During my last 24-hour trip to Zurich I found a little mineral shop on the bank of the canal in the centre of the city. They had massive minerals on display which seemed disproportionally big compared with the size of the shop.
You know that feeling of fear of being under the pressure of hard sale from the sales assistant in an empty shop. My curiosity won and I went in.
Half an hour later (which due to my tight schedule was a big commitment) I left having met an absolutely fantastic guy... Stop here! I am married so "fantastic" shall be read in a very innocent way...
The guy's name is Vladimir Pusec and he is a Stauler and collects minerals from the Alps. He told me how being 10 years old he read a book about minerals and got obsessed with them. He started looking for the minerals around the area he lived and then being a teenager he met the guy whose book he read being 10 and the guy became his teacher and mentor.
Vladimir told me that every year there is at least one person dying in the Alps searching for the minerals. And a few of his friends have already died this way...
Though the prices in the shop were reasonable, it was just simply not in my budget, so I had to apologise for not buying anything..So he gave me this - 170 million years old stoned seashell as a present.
We chatted about minerals. "You are married to the mountains" I said when he mentioned he's got no wife or kids! He nodded.
His little shop is based here at Swiss Minerals. So if you are in Zurich, pop in and check out the magnificent minerals he's got on display.
vasha Tasha
