Sweltering Switzerland.

Mid-summer in Zurich – it’s bound to be rather warm. But flying in from the subtropical Azores I wasn’t quite expecting a considerable hike in the temperature – up to 35 degrees. Also unlike in the Azores – there was no breeze (at all) cooling things down, and no moisture in the air. The sidewalks were too hot to walk upon barefoot (when taking off shoes for a dip in the river:), and the sun kept blinding you as it reflected off the numerous shiny surfaces in this generally shiny city. And it looked like half the city had taken the afternoon off work to sit and sip beer by the river. Well, if you can’t beat them – join them (more on that in a bit).

Not only were folks lining the river, funambulists were crossing it on their tightropes. Occasionally they fell into the river – I bet with not too much regret on a day as scorching as this – only to climb back out and have another go:

Curiously, some other young folks stripped down to the bare essentials, packed their clothes and footwear into a waterproof bag, threw said bag into the river from the bridge, jumped in after it, and then leisurely floated downstream. Whatever floats your boat bag, I guess ).

Well I couldn’t just stand by: I slipped into my trunks (very luckily – with me) and in I dived into the Limmat:

Meanwhile – the mercury reaches 37…

…While the mostly twentysomethings continue to imbibe, and – by the whiff of it – toke! You could even smell the stuff in the middle of the river. I thought we were in Zurich, not Amsterdam!

Well that’s all from torrid, tipsy (and stoned!) Zurich, folks. But I’ll be back with more tomorrow – with a post-scriptum-post (!) from the Azores. Why? Because I’ve missed out the main bit (while getting carried away by… flowers, of all things) – VOLCANISM!

All the pics from Zurich are here.