HAPPY NEW YEAR in Zurich

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Friday 31st December – Day 91
Our flight from LA to Zurich was 11 hours and we touched down on time at 3:45pm. We found out when we checked in our bags that we wouldn’t see them again until Cairo, so it was just us, the clothes we were wearing, our day bags and our sleeping bags (allowed as carry-on). Back into German as well, so we found the train station and headed into the city as that's apparently the easiest way to get to our hotel. And it was. Out of the train station, it was just a quick stroll across the bridge, dodging cars and trams, our street was first up, and straight down there was our hotel. One block back from the river, it was nice and easy. Checked in, and then had a nice rest as we hadn't got much (any) sleep on the plane, and we needed to stay up til midnight for the fireworks. Actually, in Zurich, the fireworks go off at 12:20am, weird.....
After a kip (Jess), and some TV (Mischa), we left the hotel at 9pm for some food. For New Years, they have stalls selling all kinds of stuff set up along the river and around the Lake, so we headed towards that area. The cathedrals and a few other buildings were lit up, so it was quite pretty. In between the peaceful atmosphere though, you had to watch what was happening around you, as the locals were letting off fireworks everywhere. It was great to see fireworks so close, but a bit scary in case something went wrong!! There weren't too many people around, but we got to the main part and found a hamburger stall so grabbed that, then Mischa had to try a Bratwurst sausage, so grabbed that too. We then realised that we still had to kill 2 hours before midnight, and we were starting to get cold. To fix this, we walked around the area again, had a look in Starbucks but there were no seats, and eventually ended up at the same place, lucky for us they had nice warm Crepe's with Nutella for sale, so that was dessert. It was edging toward 11:15pm by then, and it was starting to get busy, so we found a nice spot to sit on the edge of the Lake to sit it out for the fireworks. Over the next hour, it really filled up. Lots of kids, and a bunch next to us smoking pot so we moved forward to get a better view. Midnight came and went (we don't really know when cause there isn't a countdown...) and we stood around til 12:20am to wait for the fireworks. Again, in the lead-up there was more and more fireworks going off, some whizzing by our heads a bit too-close-for-comfort. When the fireworks finally did go off, it was definitly worth it, but nothing like Aussie fireworks. They lasted for about 20mins, and that was that. They said in the brochure that about 200,000 people converge on the Lake to watch, and at the start we didn't think it was possible. At the end of the fireworks, we could see why. We just moved with the crowd in the general direction of our hotel, and didn't really have a choice. When the street got wider, we did then have a say on which way we went, so when we got closer to our hotel, we jumped into the right street and headed up for a nice long 5hr sleep until 6am!!! Welcome to 2011!!

Day 92 - Zurich - Cairo
The alarm went off at 6am, and we could've easily stayed in bed. But we had a flight at 9:45am to Cairo that we just had to be on. Mischa had locked the passports and stuff in the hotel safe overnight (and while watching the fireworks), and so after packing the bags, we were ready to leave at 6:30am. Unfortunately, the safe wouldn't open....at all!! After ringing the desk, the clerk told us he didn't know how to fix our problem, and there would be someone come on at 7am that could, so we had to wait it out. VERY FRUSTRATING and worrying that we could miss our flight, we were VERY thankful when the new clerk arrived early. Unfortunately, she was only new, and didn't know what to do either. She rang the safe company and they told her there would be a master key to open it. After she tried all the keys, Mischa had a go and opened it finally. By then it was 7am, so we quickly checked out, and rushed to the airport. Again, we got there by train, and it was nice and fast. We did make it, with plenty of time, and grabbed some breakfast before jumping on the 'short (4 hrs)' flight to Cairo, Egypt.

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