Cheshire Chill-Out

So two months working & playing in Switzerland are at an end. I ramped up the sight-seeing in the final few days once rehearsals were all finished, ticking off Chur, Jungfraujoch ("Top of Europe"), Lucerne (pictured), a local water park, Lake Constance and the Rheinfalls. That final one, the largest waterfall in Europe, I even managed to do on the day I was flying out, getting up at 8am to squeeze it in! Having bought a special travel card for the rail network which made all fares half price, it would've been a shame not to use it as much as possible.

By far the best day of all that was visiting the "Top of Europe" - not exactly the highest point in Europe, but the highest you can get in the continent without specialist mountaineering equipment. They built an incredible railway into the Eiger mountain and to the Jungfraujoch around 100 years ago, from where you get almighty views across the country from over 4,000m above sea level.

View fullsize

Jungfraujoch "Top of Europe", March 2017

It was quite dizzying - apparently you ascend 3km in around 60 minutes! Not enough time to really acclimatise, but we were lucky to have incredible weather and the journey to/from the region made for a memorable day out. We even had time for a cheese fondue in the restaurant at the top, thrown in as part of the ticket price!

As for the show, we now take a 5-week break after a brilliant run in Zurich. The show is being shipped to the United Arab Emirates, ready for its month-long run at the Dubai Opera. Having not really stopped since early October, I've ensured that these first couple of weeks are free of too much work, allowing me to sort belongings out, catch up with friends and family and get round to those TV box sets I've been promising to watch.

I'm currently enjoying what I've christened the "Cheshire Chill-Out" - time at my parents' house in the depths of the Cheshire countryside with the log fire burning, fine food and drink and a cat on the lap. There's been the added bonus of a few days of fine sunny weather, timing well with Mother's Day, as well as my sister and brother-in-law stopping by for a few days meaning the whole immediate family are back together.

I'm back to London tomorrow, after which the rest of April continues in much the same vain: seeing friends, catching some shows, and preparing to leave for Dubai. My flight out to the UAE isn't until April 27th, so still a few weeks to enjoy before getting back into the Mary Poppins routine!