Scotty's Swiss Diary Part 1

Hi folks, since you all have lives and jobs and couldn't join me as I flew to watch the two Rangers games in Switzerland, I figured I would give you a blow-by-blow, dear diary account ...

11:30 am, Monday, September 29th

I made it, I'm in Switzerland. After a sleepless night of wondering how and if I was going to make it to the plane from London to Zurich, I am aboard a train that I think is heading towards Bern - where the Rangers will play two more exhibition games tomorrow and Wednesday.

I am sweaty, I forgot my razor and haven't shaved in a week and I am pretty sure I just spoke jibberish to Al Trautwig on the platform at the station. But I am in a country where the people drive on the right side of the road, there were four different hockey magazines at the kiosk in the airport and it really is quite beautiful - lots of lush green grasses and rolling hills with that quaint European-style architecture you always see in photos.

Oh, and if you couldn't guess, I don't speak German. Or French. Or Swiss German. And, judging by my impression of my conversation with Al, I barely speak English now. But it doesn't matter, because I am in Switzerland and how cool is that??

12:00 pm, Monday, September 29th
It appears that I am indeed on the correct train. A conductor finally came by and I tried to turn on that Scotty Hockey charm asking her if I was in the right place because I have no idea, etc. and she simply replied, "Yes, you are ok." She stamped my ticket and walked away. Did I mention I really, really need a shower? That must be it ...

As some girl is rambling on on her cell phone in German, I almost can ignore her. The train just passed a stunningly green field filled with cows. Cows! Alongside a railway? Trippy ... if I had a better camera and wasn't on a train speeding through the countryside, I'd take pictures. For now, you will just have to take my word, it was bizarre and they didn't seem phased at all that a train was going by. Hmm, I wonder where I can get a good steak for dinner ...

7:30 pm, Monday, September 29th
As I mentioned the other day, the fine folks at Unprofessional Foul put my write-up of the Arsenal-Hull City match up, so feel free to take a look!

7:45 pm, Monday, September 29th
I almost forgot to keep the narrative going, sorry. So, miraculously I found my way to the hotel without problem, and the place is pretty cool. The Swiss are one of the leaders in modern design in Europe apparently and they seemed to have tried some modern designs in the bathroom of my room. There are some quite strange fixtures and lay outs - not three seashells strange, but still odd. And the tv here has more than twice the number of stations that my room in London had, but just one is in English (CNN) and I just landed on a channel where there is a man in a sequined cocktail dress serving dinner on a German language dating show. Yeah. And on that note, I'm off to find some food myself.