On Boredom, Art and Mountains…

I have been bouncing around like a pinball in Zurich, killing time before my next move (to Dublin on Wednesday), and am beginning to go stir crazy. Everything here is too perfect. Even the hoodlum kids who drink beer by the riverbank dutifully deposit their empties into the nearby garbage cans. The closest I have gotten to a seedy underbelly of this city was drinking absinthe with a couple of leery but very nerdy Swiss men that I met in a pub near my hotel.

At the very least, there is some decent art to be seen. I spent an entire afternoon at the Kunsthaus, checking out the Rodin exhibit and their varied permanent collection, and another at the industrial design museum which had a couple of very specialized exhibits. A third afternoon was spent in the park by the lake, reading Chuck Palahniuk (you were right, Jesus! I loved it!) and checking out the Le Courboisier Pavilion (closed, unfortunately, but neat from the outside anyway).

Today I took the train into Luzern to spend the day. Luzern is a bit smaller than Zurich, but just as idyllic. The air is a bit crisper, and you can see the mountains (see photo above). I walked around for 5 hours, visiting the churches and crisscrossing the river over the two medieval bridges. I conquered my fears and climbed the stairs of the ancient city ramparts to enjoy the spectacular view. And of course, I continued my ongoing quest to take a decent self-portrait without feeling like a complete dork (as yet unsuccessful)…

Now I’m back at my hotel, where I plan to spend the evening watching CSI in three languages (it’s equally predictable in German) and eating chocolate in bed…

Happy Easter!