. Then we headed onto the ferris
wheel near the opera house for a birds eye view of the city.
Gorgeous!
A
night at the opera ... what to wear? As we are travelling lite we
really don't have a spare dinner suite between us. Nic did, however,
get the change to air his “good” black pants for the first time
on the journey.
We
began with a complimentary glass of champagne at the Hotel Opera
Restaurant and then meandered across the road to the Opera House.
Somehow, Norbert and Gerd had secured us two of the best seats in the
house at a very short notice. How did they do this?
The
house is a small opera theatre that has a stunning baroque interior
and was packed for the performance. It was fun to be able to see the
orchestra in front of the stage rather than hidden in the pit as at
the Sydney Opera House.
The
performance was sublime, a mixture of Mozart's enchanting music and
outstanding performances. We both left the theatre with grins from
ear to ear babbling about our favourite parts and scenes. Norbert
and Gerd, how can we ever thank you? And to add to the German
generosity, thanks boys for the new i-pod Nano. This has solved our
music shortfall and with the aid of the Italians (ie Sergio), we know
have 36 hours of gay anthems all in equipment less than the size of
a matchbox. Bless you all!
Surprisingly,
Zürich turned out to have a buzzy nightlife. After the opera we
headed out into boytown and had a fun time, finally crashing into our
super comfortable bed at 1:00am. What a day!
