Hey Y'all!
Sorry I haven't been updating my blog as often, I've just been having too much fun I suppose! From Luxembourg I took a 7 hour train to Zurich Switzerland. Although the train ride was about 7 hours, I had to switch trains a few times. Those train stations can get a bit confusing, let me tell you. There are numbers and letters all over in other languages and the people are all rushing and bumping into one another to make it to their own trains or to the nearest Starbucks for a few shots of espresso. Yes, Starbucks is also very popular in Europe, yet they have a bit of a modified menu. Anyways, after a long day of traveling, I arrived in Zurich around 8pm. Although Zurich is a small city, it is still a city, therefore, walking to find my housing would've been difficult, especially in the dark and without cell phone service. I'll touch on more tips when it comes to cell phone usage later, but each one of you should be VERY thankful for GPS, because oh my goodness, it is easy to get lost in a new place! Fortunately, my Airbnb host gave me excellent directions. I didn't go wander out on my first night there though, for it was too late and I don't think exploring for the first time should be that late at night. My room was great here. It had a computer, books, toiletries, and my host even had a Swiss chocolate candy bar waiting for me on the table in my room. OH, AND COFFEE! There was a little machine like a Keurig, but it's by the brand, Nescafe, which is huge in Europe, and it is mostly used for espresso. I'm a wuss and have to add a little milk or sugar or both to it, but don't judge me before having tasted straight espresso. I drank two cups the next morning, and headed out to my new adventure in my new city.
When most people think of Switzerland, they think of snow covered mountains and white dusted evergreens for miles in the view. Well, at least that's what I thought. It turns out that yes, a lot of Switzerland is this way, but Zurich lays in a sort of slight valley and there is only one main mountain and it's not even that tall. Zurich is a must-see when in Switzerland, but I would highly suggest traveling a bit outside of Zurich if you want a full Swiss experience. Since I only had a few days in Zurich, I wasn't able to venture into the mountains, which I love, but I decided that I definitely will save that for another trip...and I'll be packing good hiking boots! Zurich had a very metropolitan area and then the Old Town as well. In addition, there were small suburb areas, but all of the sights were mainly in the Old Town. The Old Town was a mixture of super old, historical churches, businesses, and streets, and then newer establishments were added among them, but you still had the same Old Town feeling. The churches were my favorite to visit for the pure ancient age, art, architecture, and spirituality. The three main churches were St. Peter's, Grossmunster, and Fraumunster. St. Peter's is the oldest church in Zurich, dating back to the 13th century. The clock tower is the biggest clock face in all of Europe. Grossmunster, which means, great minister, is a Romanesque-style Protestant church, and founded by Charlemagne, whose horse fell to its knees over the tombs of Felix and Regula, Zürich's patron saints. It's so strange feeling to be in places built in the olden days, and this one being built in 1100. The Fraumunster was my favorite for a couple of reasons: the crypt, the set up, and most of all, the Chagall stained glass. Marc Chagall created the world-famous, five stain-glass windows for the church in 1970. They were absolutely stunning and colorful. I sat in a chair, where the choir used to sing from and stared in awe at this artwork. Here is a link with more history on my favorite church in Zurich, Fraumunster: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/switzerland/zurich-fraumunster
The roads were once again, not as straight as I'm used to. I got lost a few times, but found my way back using the bus system. I always joke around with the Europeans about how I probably look and sound silly when it comes to public transportation, but us Americans all have a car of our own! They think this is a crazy idea, because most people just use public transportation on a regular basis. I'm thankful for our American way of life, but it is interesting to see it from another perspective. The currency is the Swiss Franc and the exchange rate is almost equal to the dollar right now, but this country was by far the most expensive! There was this little quick shop to eat at downtown and you couldn't even sit down, so it was like a grab and go kind of place, and this little calzone looking thing costed me 8 francs! As for real meals at real restaurants, you couldn't find anything for under 20. I stopped at the supermarket called, Migros (the 's' is silent) to help not break the bank, but even a little mac and cheese cup was about 2.50 francs. The chocolate was relatively cheap though, so you know I bought a decent amount of that ;)
Another place I stayed for my last night was above a bar in the Old Town. They played traditional Swiss music from 8pm to midnight every night and from the sounds of it, these people went pretty hard! Yodeling was even going on and although I was extremely tired, I couldn't help but smile to the music. The restrooms were by my room, so I saw some of the people and they were all over 60 years old. The rooms that were rented out up where I was were typically for the musicians to stay in, but they didn't always stay, so they rented them out through Airbnb. A fun fact about the bar is that Mumford and Sons, one of my favorite bands, love this place! They even signed their names into the wooden beams. Also, they posted a picture at the bar with one of the workers, whose name is, Maggie. Maggie was older, maybe in her late 60s, and she checked me in. We chatted for quite awhile and she ended up showing me the picture she took with the band. She was really excited about it. Her eyes lit up when we talked about it, and that was a cool moment for me.
As for people, the native people didn't speak to me. Swiss folks are very conservative. No one was rude to me, but no one was super pleasant or warming either. This could have just been my experience, but I actually have heard this stereotype from other people as well. They speak Swiss German, which is like German in many ways, but has a few important differences such as different numbers of tenses and such. Many of them know French, Dutch, and English too. I'm telling you, these Europeans are seriously pretty awesome when it comes to knowing multiple languages. I met a lovely American couple in a store though. I naturally noticed their accent right away. It's a bit refreshing to hear Americans when you haven't in awhile. This couple was from Maryland and were on vacation with his boss. They just got engaged too, so they were having the best time and it was pretty awesome to see. We chatted for an hour and then were going to meet up for supper, but I would've made them late, so I stayed close to my homestead. I HAVE A REALLY CRAZY STORY ABOUT THESE PEOPLE....REALLYYYYYY CRAZZZYYY! So be on the watch in another blog post soon. My favorite Zurich memory was Zurich Lake. It was gloomy out that day (most days are, since it is the winter, duh) and the water was beautiful. I'm such a water person though, so most of my favorite memories include water of some sort such as, lakes, rivers, oceans, waterfalls, etc.. I'm totally biased :)
Overall, Zurich was a clean, not so big city. It definitely wasn't my favorite so far, because I would've liked to go into the mountains of Switzerland more, but it was still worth the trip. I hope y'all are doing well and I will be posting about Venice, Italy soon. I'm really excited to write about it too :)
Until next time,
Stay adventurous,
Laura
