A Thinkwellian’s 3 City Trip Itinerary: Chris Durmick

While we’re in week 9 of working from home, we’re continuing with our fictional travel series, where we’ve invited a few Thinkwellians to research places they would want to visit on a fictional, whirlwind business trip to three cities around the world and create a travel itinerary around. Last week, we heard from Principal, Cultural Attractions and Research, Cynthia Sharpe, as she explored Edinburgh, Dubai and Bangkok and she covered an impressive amount of ground. This week, we’ve asked Chris Durmick, Principal, Attractions and Museums, to head off on his fictional business trip to Savannah, Georgia; Zürich, Switzerland; and Hong Kong. Let’s see what he would experience in these cities…

Oof, here we go again with another grueling business trip! Where to this time? First a meeting in Savannah, Georgia, then off to Zürich to meet with a vendor, wrapping up with a site visit in Hong Kong. There’s never enough time to really see the sites, so I’ll use my first short flight to strategize my down time. I like to cover as much ground as possible when time is short, so the first order of business is to hit up my colleagues for their best recommendations of critical benchmarks. Tripadvisor quickly aggregates the low hanging fruit of available diversions in each location, but my preferred resource sites are, not surprisingly, Atlas Obscura and Lonely Planet.

Whenever I find myself in the deep South, I always make it a point in the early morning to explore the oldest cemetery I can find. Savannah has several, including the Gothic Bonaventure made famous in the film Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil. I am always moved by the richly personal connections I make when wandering an old burial ground. The history of the destination is literally laid out right at your feet. That’s the morning, and I’m delighted to discover that Savannah has a hop on, hop off trolley tour! I can’t resist these when time is of the essence, but I’ll definitely save time to hop off at a local museum, (likely SCADstory, since it is so connected to my industry). I am not a foodie, so a quick meal (al fresco if the weather is right) must be had in a local eating institution which I glean from the trolley driver. 

Off to Zürich. This is Switzerland, so I’ll gladly play tourist. After a quick breakfast by the river in Old Town, I’ll drop by a strange place like the Moulagen museum. I’d love to view their whimsical collection of wax depictions of disfiguring diseases. You know, for kids. By noon, I’ll board a boat for a tour of the city from Lake Zurich, making a stop to ride the cable car to Felsenegg Lookout and take a hike with views of the city, the lake and the river. If time allows, I’ll also stop by the Lindt Chocolate factory for dinner, and then, back in town, I must walk through MFO park, the reclaimed machine factory filled with greenery.

Hong Kong. Well, I seem to have overextended myself in Zurich, so apologies if I simply stay near the water and soak up the energy of the harbor. What the heck, maybe I’ll grab a bite at The Jumbo Kingdom, one of the bigger floating restaurants, which is themed like an ancient, Imperial Palace, though it’s hard to resist the temptation of visiting the pirate cave of Cheung Po Tsai.

There you have it, folks! Three cities around the world filled with pirate cave adventures, chocolate factory tours and graveyard explorations, Chris Durmick has built out a wonderful to-do list of places to visit around the world. Stay tuned next week as we send another Thinkwellian around the world to three new cities!