San Francisco-2010 (US) -> Athens-2010 (Greece) -> Berlin-2011 (Germany) -> Niagara Falls-2011 (US/Canada) -> Singapore-2011 -> Kuala Lumpur-2012 (Malaysia) -> Venice-2012 (Italy) -> Phuket-2013 (Thailand) -> Mt.Fuji-2013 (Japan) -> Zurich-2014 (Switzerland)
My Overseas Marathon Odyssey (MOMO) - Part 10 - Zurich Marathon
It all started when I was conducting my ritual search for the next destination in Europe. I was considering Vienna Marathon, Austria and Prague Marathon, Czech Republic. As my budget is always very limited, I usually check for the airfares to different places first and then select a Marathon. Vienna and Prague were both looking good. Around the same time, I happened to talk to Pravin, a friend of mine living in Zurich, Switzerland and also found that Zurich Marathon fits the bill well, and others fell off the radar.
Zurich Marathon turned out to be a very low profile event (relative to the other European Marathons that I had done). Though it's low profile in terms of its popularity outside Switzerland and in terms of the number of runners (just a few hundred), it was organized impeccably. The Swiss ingenuity could be seen everywhere. Printing a free Zurich public transport ticket, with 24 hour validity on the Marathon day, behind the Marathon bib is just a sample of it. Aid stations at every 3.5 KM were well-stocked and well-manned. There were pacers from 3 hr to 5 hr 30 min at 15 min increments. As the total number is very small, there were hardly any runners who were not following the pacers. So, after a few KM, the entire course looked like bursts of runners with a 15 min gap in between. I didn't go with any pacer and ran at 6:20 min/km initially and averaged to 6:50 by the end to finish in 4 hr 52 min. It was 12°C in the beginning (pretty cold for a South-Indian) and went up to a comfortable 18°C towards the end.
When I did my first European Marathon in 2010 in Athens, Greece (the birthplace of Marathon), I didn't quite have this MOMO plan in my mind. So, I did quite a lot of sight seeing and traveling with in Europe for the next couple of weeks. But, as this has become a regular affair now, my trips have become shorter and shorter. This is the shortest trip, with just a couple of days planned after the run.
I visited Interlaken, a small town between two large lakes, Thun & Brienz, the most popular tourist destination in Switzerland and the gateway to several mountains and lakes in that region, the following day. Though there are some great cycling trails, and a bunch of adventure sports options, this being the day right after a Marathon, I had not planned any activities and just walked around the lakes whole day. The best part of the visit was getting in and out of Interlaken. Interlaken could be reached from Zurich through two different routes. One is shorter, more expensive, less scenic route (via Bern, the Swiss capital) and the other is a bit longer, cheaper and insanely scenic (via Lucerne). I chose the later in the onward journey and the former to return. The scenic route via Lucerne is just picture perfect in its every frame. It's a heaven for photographers and a feast to eyes. Icing on the cake would be the extremely efficient, comfortable and luxury trains.
The following day was for Baden-Baden, Germany. A 3 hour train ride from Zurich took me to this small German spa town at the foothills of Black Forest. Baden means 'bathing' in German. It's popular due to its natural thermal springs and their therapeutic effects, discovered by ancient Romans, thousands of years back. I heard about it from Dilip, another friend of mine, when we planned our 2010 trip. There are two popular spas, Caracalla-Spa and Friedrichsbad. The former is a modern spa with modern construction and luxury facilities. The later one is older (opened in 1877) and wilder (clothes are off for a full 3 1/2 hours), with its 17 stages that give one a glimpse of Roman bathing culture combined with Irish hot-air baths. I, obviously, chose the later and I don't regret. Some of the stages are hot air sauna rooms and some are pools at different temperatures, heated using only natural thermal springs, with a couple of short massages in between. Though the relaxation was quite comparable to the Onsen that I tried in Tokyo, Japan, the process and the aura were much more exotic.
That brings an end to the short & sweet Swiss Odyssey.
