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Zurich Living

Flight Review: Aer Lingus Zurich to Gatwick May 30 2009

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Aer Lingus launched their Zurich – London Gatwick route in April 2009 and after some scouring of online fares from all airlines for a trip to London, I settled on using the Irish airline for the first time. My one-way trip cost around 145CHF including taxes.

I love flying from Zurich airport. The Swiss lounge is a nice place to spend an hour or so before a flight, the Duty Free is excellent and usually the queues at Security are short and swiftly dealt with.

Unfortunately, on the last few times I have travelled from Zurich, the Security regime has become more like its more useless and annoying counterparts in Europe, even including a man employed to tell you which queue to join because you cannot be trusted to decide yourself.

So it would seem that at least at the Security queues, Zurich airport is not the pleasure it once was.

Aer Lingus departs from the E gates, which means a short trip on the monorail, which always amuses me with its soundtrack of Swiss sounds and noises including alpine horns, rivers and even mooing cows. After getting to the gate, we had a short 10-minute delay which was announced twice.

The aircraft itself was a new Airbus A320 with leather seats within the cabin. I was allocated a seat on the 6th row. I checked in online but you can also choose a seat for a fee, with seats in the first 6 rows costing more. I should point out that I did not pay to select a seat, checked in bang on the 30-hour limit before departure and was automatically allocated a seat near the front.

We departed around 15 minutes late, but with a nice comfy seat, I had nodded off pretty fast.

The in-flight food and drink was reasonable priced although there were no sandwiches or hot food. I had a Diet Pepsi which set me back 3 CHF.

We landed 5 minutes late and all in all it was an uneventful and very comfortable flight. It was a bit of a trek from the plane to passport Control, which was being refurbished and I am glad I was one of the first to get there. The BAA airports are really shambolic and unappealing in parts.

I would recommend the Aer Lingus service between London Gatwick and Zurich with no hesitation.

Zurich Going Out, Zurich Living, Zurich Travel

Train Travel From Zurich To Milan

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We had cause to travel to Naples recently and decided to take a train journey via Milan instead of go by plane, especially since no airline flies from Zurich to Naples anymore.

Planning the trip was easy enough. You can get train times from the Swiss Railways website but you will need to wait a couple of days for a human to calculate a total price and contact by email so this is not ideal if you need to travel within the next couple of days.

The best way is to visit any SBB ticket office. I used the travel office at Zurich Main Station (HB), where the whole process was done and dusted within 10 minutes. Again, this was because we needed to book the whole journey down to Naples. For the Zurich to Milan leg, you can buy the ticket from any ticket office and also online.

Focusing on the Zurich to Milan leg of the journey, this really was a breeze. In a touch over 3 hours, you are whisked from city to city on the Cisalpino train. The Cisalpino allows you to do the journey without a change but there are only a few trains per day. if you are OK with one or two changes then the journey can be done in a variety of other ways.

The Cisalpino itself is an Italian service, run by the Italian railway so there are a few things that you usually do not find on a Swiss train. For example, the electric blind was jammed and could not be moved up without applying some brute force.

We went for first class seats, reasonable priced at 100CHF thanks to the Half Card and it was all very comfortable with a decent trolley service. You can also book seats for dinner in the restaurant car.

Our table had electrical sockets, ideal for charging the laptop en route.

The scenery at times was breathtaking. Lake Lugano is especially impressive with a dramatic Alpine backdrop. It is interesting whilst travelling through Switzerland to witness the change in town styles as you pass from German regions through to towns closer to Italy. At some points you really feel like you are in Italy although you are still some way from the border.

By the way, now that Switzerland has joined Schengen, no passport check is necessary either way.

On arrival at Milano Centrale, we stopped at the Excelsior Hotel for a coffee before boarding our overnight sleeper to Naples but I have to say, it is worth keeping your wits about you in and around the station.

It’s one of the great things about Switzerland, that you are in the heart of Europe. Within a few hours you are in another major European city and you can make the journey in comfort and at reasonable cost.

Zurich Eating, Zurich Going Out, Zurich Living

Where To Watch English Premier League Football In Zurich

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This is not an exhaustive comparison of all places to watch football in Zurich but it does represent a straight shootout between the two heavyweights just off Bahnhofstrasse – The Lion Pub and The Nelson Pub. Firstly, let’s compare websites. A quick Google search for “watch premier league football zurich” doesn’t bring up any useful results so both these places could do with a little Search Engine work. The Lion Pub in Zurich is owned by Candrian Catering who, along with Bindella, seem to own almost every food outlet in the city! Their website at http://www.thelion.ch/ is a mini site within the Group website. It does have menus but at the time of writing, the sports timetable on the website is a little out of date although a couple of weeks ago it was, of course, current. The Nelson Pub Zurich website – http://www.thenelsonpub.com/ offers a good amount of information about the pub, in German, but the sports timetable is very detailed and allows you to do some decent planning if you are meeting up with friends. In terms of ambience, the two venues offer very different experiences.The Nelson Pub Zurich makes a huge effort to create and maintain an authentic English pub atmosphere. As a result it is pretty dark and a bit enclosed. The choice of screens is excellent though, with three large screens and a couple of smaller TV screens showing different matches. On a Saturday afternoon it is quite awesome watching almost the full English Premier League being played out in front of you. As a result of the games on offer, it does get busy but although there is a mix of fans from all over the world supporting different teams, I have never seen or sensed any unpleasantness.They also offer a decent range of food and beers, all served by fluent English-speaking staff. There are always events going on, although it is a bit strange when the disco starts immediately at the end of an evening match. No doubt, the Nelson Pub is a great place to watch English football in Zurich. The Lion Pub offers a slightly different atmosphere, more reminiscent of a Wetherspoons pub in the UK. Not quite as claustrophobic as the Nelson Pub, it never seems to get quite as busy. I think it would be fair to say that The Lion Pub is more of a pub with a couple of large TV screens at each end for the football, rather than a more dedicated football venue like The Nelson. They offer a good range of beers and decent food, albeit very pricey. For example, you can order a grilled fillet of Irish beef with fries and veg for (currently) 60 Swiss Francs. That’s £40 at current rates for what is still a steak and chips in a pub. The staff in The Lion are good, with a table service on offer as well as some seats outside for those not so interested in the sports. The two venues are good in their own way. If you have a few mates coming over and you want to catch a few games then I would suggest The Nelson Pub Zurich for watching English football. For a few drinks not so concentrated on watching sports, I would recommend The Lion Pub The Lion Pub\r\nOetenbachgasse 24 8001 Zürich Open Monday to Thursday 11.00 to 00.00, Friday and Saturday 11.00 to 01.00. Closed on Sundays. The Nelson Pub Beatengasse 118001 Zürich Open Monday to Wednesday 11:30 to 02:00, Thursday – 11:30 to 03:00, Friday – 11:30 to 04:30, Saturday – 15:00 to 04:30, Sunday – 15:00 to 02:00