I can't believe it. After three weeks in the mountains, hiking and looking in vain for chamois, ibex, even a marmot, today on the train to Zurich I saw, plain as day, a deer in a hay field, and a red fox walking along a hillside just outside of Winterthur.
We have been to Zurich before. It is a great place to fly in and out of, and a comfortable and beautiful city as well.
However, after being in small towns for two months, we are sort of in shock walking around the busy city.
We are staying at the Alexander Guesthouse, in a nice but simple room. It is about a five minute walk from the train station, right in the middle of the downtown area. Perfect location.
I am still holding one hundred fifty francs, cash, that I need to dump today. I'll bring home a hundred euros or two, no problem, but I don't know when we will return to Switzerland, so I don't want to hold the cash.
I spent it down buying train tickets, some small incidentals like a bottle of water and couple glasses of wine. Anything left tomorrow morning I will use on coffee and breakfast, then charge the rest.
We spent the day walking around, seeing the old sights and a few new ones. I like the Grossmunster Church, with the twin domed towers and windows made of thin-sliced, polished agates. The Fraumunster has a taller, pointy spire, and windows by Marc Chagall. The Munster Family bells all ring on the hour, which sounds really nice.
We walked the streets and I had a lot of fun with the very honest and frank Swiss signs. We stopped by the Ass Bar, but they only sold by the piece.
We went back to the train station, which not only has over 34 tracks and busses and regional trains and the subway system (phew*) but also has THREE levels of shopping. Ugh.
We walked along the river, but this time around we did not have time to get out toLake Zurich. It was pretty warm, in fact I was sweating, but of course, as usual on this trip, it started to rain, heavy rain, but warm. We ate a nice, but not special dinner at an Italian place, and turned in early for tomorrow’s travel day.
For more photos and info on Zurich, see my blog at this link.