I left my little village of about 3,000 inhabitants in Seengen at 6.58 taking the bus to the station 20 minutes away. I had a heavy suitcase to lift, which kept falling over everytime the bus went round the corner or stopped suddenly at traffic lights. When I arrived at the station I had a short wait for my train to take me to the airport. The Swiss are a very punctual race by nature and all the buses and trains run on time. The train that I had caught was a stopping train which meant that it stopped at every town along the route into Zurich but finally I arrived at the Main station. There I had to catch another train just for 8 minutes to the airport.
After I`d checked in at the airport I did a bit of shopping and had a coffee because I was a too early for my flight. When they called the flight to board we were all herded into buses and taken out on to the runway to climb the steps of the plane. The flight that I took is called a "low-cost" or "no-frills"one because they offer very few luxuries as on other schedules flights. Food and drink is offered but you have to pay for it and you aren`t given a seat number so sometimes it can be a real scrum to get to a seat.
We took off on time and the sky was a beautiful colour blue as we crossed the English channel you could look down and see the sun sparkling on the water below. Unfortunately, as we started our descent into Luton the clouds hovered around and the sky became overcast although it was still warm.
My case arrived speedily on the luggage conveyor belt and I walked straight over to pick up a car that I`d hired as it would take me 4 hours to drive up to Hull. On my way, however, I stopped off in Lincoln for some lunch....my favourite....fish & chips. Have you tried fish & chips yet ? They are delicious. Hull used to have a very big fishing industry but gradually this century it has declined due to fewer fish in the sea and European Union fishing quotas.
Having finished my fish & chips I drove north over the Humber bridge to find my accommodation. I was very impressed by the town as I drove through it and the friendliness of the people.
The next day was the beginning of a new adventure.
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Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteThanks for inviting me to join your blog - good to see things are going nicely in Hull! For those who don't know me, I'm English, but live in Germany, where I teach English at Munich University and I'm studying with Carol on a distance degree at Manchester University. Funny how paths cross.
Just wanted to say, Carol, that when I go over to England with the family and cross the channel by ferry, the first thing we do in England is go to Folkestone where there's this great fish and chips place. It's a tradition! We often stay in a place called Wells in the North Norfolk coast where everybody sits on the see wall, watching the tide come in (and go out), eating their fish and chips. So maybe it's true what they say about the Brits and fish and chips (although we do eat lots of other things, too :-)).
This is the first time that I came to Hull. Before coming here,I have a lot of imagination about my life in Hull. In there short days in Hull, I have a lot to say. Hull is a small city with nice people, comfortable temperatures. The most I want to say is that people here are really friendly.For example, in the first day, I asked a local driver about the way to the nearest supermarket in the Lawns, the driver showed me kindly and would love to take me there.
ReplyDeleteAnother point I want to talk about is that the city is clean and beautiful. I am so impressed by the sky here,because it is so beautiful just like a painting.
At the same time, I love the buildings here, which is so different from Chinese building style. In Britain, the houses are built with natural brick colours and each house has its own yard, in which people can plant some flowers and others. In the evening, when I walk in the street and look though the windows into the houses, I feel moved by the family atmosphere in the houses.
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteIsn`t strange how we associate food with what we miss. All the Chinese students talk about how bad the food is, and it is here in the canteen.
We have enormous portions of chips, jacket potatoes, rice, pasta, all at one sitting. Very little in the way of vegetables. The salad and fruit disappeared off the menu tonight too! It`s such a shame that the students will get the impression that we all eat like this.
Last night I went out with a friend to a local pub and had a roast from the carvery, yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes the works, but again enormous portions. No wonder everyone is slightly overweight here.