Talking Travel at the Flyaway Cafe: An Interview with Zurich Gnome, Geoff Collins

This week’s interview is with Geoff Collins, a writer and blogger on the topic of Formula One racing.  He’s also a heck of a nice guy, and we have great email conversations.  Geoff recently did some traveling in Europe, and he has graciously offered to provide me with some reviews of his travels.  Look for that in the coming weeks.

Current location:  Zurich, Switzerland.

Where did you go on your last vacation:  Vacations are often spent in the UK visiting family and friends.  Last autumn we spent some time in Devon and Cornwall, the south west of England, which has great beaches and dramatic coastlines – great for walking. There are also some great restaurants down there; our favorite was Rick Stein’s in Padstow – he’s a big celebrity chef in the UK and once you’ve eaten there you can see why.
 
The last real vacation we had was in Tuscany, Italy – a villa in the mountains with nobody else around. We’d spend a day at the pool and then the next day sightseeing:  Assisi, Orvieto, Siena and so on. I really love Italy.
 
Where do you plan to go on your next vacation:  Other than a short trip to the UK to play golf in the New Forest, we’re aiming to spend a week or so in Spain. My wife’s favorite singer, Rufus Wainwright, is playing at a couple of festivals near Barcelona in July and I bought her tickets for our wedding anniversary. It’ll be a bit of reminiscing – I used to work in Barcelona just after leaving school – plus sightseeing. We’ll take in the Gaudi architecture, and, of course, an attempt to rediscover the old Grand Prix circuit in the Montjuic Parc. Then we’ll head down the coast for some sun. With Rufus playing at either end of the trip, it should be fun.
 
If you were on a five-hour flight, whom would you want to be sitting with:  Max Mosley. He’s the president of the FIA, the body in charge of Formula One racing. I’d love to ask him why they keep implementing stupid rule changes, explain my ideas for improvements, and then try to persuade him to give me a highly paid consultancy role as a representative of public opinion.
 
Do you have a travel tip that you’d like to share:  To avoid jet lag, set your watch to the time zone of the area you are traveling to. And then break with common practice and drink vast quantities of alcohol and no water. But please don’t get rowdy and annoy other passengers or the cabin crew. (Thanks Geoff, I appreciate your adding that!)  The logic is quite simple. You will feel terrible when you arrive, but it will just seem like you’ve been at an all night party, and your body will forget to worry about the time difference. Just recover from the hangover and off you go!
 
Name five destinations that are on your “must see before I die” list: Taj Mahal, Spa Francorchamps (the race circuit in Belgium), Indianapolis (for the 500), Grand Canyon, and An African safari.
 
Window seat or aisle: It all depends. Usually I don’t have a preference. My favorite option is to go with a special person and go on a plane that lets you get a window and an aisle next to each other, like the three rows of seats at the back of a 747. Or get upgraded to business!
 
All time favorite vacation experience: I’m afraid this is predictable, but I spent a week learning to drive a single-seat racing car at Magny Cours in France once. The combination of driving on the circuit, French food and wine (in the evenings only!) made it an unbeatable experience.
 
Most embarrassing travel experience:  I guess that would be the time I was flying back to the UK to drive in a race and couldn’t find my passport or my crash helmet. A phone call to my wife resolved the passport issue (after establishing that it would still have been possible to travel with a temporary one) but the crash helmet proved elusive. It was only when I thought to ring Lost Property at Zurich airport that I discovered I’d left it there on the way home from my previous race.
 
Is traveling about the journey or the destination:  Well, they say that Life is a journey, so in that case it’s definitely not the destination!  I’d say that if I’m flying to Barbados, it’s about the destination. If I’m traveling the route of the Mille Miglia through Italy, or exploring the vineyards of Bordeaux, then it’s about the journey. As you can see, I’m not a Black and White person!
 
Favorite airline:  Virgin Atlantic. The cabin crew is always great fun, and I must confess to liking the uniform! But then I haven’t flown your airline yet.
 
Favorite hotel:  La Source in Grenada. It’s a resort more than a hotel, but there’s so much to do, great body treatments, superb food, I’d go back any time.
 
If I am in Zurich, and have a spare four hours, what would you recommend that I do:  The thing that’s special about Zurich is just being there. It’s not that you have to visit one of the cathedrals, or the art gallery or the Opera, or even the shops. It’s best just to take a relaxing walk down Bahnhofstrasse, be astounded by some of the jewelry for sale, and stop at Sprünglis for a hot chocolate in winter, or a beer at one of the outdoor cafes in the Niederdorf in summer. Or perhaps start with a glass of champagne at the Jules Verne bar. It’s in an old observatory and up on the tenth floor it’s way higher than the rest of Zurich and looks out over hundreds of years of rooftops. No skyscrapers here. And of course, there’s the lake. If you’re lucky you might be able to see the Alps in the distance, but that’s quite unusual. Zurich is all about quality of life, so just enjoy the architecture and do what feels good to you.

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Geoff Colllins is at home in Zurich, Switzerland where he writes for Pit Pass, and blogs about Formula One at Zurich Gnome.  When he’s not working or writing, he’s traveling, enjoying fine food and wine, or dreaming about racing.