After London I actually had a bit of time in Zug. But it was short lived. Wednesday the next week (8 days later), I left for Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) via South Africa. We flew over night, landed mid morning on Thursday and found out that most of Johannesburg (including our office and hotel) were running on generators and back up power. Apparently there had been some sort of accident or something. We never really got the full story.
Anyway, after a meeting or two and some nice meat and red wine filled meals, it was off to sleep early. We had an early flight out of SA to DRC. We were in a decent sized commercial plane, but on landing, realized the "airport" couldn't handle much larger. Actually it could barely handle what we were in, considering that when we turned to taxi off, we were at the end and still had some speed. We were processed through immigration where one guy looks at your yellow fever certificate and the other your passport. It took a second after I was through the line to realize not only did I not get my passport back, I wasn't going to. You see they take them and take them to the actual officer somewhere else to be stamped. I got my passport back about 4 days later. Not a good feeling to be without it!
We stayed at a good (all things considered) hotel and were driven into work every day. There isn't really anything to do there other than work so days were from about 7-6 for work, including Saturday (7-3). After two weeks, we were all exhausted. Plus since I ate a pressed cheese and tomato sandwich everyday (accompanied by a hard boiled egg and apple) for two weeks, I think I might be sick if I smell one again. It wasn't bad just a different experience, after all, it is Africa. The rules are different.
Thursday before Easter I flew out to Johannesburg, caught my flight up to Zurich (landed at 630am...) and got my train to Zug, then another train to southern Switzerland and my last train to Milan. All in all it took about 26 hours to get there from the office in DRC...
I was meeting my girlfriend Orlaith in Milan for the long weekend. We explored some of the small neighborhoods, ate plenty of gelato (super nutella is awesome), pizza, went to several street markets and saw the sights. There are some great parks and shopping (apparently), too.
One of the big attractions is the Duomo. The Duomo in Milan is a huge, awesome cathedral that you can walk along the roof. Another is the painting of the last supper but we couldn't get a reservation to go see it. Next time.
We had a good relaxed weekend. Monday afternoon she flew back to London and I caught more trains back to Zug (getting in about 1 am again...). Tip - never book the last train of the day, always make sure there is an alternative in case something happens, because it always does. At least the Swiss trains are good. If they make you miss your connection, they will get you there somehow, even if it means putting you in a taxi and paying (apparently).
The next week was short as I took Friday off and flew to London to see Orlaith.. Before I left, several of us from the office went down to Luzern to play paintball. Nothing like shooting the people you work with for some stress relief! Friday and the next Monday were holidays in London since it was the royal wedding. I was expecting traffic to be crazy but I got lucky in that the airport and tube route I took was on the other side of town as the wedding. After another nice relaxing weekend (I have to take them when I can, I have months of travel coming soon!), I flew back to Switzerland to get ready for the longest business trip I have done!!
No comments:
Post a Comment