Enroute to London from Pisa, I am stopping to take care of a couple of errands. The first of these, inspect a magician's street table made by the fine Swiss engineers at Needful Things. Daniel, the proprietor of Zauberers Paradies (Magicians' Paradise) only opens by appointment, but was happy to meet with me.
The street table, while pricey, is an excellent piece of engineering, superior to anything I could build or buy elsewhere. I don't like hauling a lot of heavy gear, and this table is strong and light, compared to what I am presently using for my shows in the States. It has some other very fine features which I shall not be mentioning here. I resolved to buy it, and I asked that it be shipped to the US, care of my Apprentice.
Well. Hmmm. Because of the awkward dimensions of the table, not even considering packaging, it turned out that no matter what we did, if we tried to ship the thing, it would run an additional $200. Having Needful Things German partner ship it to my friends in London also was unacceptable, what with the German markup, the much higher tax, and of course the very expensive shipping, and I still wouldn't have gotten it home.
I resolved to carry the table, which IS designed to be carried, from Zurich, to Paris, to London, to Chicago, to Louisville. It sounds insane, as I type this, but I have gotten it onto the train to Paris. One step at a time, and I'll figure out how to deal with the airlines down the road. Maybe I can convince them it's a harp.
Did I mention I don't like hauling heavy gear? I'm starting to think I should have gotten luggage with wheels.....
By the way, it rained non-stop the entire time I was in Zurich, until it was time to leave. High yesterday was 52 F.
City transit note: Streetcars run everywhere in Zurich, and they run frequently and on time. There are auto kiosks for purchasing tickets, but no one checks to see if you've done so. Get on and off the streetcars as you please. But this is a very clean, orderly, city full of clean orderly people. You just KNOW, in your heart of hearts, that every one of these people is paid up before they board.
Busking note: Zurich is a lawful, tidy, orderly, high class city. Busking is a chaotic, messy, disruptive, low class activity. Do the math, mein herr.