We arrive in Zurich fully prepared to spend the next 14ish hours immersed in Swiss culture. However, with 'train coffee' all that is propelling us towards our bright future, it takes us a Few hours to leave the train, store our luggage, and find an open cafe for breakfast. Other than the small portions, the first thing that we notice are the insanely expensive prices. The Swiss franc is doing only a little worse than the euro, which means it is a little better than the dollar. I paid 5 bucks for a 3 oz cup of coffee. (we only later realized that we breakfasted in one of the more elite confiseries, or chocolatiers, in Zurich).
Once we got our bearings about us, we commenced our day. The guide books mention that a walk down Banhofstrasse is a must do, so off we go. Unlike some of the other cities, we are unimpressed with the architecture: this street is a very modern thoroughfare. Included in the shops along the way are Tiffany's, Jimmy Choo, Armani, and of course, Gucci.
On we walk, unimpressed (and for quite some ways) until we reach the end. Suddenly, we are surprised by local life which seems to be brimming right out of the ground. It seems that we have stumbled upon the hard-to-catch Swiss flea market. But rather than selling worn out shoes and dirty trinkets, these shops are selling treasures galore. One shop has ceramics, another Swiss watches, and a third bells (think cow bells). We wander around completely fascinated, until we wind up on a pier.
Now, again to our surprise, we are looking out over Lake Zurich, or Zurichsea. As we gawk at all of the rich sailboats, the swans, and the expanse of water, it hits us: beyond the waters are the Swiss Alps. Suddenly, the whole picture comes in to focus: here we are in Zurich, staring out at a picture-perfect view of what we had envisioned Switzerland to be. And there, we have just crossed off a bucket List item: see the Swiss Alps.
This now awakens in us a new desire: cross of other bucket List items. We walk through Aldstadt, or old town, catching sight of some beautiful churches along the way. We lunch at a cafe on the canal. We sample Swiss chocolate from several different chocolatiers (yes, we even went back to our breakfast spot). We have Swiss fondue in Switzerland for dinner. We walk through a park in our bare feet. We dip our feet in the pristine waters of lake Zurich, which is fed by runoff from the Alps (I think).
What a day! We spent, though, in one day what we should have spent in two days elsewhere, and you can certainly tell it by the city. Every single one of the city's 1200 gorgeous fountains have water which is safe to drink. There is no car in this city that is not brand new (at least that I could see). Apparently they also only drive BMW and Audi here;even the work trucks are Mercedes-Benz. And of course, the city streets are pristine.
We had fun in Zurich, all in all. Even though it costs a lot to be there, we learned a lot of history and had great experiences, which are invaluable. Tonight we board a train to Austria, and tomorrow, we explore Vienna.
Drew and Nicole
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