Istanbul

Turkey's trip turned out to be not-a-good trip for me. In fact, I regret to describe this trip as a total disappointment, as all I've seen is the unpleasant side of Istanbul.

In summary, I don't get to see Istanbul as what it is famous to the world. Although I stay there for 4 days, I have spent most of the time in traffic congestion, travelling from a messy town to another messy town to meet the not so interesting customers, till 7-8 pm.

From this experience, it's not too much to jump to the conclusion that any other places other than those tourist attraction is not worth going at all. Or one would simply find himself or herself trap in traffic congestion everywhere around Istanbul, and disappointed when reach the small town which is dirty, messy & non attractive.

The road that leads to my customer's office.

Most of the time, the cars just won't form in line, and I heard my agent cursed the other drivers for at least 10 times in a day.

The view as seen from my agent's office.

The famous Bosphorus Straits, that divide the Asia continent and Europe continent.

The typical Turkish foods taste better than my expectation though.

I especially like their bread, all sorts of bread, for example this one.

The last night before going back to HK, the big boss treated me a good dinner near Bosphorus straits. Too bad the sky was all dark by the time we get there, but that's the only pleasant moment I had in that 4-day time.

Couldn't get good photo at night time with my low version camera. Sigh..

The foods are general good. I have a whole sea pass on my dish. After finishing up this side dish, I felt so full that I almost want to throw up.

On the last day, I met the customers until 7.30 pm again. Then, my agent drove me to the airport. I just felt so relieved, total relieved !!!

Fly Above the Snow Mountain

From Zurich to Istanbul, the plane flew across these ranges of alps.

I felt so delighted to get to see the top of the snow mountains, which can only be seen by taking a helicopter if not by plane.

When the alps were out of my sight, I guess that's the time we entered the sky zone of Turkey.

Lucerne

On Sunday morning, I woke up very early to catch the flight to Zurich.

I deliberately plan to fly to Zurich on Sunday because my Swiss customer, Christa had arranged some activities for me on that day.

Good bye Munich...

The flying time was about 50 min only. Great !

Don't know what's that lake called? I guess Zurich is around that area.

Before flying to Switzerland, Christa had given me a few choices, which was mountain trip, lake trip or city walk. Not wanting to put too much pressure on her, I said we should just follow the weathers. She agreed.

The plane touched down Zurich Airport at around 10 am. Soon when I clear the immigration, I saw my customer was waiting for me in the arriving hall.

The weather was not so friendly that day. Christa told me there could be a thunder storm in the afternoon time. Anyway, she still drove me to Lucerne for a tour. She said if the weather was not permitted, she would drive me to her house after the city tour. Whatever, I told her it would be alright to me.

Christa would like to take me for a cruise ride round the lake. Sounds good to me.

View across Lake Lucerne.

After 10 minutes walking, we arrived at the ticket counter.

While waiting for Christa to purchase the ticket, I looked around the place quick. That's the main railway station in Lucerne.

The Chapel Bridge with its water tower as seen in the middle. Christa said she will take me to the bridge for a walk after the cruise trip, if not raining.

The cruise that we were going to board is same like this one....

We sat at the upper deck instead...

Most of the buildings that is facing the lake are hotels. Christa said they charge bloody expensive. Well, I won't be surprised to hear that.

Hotels...

Chapel Bridge, as seen from the far.

I would like to take more photos, but feeling not so-good to leave my Swiss friend alone. So, most of the time, we chatted instead. That's one of the restriction I feel when travel with non-family member.

I asked Christa when was the last time she took this cruise ride? She thought for quite a while then said probably she didn't take it for more than 10 years. Well, that's very understandable.

Has been going very far away from the pier now.

The sky looks not-so handsome anymore. I preyed in my heart that rain won't pour on us that soon....

A town nearby Lucern.

A small town nearby Lucern.

Christa told me most of the local people will come here for a short break instead of Lucerne. This is because this town is less crowded by tourists, and of course, much cheaper.

I also feel that this town is more peaceful than Lucern itself.

Just when the cruise turne andheaded back to the pier, the rain started. We got to move into the deck for shelter. Christa bought me a simple lunch on the boat. Too bad we had to stay inside for the rest of the ride.

The rain didn't stop a little bit after we get off the boat. Somehow, we still managed to run to Chapel Bridge site...

The Chapel Bridge (German : Kapellbrucke) is a covered wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss River in the city of Lucerne.

The Chapel Bridge is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, as as well the world's oldest surviving truss bridge. It serves as the city's symbol and as one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions.

The bridge initially had a length of over 200 m. But due to numerous shortenings throughout the years and river bank replenishment, the total length has become 170 m now.

Named after the nearby St. Peter's Chapel, the bridge is unique since it contains a number of interior painting dating back to the 17th century, depicts events from Lucern's history.

Out of the original 158 paintings, a total of 147 existed before the 1993 fires. After the fire, the remains of 47 painting were collected, but only 30 were ultimately fully restored.

The view of Lucern from Chapel Bridge.

The view from this angle is very beautiful.

I remember I used to feed the swans with bread when I first visit Lucern back in 14 years ago. Wonder if any of them still alive?

The rain started to pour like big beans at that time. In fact, the rain even turn into hail stones when Christa wanted to drive us away from Lucern. She got to pool her way aside for safety reason, and she is worried if those stones would get any bigger that they will scratch her new car. I worried too.

After 5 min, the stones became rain again, Christa quickly drove away the city. She brought me to her house located in a country side, which is absolutely a good place for living. Their house is a bungalow type, with a big garden in front of the living hall. We sat in her garden, sipping the coffee, munching the cookies, feeling the cool gentle breeze on the face...Christa said that's what they normally do in every weekend. Well, if I have a garden like this, I would probably do the same too. I felt grateful that I have a chance to visit a local family and get to see the life of theirs.

While Christa was preparing for dinner in her big kitchen, I chatted with her husband and her 15-year-old son. Although they speak not-so-good English, they are friendly person and willing to talk to a stranger me. Dinner was BBQ plus some salad and pasta, with red wine of course. Just perfect.

After the dinner, I asked Christa to drive me to the hotel, which is about 15 minutes from her house.

My room in Best Western Hotel, Baden.

After shover, I prepared for the next day's meeting a little bit. Then, I went to sleep straight away.

The next morning, I woke up early and went down to the restaurant for buffet breakfast. Surprisingly, the foods are considered very good if compared to many other place I've been. I really enjoyed it.

Christa came to pick me up on time, at 8.30 am. Then we drove straight to the Germany's border to meet a new customer. Overall speaking, the meetings in the morning & afternoon time is not so tough. I think that's because Christa had done a good job to serve the customers all this time.

At evening time, Christa and her boss, and a fellow colleague, took me to a local hotel for dinner. They recommended a typical Swiss dish to me, called Rosti served with meat. Rosti is essentially a fried potato pancake, the possibilities for customization are truly endless.

My customer said they have never seen this dish elsewhere in other European region but Switzerland. I am a potato lover, so the dish is very delicious to me. I managed to finish up all the foods on my plate, that pleased them. The dessert is very delicious as well. I would love to take photos of those foods, but it's not good to do it in front of my customer LoL. Too bad...

On Tuesday morning, Christa came to my hotel to pick me to the airport. It's time to fly to Turkey, my last but longer trip of all.

I only bought 2 boxes of Swiss chocolate from this airport, and the boarding time was due already.

Just when the engine was started, a black man who sat 2 rows in front of me suddenly dashed out from his seat, waving his hand in the air and screamed like a mad man. I was terrifying like most of the other passenger did, for that man acted like a terrorist who threatened to blast the plane. Just when we were too shocked to know what to do, the young man who sat in front of me video recorded all this with his iPhone !!

A minute later, the male crew member rushed in to hold him with his arm. Then later we realized the man was actually having an epilepsy. Soon, he seemed like he couldn't breathe and loss consciousness lying on the floor.

The crew shouted for a possibility to get any doctor on board. Not too long later, a man volunteer to help. I'm not sure if he is a doctor or what, but he manage to make the man who lied on the floor regain consciousness. He looked fine again, could even stand up and talk. Thank God for that.

About 15 minutes later, the medical team came up from ground. Initially one of the medical lady intended to fly with him to the destination. But later, they ordered the man to get off the plane instead.

Finally, the place take off after 1 hour delay. I felt so relieved !!