Cover Her Face

When I woke up this morning it was pouring with rain. It carried on raining until lunchtime. Luckily, I had a book to read to pass the time (although I did venture out briefly during the downpour to get some breakfast from the supermarket). "Cover Her Face" is a detective novel by P D James which I found on a Piccadilly Line tube train to Heathrow Airport the other day. Inside the front cover someone had written "Free book. Enjoy ! Best regards, Andy".

It took me a while to get into the story, but I've now read about one third of the book. The detective, Adam Dalgliesh who was played by Roy Marsden in the British TV adaptation, has begun questioning members of a family about the murder of their maid. Most British families do not have maids, by the way. This story was written in the 1960s.

When the rain eased off I got out my Micky Mouse umbrella (which I'd bought to keep the sun off when I visited Hong Kong Disney a few years ago) and went walking. I still had things to see. After strolling up Bahnhofstrasse to the station I went through to the other side and found the Swiss National Museum. Having experienced more than two months of museums, cathedrals and other such sites I had a strange aversion to going inside. So I simply photographed the building and continued my stroll in the park grounds alongside the river. Walking back into town later I spotted the Polybahn. It's a funicular railway like the one Wellingtonians call the cable car. I took a ride up to the terrace to see the view over the city, then walked back down via the university.

Niederdorfstrasse is preparing for the Old Town festival, which begins this evening. Now the rain has passed, it should be a success. That also means I probably won't get much sleep tonight ! There are stages being set up for bands. I do have earplugs, but I want to be sure I'll hear my alarm in the morning. My train to Munich leaves at quarter past nine.