Switzerland In A Day

The Zurich train station reminded me of something out of the movies.
Today was "BMC factory visit" day on my agenda. I've shared a few specifics in my "thoughts on travel" but here is an overview of the day.

A couple months back, my colleague, Georges Lüchinger, thought it would be good for me to visit the BMC factory. I agreed and my agenda was planned out. So today, I was off from Nice, France, to Grenchen, Switzerland.

Once in Switzerland, I had to take two trains to get to the factory. As my friend, Bob Cullinan pointed out, the trains in Switzerland run on time, which is great for planning purposes. Both train rides were pretty uneventful and I used the opportunity to take photos and video and catch up on some work. The only nerve-racking thing about train travel is making sure you're paying attention to the stops so you get off at the right one.

Upon arrival in Grenchen (a small town), BMC's Mike Hürlimann picked me up and took me to lunch at a nice little pizzeria. It was great catching up and just eating. (I hadn't had anything to eat since lunch the day before.) Then it was on to the factory. No photos are allowed there, but you can visit the BMC Racing Team website to watch a few videos of how the BMCs are made, etc.

Following the tour, it was time to watch the race and write about it (my set-up is pictured at right). And what a great race it was. Cadel Evans won – scoring the team's first win of 2011. I told Michele Tanner (marketing person) that if coming to the factory was what it took for the team to win that I'd be spending quite a few days hanging out at the factory.

The only tense moment of the afternoon came as I waited to receive the quotes from the race. The train schedules are a bit limited, so I had to make sure I caught one that allowed me to make my connection in Zurich. I was able to snap some nice photos on the train ride and one of the BMC Racing Team's former riders even sent me a message on Twitter that I was going through his hometown.

The final transportation of the night came on foot as I once again used FourSquare's GPS navigation to walk to my hotel. Very cool. Note that my hotel room even included an umbrella (with sign that said it was intended only for use while you're a guest there and not to take it home with you).

A few thoughts on travel:

- If "Easy Jet" is the "Southwest" airlines equivalent in Europe, I'm not impressed when it comes to baggage. Even though my ticket was booked for two pieces of luggage, I got dinged for my second item. To the tune of 120 euros. Yikes. And outrageous. If there's a consolation, it's that I didn't get charged for extra luggage coming out of Spain in January (training camp).

- Speaking of outrageous, how about a 50 euro cab fare for about a 10-minute ride from my hotel to the airport? That's just crazy. I'll have to ask Rik Verbrugghe what they charged him. I think it was a scam against "The American."

- The outlets in Switzerland are different from those I've encountered in Spain, France, Ireland and Great Britain. They're a three-plug combination (shown at right), which I didn't have an adapter for in my bag. But the hotel was kind enough to loan me one.

- So much for getting my passport stamped in Switzerland. I walked off the plane, got my luggage (there was a nice countdown clock at the baggage carousel) and then walked out into the lobby. No Swiss Miss girls to greet me, either.

- The flight from Nice to Geneva was short. Either that, or I slept awhile. It appears it was about an hour. Not bad, since the seats didn't recline, there was no baggage service and boarding was general. I thought sitting next to the VIP guys the BMC Racing Team owner brought to the race the day before would be nice. It was, until I figured out they only spoke French and German.

- I was a bit nervous about the train trip to the BMC factory headquarters in Grenchen. As I type this, I'm not quite there yet, but I am off to a good start. I have my ticket to Grenchen and it appears I'll get a ride to the factory. After my visit, I take the train to another little city where I fly out sometime Tuesday morning.

- Trains aren't like airplanes. You don't need to board 30 minutes before departure. Twice, I went down to the rail station area, only to return to the upper concourse because my train hadn't even arrived at the station.

I was told this was the first "spring-like" day in Switzerland.

We passed through quite a few railyards.

My final destination: train station in Grenchen.

Flight out of Nice. Good weather for travel.

Michele helped me purchase my return train ticket.

Escalator: stand on one side, walk/run up the other.

My last train was a double-decker. Pretty cool.

Grey motif in this one, Julia.

Not a big room, but clean and nice.

Four hours in at the "Fly Away" hotel, the Internet stopped working.