I was up reasonably early for breakfast, given not having slept much the night before on account of my body wanting to stay awake to continue the herculean task of digesting supper. I was also, truth be told, engaged in a battle to the death struggle for domination with Lisa on one of our interminable online games of Spite and Malice. 2 days later though, I can report that - finally - I won. Thank god that's over. Loopy - as promised, here are some pictures of the famous Pillow Origami (so that you, too, can recreate this special effect in the comfort of your own home).
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| Pillow origami #1 - the "Giant Fortune Cookie" design classic |
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| Pillow origami #2 - the "OMG - its completely different bedroom decor!" design |
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| Door leading downstairs to the cellar and restaurant. No chance of making a run for it if you try to skip out on your bill!! |
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| Fabulously fragrant lilies in the elegant lobby of the hotel. |
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| Stealth pillow origami was everywhere! Even in my favorite little nook. Still a completely spectacular view |
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| Didn't really notice this piece of artwork last night. Room service, perhaps? |
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| Swiss shower cap. Obviously they either have very small heads or i have approximately 300% more hair than the average Swiss. Not sure how I feel about that. |
Breakfast was very nice, though I really wasn't hungry (but felt I had to eat it, seeing as it was included in the room rate!) but appreciated the mind-crunchingly strong coffee, especially after not much sleep. I had a late check-out booked, so I spent a very pleasant couple of hours just blogging away, sitting again in my now favorite spot in the panoramic lounge. The weather was starting to think about possibly getting better at some point in the day, but it hadn't quite made up its mind yet, so it was still rather grey and overcast which was a bit of a shame.
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| The stylish bar at the Art Deco Hotel Montana |
The Hemingway bar was beautiful, all decked out in purple and jazz, and everyone in there was suitably Sunday-chilled out, so it was a very relaxed way to relax before my hour's relaxing massage. Which was fab - and relaxing. For a change, I didn't go for the deep tissue "OWWWWW that hurts but is hopefully doing some good"option, but instead the "ahhhhhh….thats really nice and relaxing" option instead. Good call, me.
After the massage, there was just time enough for a quick bite to eat (all that lying around was hard work) before having the hotel call me a cab ("you're a cab!) and head back to the train station. Instead of heading straight back to Zurich, I actually stopped at a town called Zug on the way back through (obviously the town planners here liked the letter "Z") to meet up with some old friends from NYC days, Malcolm, Kate and their 2 kids Izzy and Sebby. Last time I saw them, Izzy was still a little baby and Sebby wasn't yet in existence - and now he'd just celebrated his 7th birthday!! So, how the time flies!!! But - as with all people who are just good eggs - neither of them had changed (or even aged!) a bit, so it was great to catch up with them and find out who from our mutual circle of acquaintances has been doing what. Seems as if everyone in our industry has been at some point affected by a similar "transformation" as the one I'm going through now, so that was somewhat comforting to hear - it really can happen to anyone, anytime.
So, I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours with Malc, Kate and the kids (who were brilliant - very polite, well-behaved and such a welcome change from the brattish kids that seem to predominate in the US!) in Zug, down by the lakefront. I have some lovely pics of the sun setting over the lake - i'll add those to the blog later. Some pizza (not for me, though - i'm on a diet) and a glass or two of red wine later (oh, OK - it has antioxidants in so its good for my platelets), it was time to bid them bye for now, and hop back on the train for the short ride back to Zurich. One change at Zurich HB, then arriving at the flughafen, before finally catching the tram to the hotel and I was back. A great little weekend jaunt - will definitely have to do it again (this time stopping by Bern on the way to visit another ex-PFE colleague who lives here!) and hopefully when the weather is better so I can see the mountains!! But, in the meantime, enjoy the last few pics!
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| The single best invention in modern history. Period. |
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| See??? See what happens when you press the button??? Sheer fizzy magic!!! |
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| OMG OMG! It happened AGAIN!!! |
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| View through the donut hole from my massage table. Thought that was quite a nice touch, really. |
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| The cigar room part of the bar, equally as grandiose as the lounge bar at the Chateau |
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| Of course. A cigar tower. What else would you expect to find? |
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| Proof that the sun finally made an appearance in Lucerne |
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| Couldn't quite figure this one out, so don't know if I would have overachieved on this or not. |
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| Sun!! Bridge in Lucerne! Pointy towers!! |
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| Impressive gate to the railway station |
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| Reminiscent of a lounge bar in NYC (except nicer) - the spacious - and very socially oriented - 1st class carriage on SBB, the local Swiss train operator. Shame it was just me up there! |
3 comments:
Perfect conclusion to your away day weekend, we all enjoyed it, thank you. The only thing that would have improved it would have been a red button for lattes and another for chocolate. But then I would never have left that hotel !! Still trying to decide if you have abnormally large head or Medusa hair but on reflection must conclude that , indeed , the Swiss have small ,bald heads ! xxxxxxx
i love the first class!! very nice! and what an antidote to stress! love the big button but agree with mum should be separate one for choccy and coffee!! and you dont have a big head just big hair!! thank you again for the good blog and fab piccies and think i could karate chop some pillows into my own origami! lots love xxxxxxxx
I think you have 300% more hair than the average Swiss. Love the pillows - actually that bed looks very comfy and snuggly. I think we should all move here. It is beautiful.
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