Zurich, Paris And London In A Day: Local Man’s Travels

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 41, 14 January 1949, Page 5

Zurich, Paris And London In A Day: Local Man’s Travels

A couple of letters to his father, Mr A. C. Robins of Thornton, and family, have just arrived from Switzerland from Mr Geoff. Robins, who has spent the past 3£- years, pottering about the world. I Two things that impressed him about Switzerland were the food and the scenery, and about the latter he becomes quite lyrical. Interesting point he mentions, in praising the, people for their courtesy and kindness to a visitor, is that nearly all of them speak some English, all .of them French, and most of them German as well. Despite the snow and ice everywhere, he did not find the Swiss Mountains as cold as he had expected them to be, and was impressed with the accessability of the mountain scenes, the whole area around Zurich where he stayed being serviced by electric railways, catering for droves of skiers, who seemed to have been born and brought up on their skis, so adept were they at the sport.

One remarkable thing he noticed was that no one seemed to have colds. The climate was an unusually healthy one, and he surmised that the people’s resistance been built up through good food and healthy living. In his opinion, a day or two in the sunshine, snow and beauty of those lovely mountains should be enough to cure anything. His second letter was a sort of travelogue through Switzerland and back to. Le Bourget, en route to London by air. He took in«a beautiful mountain resort, Engelberg, whefe transport was by horses and sleighs, complete with bells. He got to London before that letter was finished—and all in a day. Zurich, Paris. London. This son of Whakatane gets around alright.