Relax... It's Just Switzerland

Sorry for yelling at you in my last post. The hustle in London went to my head. If I stayed longer in London, with all the tourists who take pictures from phone boots, the overground trains that operate underground, and employers who use their lunch break to run, my rage level would have raised more. Instead, I went to Zurich to come down. Switzerland is well known as a spot for recovery. It's better known yet for banks. That sounds like a cliche but it's not. I asked a group of young people who live in Zurich "who works in a bank?" Three out of five raised their hand - only three. The fourth said not yet. Four out of five - that sounds about right.  
Zurich is in the German speaking part of Switzerland. They speak Swiss German which is a dialect of German. I had no problem to read all signs and bill boards. But it was difficult for me to understand Swiss people talking while they didn't have any problems to understand my high German. So, it was the opposite of my US experience.

The Londonian

I was in London. In my humble opinion, the best way to discover a city is by feet, so I walked a lot. It was a challenge for me not to bump into other people because they walked all on the wrong side. Everything moves on the wrong side: people, cars, escalators, trains. I know what you are about to say: "They move on the other side but that does not mean it is the wrong side." Other countries have other habits yada yada yada but they do really drive on the wrong side. England does not want to adapt to the majority. After all England is an island. I know "England is not an island, Great Britain is." Whatever.
I walked to different attractions. They have a lot of them in London. There are a lot of war monuments in London. Every members of the United Kingdom has a war memorial somewhere in London, like the Canadian memorial in Green Park close to Buck Palace.

I know what you are about to say: "Canada is not member of the United Kingdom, it is part of the Commonwealth."
Did I meet the Queen in London? No, I have not. But reliable sources suggest I saw Prince Williams.    

Wow, Prince Williams - he's going to be the next King. I know what you are about to say "Prince Williams is not next in the succession."
After my trip to Athens, I posted a selfie with the Acropolis in the background. Why not finish this post with a selfie in front of an iconic site in London? And what site would be more iconic than the tower Big Ben?  "Big Ben is not the name of the tower, it is the name of the ..." What's going on? Why are you so pernickety today? THAT'S IT - NO SELFIE FOR YOU.

20 again

People often think I’m younger than I really am. As a kid I was really annoyed when people said “O you’re 13? I thought you're nine!” Nowadays, people make my day when they think I’m in my early twenties. I hit the big 1 (one billion second), and that was some years back. 

I’m posting this in the internet, which shares the same experience. When asked how old the internet is, people often think of their analog modem that made terrible noises: “That was the end of the nineties, right? Maybe 20 years give or take one or two years?” 
No, the internet started in 1969, so, it is 46 years now. Even the world wide web, or “the web”, is from 1989, so 26 years old. When people say "the internet is in it’s early twenties", they probably make internet’s day.

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Lost in Torrent

Finally, I was  on the island Sylt. The beach I went to was a beautiful one next to a nudist beach. The weather was nice, not too hot or too cold and the water temperature was pleasant, not like the other times I went for a swim. One thing that happened was I lost my glasses in the water and the torrent of water took it away before I could get it back. So, I am next to a nudist beach and the first thing I do is lose my glasses. By now, the glasses could be anywhere in the seven seas. If by any chance you find my glasses in Tanna, Vanuatu, send me a message. It’s like a message in the bottle I send just with my glasses instead of a bottle and my glasses instead of a message.

The glasses were old and didn’t fit well. Just a few weeks ago, I played basketball and several times after I made a sudden move the glasses took off my face. The flying glasses weren’t the worst thing that happened to me during that game. 

Beside the lost glasses, it was a fun trip and I could extend my extremes by a hair's breadth. It was a lot of fun. I played frisbee and Hooverball. Unfortunately, my shoulders got a sun burn and my muscles become sore from Hooverball. So now, it hurts from inside and the outside. I was worried that without glasses I wouldn’t be able to play, but I did well, as far as I could tell. Nonetheless, I want to be prepared for the unforeseen. Therefore, I am going to buy some emergency contact lenses, you know, for the next time I’m close to a nudist beach and lose my glasses.