Flying low cost is not for me. is like best-price product in supermarket, M-Budget. huge confusion, all portuguese to get in first. baby crying all time, no free nothing. But they know how to do thing with misbehaving people: airplane opens very early while putting fuel; no delay departure; arrival at gate, no bus; lights off until completely stops – people this way do not stand or put mobile phone on. Just claps. Portuguese stuff.
This post is those kind of stupid posts where one compares the beauty and the beast.
Friday morning it was raining like hell, I was by car in the morning doing Nyon-CERN, taking one of the main entry points of Geneva.
At the beginning of the week I read that in Portugal on Monday there were 15 dead in car accidents, the double of the average, because of the rain.
I was thinking, on the car going 100km/h, better to go a bit slow but arrive faster. Everyone was thinking the same way. The traffic was exactly the same any other day, almost stopping at Coppet, but rolling in good cadence. Maybe even better than the normal as the bigger distance between cars led to less breaking.
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In Portugal when you are about to arrive to a roundabout, in a case where there is the minimum signalization you have: 200m away – info about directions, danger, max 50; 100m away – loss of priority in 100m, max 30; on the spot – loss of priority, roundabout, mandatory go right.
In Switzerland the usual signalization for a roundabout is: 200m away – info about directions; on the spot – loss of priority, roundabout. The rest is on responsability of the driver. No ‘danger’ sign, no max speeds, no superfluous stuff.
In Nyon in one roundabout, 50m before they even have a sign: end of max 60 (meaning now max is 80)! When you pass that sign everyone goes at 30km/h or you might crash to the roundabout.
Ends up in the usual cold because of the freezing houses (+10 outside means +10 inside) but included two sea baths and walk in t-shirt and shorts.
Also have a terrible visions of daily car accidents, constant speeding and parking without any consideration for the pedestrians and security.
This time I had the opportunity to discover hidden beauties of Porto and Monserraz. My university friends and other friends touch my heart and I did not want to leave.
Coimbra had changed a lot, people and the city. The trip included also Évora, train to Régua, quick pass in Sintra and Ericeira.
Christmas I see what’s new.
In a hurry I arrived to the train without wallet. Just after the moment of the ‘sorry, I forgot everything at home’ the guy next to me ‘I’ll pay his ticket’. Every single person has his good side. Wait a bit and you will see it. (His good side was the left)
J’ai senti une énorme humiliation l’autre jour quand, dans une montée en vélo, je suis dépassé par une femme habillé en tailleur. On devrai interdire les vélos électriques.
Last summer I jumped from the bridge and let the current to take me here. The water is transparent. Last thursday I was almost jumping inside, if the weather would be a bit better.
It was during a ‘critical mass’ event, last friday of the month, when bikers of the city get together to disturb the traffic. We end up in the river. At night I followed the proposal of a party in the forest (on the left) and end up in a birthday party in the complete middle of nowhere but about 1km from Geneva. It was fun.
I had an adventurous return home. Still at CERN and the cable of front derailleur of the bike broke with the tension. I expected it since some days but I hoped to last until some bad weather or some trip so I would put the bicycle for a check-up. No gears means go slowly and many leg rotations. Max speed was 18km/h in the flat. As it was late to arrive on time for the bike shop by my place I stopped at athleticum, the big sport shop on the way home. And I saw the dog I was missing the other day when I did not have locker for the bike.
I always wonder how quiet are the dogs in Swiss (as the germans say in ‘french’ for Switzerland).
I got the cable (cable de freins) hoping it would be the same as for gears. My bike knowledge is at same level as for cars. I only know how to change from winter to summer tires.
Arrived hope, some centuries after my departure, the cable was too thick for the work. Zut!, got E. bike and went to a see where I will take my car in middle of Russia in some months from now. I hope. And maybe I should also get a dog for guarding the car.
I believe that with time this could be a long series of postings. Things that you don’t learn when you are tourist in Switzerland but, with time, understand why this country become one with the highest quality of living in the world nowadays (apart of having all the terrorists money in their banks).
Above is the back part of one of the millions of bikes going around here. But is also a funny example of the age of the bike. Those stamps, a bit like in Coimbra’ university we were doing with the Burn of Ribbons (queima das fitas) annual party stamps, are mandatory. They are the third-party insurance for the bike (and rider) if he provokes an accident. They cost 7chf (4 eur) and are sold everywhere (supermarket, post-office, gas-station, …). Then they are valid for up to 17 months (January to May next year).
The funny point is that on my last year trip to the Gambia, the smallest country in Africa, when we rented a bike, one of them had a swiss insurance stamp of 95. Would you say a swiss guy cycled there? Some family transported in the boot on their holidays? Or that some other european tourist is precisely now riding my stolen bike with the 05 stamp in some African country?
(written on 8th August 2006, hexapla)
A Toyota Yaris, a woman gets out, closes the door, goes in front of the car to check the lights are off, verifies if door is locked and also if the trunk is locked. Only after she goes work. It’ s 8am. I see this scene everyday from my kitchen’s window. And if she would look at me? Would she see me everyday eating bread with honey?
Photo: the women checking her car one of these mornings (taken 5th March 2007)