Zurich

The day’s plans were somewhat set back by me feeling rather under the weather from the previous evening. Luke got me some toast from the hostel kitchen and made sure I was ok before heading out at 11am to join a walking tour.

I went back to sleep and by 1pm I was ready to get out and about. Fortunately, with the sky being light until nearly 10pm, there’s no rush to get into things early.

Our first activity was to do a walk from one mountain to another along a ridge. we caught a train up to Uetliberg.

There were quite a few people but most were going to the lookout. The trail we were walking featured a scale model of the solar system. But first, these weird reindeer lights.

The view was pretty good, the weather was very fair but became windy and cloudy right at the end.

I didn’t take a photo of the sun at the beginning but it was the width of two basket balls. Some of the planets were so tiny they were encased in Perspex. I think this one is Ceres (not a planet obviously).

Here’s a better one of Saturn. They were clearly in the process of installing new benches. The path was very well set up, with toilets about half way, lots of rest stops and even places you could light fires and have barbecues.

And of course many of the ubiquitous natural springs.

Almost every mountain top in Switzerland has a hotel. This is the view looking back at Uetliberg.

We saw these bright orange butterflies along the trail.

Looking down to Zürich.

We got a message from Lea and Pete while we were walking, saying they had arrived in Melbourne after an uneventful flight.

The road was gravel the whole way (sandals were a bit of a mistake, bits of rock got caught in them) and the occasional cat went past, but apart from one steep-ish bit it was definitely a family friendly walk.

At the opposite end was a cable car down but we stopped at the mountain-top restaurant for a drink first.

A very distant view of snow-capped peaks.

The cable car was short but offered a good view and wasn’t crowded. we had bought a multi-zone 24hr public transport ticket. It was about $30 each and covered all the trains, ferries, cable cars, funiculars, trams – everything. That being said, no one, at any point, checked our ticket and there were no gates that needed a ticket to get through so if you were in Zurich on a very tight budget you could probably get around for free.

Love a cable car!

Next was a walk down to the train station and a ride back into the city. We ate our cornflakes chocolate on the way. It almost had the texture of popping candy chocolate.

The cheap bars of chocolate are very good and only work out to about $1.50 AUD.

Next activity: the funicular! It was tiny. It only went a short way up the hill, from the riverside to the university.

A very cute little station house.

We had then planned to go on a ferry down the river to make the most of our ticket but the ferry finished by 6pm.

We took a walk along the river, enjoying the sun on the buildings and the dark clouds overhead.

The clock face in the background is supposedly the largest in Europe – slightly bigger than Big Ben.

I’d watched some videos online about things to do in Zurich and one suggested the “Zürich car show, which runs from January 1st to December 31st every year”. Zürich isn’t quite as luxury car-heavy as Monaco but it isn’t far off. We didn’t make too much of an effort to look for them, not being car people, but I took photos of a few.

My favourite! I don’t know what make it is though.

Actually, I didn’t see any more luxury cars here than in Windermere, but I can definitely say the people of Zürich are the best dressed I’ve ever seen. Somehow at least 80% of the population look like they’ve just stepped off a yacht, despite this being a landlocked country.

We finished off the evening with ‘Ghosts’, a series on Stan that Mark and Sue recommended. We loved it, thanks for the tip!

Tomorrow: St Moritz!

We farewelled Lea and Pete before 7am and travelled to London City Airport to catch our flight to Zürich.

The plane had three seats on one side of the aisle and two on the other, an odd arrangement I’d never seen before.

The arrow words finally got some airplay again, keeping us entertained through half the flight.

Zurich airport’s underground train station.

It was a quick ride to the middle of Zürich and a short walk to our hostel, where we had booked a private room with ensuite. This room was costing us about the same per night as the whole flat in Camden… but it feels more spacious!

We’re on the sixth floor so there’s a bit of a view across the rooftops around us. Something we have noticed is many of the roofs have gardens, and balconies are often filled with plants too.

We had a shower then went out for a walk. The Otter Hostel is in the old town so we walked through the narrow back streets then along the river.

We stopped at the supermarket to get some food. Eating in a restaurant is pretty much a no go due to prices so supermarkets it is!

This cheese was extremely gooey and had pesto in the centre.

The prices of pre-made food in the supermarket is still high – the equivalent of $20 for a single serve bowl of fancy salad (dressing not included!) but little tubs of potato or pasta salad aren’t too bad and cheese is about the same price as at home. French champagne is much cheaper than at home but we had our duty free to drink anyhow.

This picnic was about $10 AUD each with the cheese.

We found some steps down to the river and stopped to eat.

A couple of people came by and jumped in for a quick swim. Imagine living in a city where the river is clean enough for swimming. Some people even say you can drink straight from it… I’m not quite willing to test that though.

The insanely expensive food. This is a super basic burger place and a meal is about $40 AUD.

We splashed out and bought a beer and a non alcoholic iced tea from the hostel bar. $24 AUD for both.

In the evening we went for a walk along the river and the lights reflected in the water were beautiful.

We also found people salsa dancing in a rotunda in a park.

To finish the evening we decided to unpack, and drink some of our duty free while watching Have You Been Paying Attention (an Australian comedy panel show about the news), it was nice to hear some accents from home.

Unfortunately I got a bit free with the pouring of the drinks and woke up with a shocking hangover – my first of the trip by some kind of miracle. Lesson learned! (I mean, no promises but there’s always a first time!).