The Hills Have Hills

Sunday, October 8

I flew into London from NY on Saturday, just in time to unpack and repack my bags before heading off to Switzerland for a three day strategy meeting.

The meeting is one of those once-a-year, bring everyone together and make them wear funny t-shirts extravaganzas. It was held at a hotel/conference center in Zurich called Uto Kulm. Uto Kulm is in a car-free zone called the Uetliberg and bills itself as the "Top of Zurich." And how.


It was easy enough to get to the Uetliberg. I had (sort of) packed lightly, just one rolling back and my briefcase, so it wasn't hard to get around.





However, I hadn't anticipated that i would have to literally hike up a mountain, bag and baggage, to get to the hotel.

When I got off the train, I looked around for a porter but didn't see anyone. I only saw a sign: "UTO KULM" with an arrow pointing directly up.




So, up I went. At this point, I should note that I was wearing a fabulous shoe (two, actually) that despite the animal print, were entirely useless on this adventure. The hike wouldn't have been so bad if I was wearing appropriate footwear and wasn't lugging 40 pounds of luggage.



At one point, I pulled over to the side of the mountain and emailed a co-worker of mine who was coming the following day. "Pack light," I warned. " I stopped a few more times, pretending to take pictures or read signs that were all in Swiss German, but mostly I was wondering when I had officially lost all semblance of dignity.

Later, some people claimed that we were warned about the mountainous hike, but I maintain that a "5-8 minute walk" bears little resemblance to the alpine endurance test that was the Uetliberg.

Once I made it the top and checked in, I went outside to explore the Top of Zurich. I ran into a colleague and we decided to go up the tower that gets you up to the highest point. (Yes, I willingly climbed 170 additional steps). The view was spectacular.









Afterward, we went to dinner in the hotel. The Swiss love to eat game, so when in Switzerland... I had the deer carpaccio and venison scallopini. I don't know the difference between deer and venison. Maybe one is an elk?