Don’t fancy yours much…
The weather has been great here in Switzerland/Austria for the European Championships, which Spain managed to win. Last week, despite Google Weather saying it was going to rain, it averaged about 33ºC in the shade and the temperature in the apartment hit nearly 40ºC on one day.
This morning before leaving for work, I was watching the BBC news on breakfast telly and they were talking about the NHS 60th Birthday. There was one grossly overweight chap an there who was saying that the NHS was a great thing as, with his heart condition, he’d have found it very difficult to pay for all the treatment he needed. Lucky for him that I’ve been eating less so I can pay all that NHS tax for the past 35-odd years then!
Other news was the usual stuff, teenager brother of some Eastenders star stabbed to death in London, old lady being continually terrorised by a gang of kids on her doorstep, people afraid to go to hospital for fear of catching a superbug, not to mention the credit crunch.
Then the weather, high 20’s in London. OK, it’ll be a little warmer here in Zürich, low 30’s for this week, but my journey to work will still be better. I have a 3 minute walk to catch the bus. It’ll drive me through the countryside to the train station, I’ll get straight on the train and after I’ll jump on a tram.
All of these modes of transport are air conditioned, clean and quiet, I’ll get a seat on all of them, all of them will be bang on time, all of them are synchronised so I’m not hanging around anywhere. The best bit is that it costs me 147CHF (£70) for a monthly travelcard all over central Zürich and in my area.
I get flashbacks of travel into London, no train seats, crammed underground trains with no noticeable air-con, delays everywhere and extortionate ticket prices. You can keep your warm summer days in the capital for the time being, thanks!
However, because it’s a bit hilly here, the bus/train/tram route takes about an hour each way, whereas the road route that goes over the hills is only about 20-something minutes. So, I’m thinking it’s time to ditch the public transport and get another motorbike!
