SUNDAY 19 JUNE Posted 3 weeks later.
ZuerichRain. We take the bus and tram to the Hauptbahnhof where a full Viennese orchestra is playing, then tickets to the steepest conventional railway in the world up the Oetliberg, Zuerich’s “house mountain.” The ticket for Milo was an eye-watering 32 SFr so I declined to pay it and we had to smuggle him on without Von noticing.  Die Chris was tardy in taking her seat, so I called her ‘Frau Langsam’ which made an Indian couple sitting nearby burst into sudden gales of laughter.

Die Chris, der David und die Von

At the top of the hill there were hundreds of people walking, enjoying the great views over Zuerich and the lake, and a large restaurant. The new bits had apparently been added without planning permission and there was an ongoing battle between the miscreant and the city. There was an Aussichtturm looking like a pylon or a pyramid made of scaffolding. I didn’t climb it. We walked down a steep set of steps in the hillside and set off for a five mile hike along the Planetenweg to the cable car at Felsing.

Milo in clover on the Oetliberg

The Planetenweg starts with a great yellow globe representing the Sun, then along the way are placed the planets in proportional size and distance from the Sun. Mercury is a pinprick a few hundred yards along the path — we reach Neptune, the size of a tennis ball, after and hour and a half’s walking. Fascinating and educative. And simple enough to copy anywhere.

The cable car coming to take us down

We came down from the ‘house mountain’ by cable car. So that’s Milo’s first tram, train & cable car. Shopping at the Hauptbahnhof on return; Von & Milo waiting outside the shop were greeted with ‘how beautiful, how cleeeean’ about Milo. Purr.

David printed out Google map directions (in German) for each stage of our onward journey. Milo volunteered to visit the bantams in the garden and returned up two storeys with an undamaged egg held carefully in his soft mouth.

Five of us played noisy, lovely Pit in the evening, then watched ‘Across The Universe’. Why hadn’t I heard of this film, a bleaker, Beatles version of Mama Mia? Milo was content. There we were, sitting and watching telly. Life back to normal.

Forget to photograph the beautiful Fritz daughters. Your loss. We said our goodbyes on Sunday night because the house would be emptying early Monday morning. Crime is low in Zuerich so don’t bother to lock up, said David. Blimey.

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