Zurich, Switzerland
Dec. 31 After traveling for about 19 hours with good flights and no catastrophes (except a near catastrophe when I left my phone on the chair in London airport and started to board without it till a lady came running to me with it. Bless her heart.) I arrived in Zurich. Switzerland. As we broke through the clouds, you could see the green hills with little brown chalets scattered here and there, and the city of Zurich with its houses and buildings surrounding a lake. A few hours later, my friend flew in as well. In the meantime, I walked across the street to the airport mall. I stopped at Migros grocery store to grab a snack. I have never seen so much or many kinds of cheese and chocolate. Also many bins of fresh rolls and pastries. A chocolate croissant and fresh mozzarella cheese was amazing. The amount of fresh food is incredible. Fruit juices, waters with fruits and herbs freshly made to buy, and so many more healthy options made there in the store. After Stephanie arrived, we went back to the store and grabbed some food for breakfast tomorrow as it will be New Year’s Day and we were told most places will be closed. Next we had to figure out how to get train tickets which was confusing and in the end we bought a 24 hour pass which we proceeded to use 3 days as no one ever checked or asked if we had tickets. We arrived at our hotel which was just a touch sketchy. So little did we know when we booked our trip to Zurich, that New Year’s Eve is a huge festival with 200,000 people at it. Therefore there were few hotels available and even fewer that weren’t extremely expensive. We settled for one a 30 min train ride down the lake. This was our most expensive hotel the whole trip. When we unlocked the door to our room, there was a very dirty unmade bed, the lights in the bathroom did not work at all, and the shower curtain was hanging at an odd angle and later fell down. Also a sign on the door read, do not shower to hot as this can set off the fire alarms which causes the fire dept to come resulting in a 2000 Franc fine. ($2400) Besides the dirty room, it was one of the most primitive hotels I had ever been in. Also this is a self check in hotel. There is no staff on site. I messaged the manager, asking for a different room. She replied that her cleaner was not available tonight, and that there was only a single bed bedroom left that we could have. We went upstairs and realized that wasn't an option, so we pulled the clean sheets off that bed and took them back to our first room. Let’s just say it doesn't work to use single bed sheets on a queen bed. So we flipped the bottom sheet that was dirty upside down, said a prayer that there wouldn’t be any bed bugs, and called it good. A towel worked as a pillow case of sorts. We hung our breakfast foods in a bag out the window, then shut the window on the bag to hold it on the outside to keep it cold. You got to get creative when you do not have a refrigerator. We had this place booked a second night but in the end they refunded us the second night and we booked a different place. However, that is not what most of Switzerland is like. Zurich was a beautiful and clean city. There is no trash laying around, everyone is dressed up and looking classy, and everyone is very fit and athletic looking. Maybe that is because there are very few cars and most people walk or bike. After getting some warm clothes on, we took the train down to the old part of town where the festival was taking place. There were little food stands all along the sidewalks that smelled amazing. I tried a gyro that was delicious. We also got cappuccino to keep us warm. We walked along the lake until the new year came in. There were crowds of people everywhere. A few young people decided the view was better from standing on top of a bus station. At 11:45 church bells began ringing until 1215. The crowds were so loud you sadly couldn’t even hear them. Then most of the lights of the town went out at once, and a fireworks show started out on the lake from 3 barges. It was the best fireworks show I had ever seen. Absolutely stunning. They even had the fireworks that made pictures that I had always heard about as a kid but never seen. We headed back to the hotel at about 0145.
Jan 1. The next morning after sleeping in we headed down to the old town area again to see it all in the daylight. The snowy alps were in the distance but in the town, everything was green. The leaves had fallen off the trees, but the bushes, lawns, and many potted plants were lush and green. Even a few pansies were blooming. We had an unfortunate event when I forgot my purse on the train. As I ran back to get it the door wouldn’t open. A lady inside got it open for me. I ran upstairs, got it and came back only to have the train take off leaving Stephanie on the platform on her own. And her phone is off here. So I hopped off at the next station and grabbed the next train going back towards here. However this train was a different line and when 15 min past her station. I started messaging her hoping she would get to some Wi-Fi. We finally were able to communicate. I hopped off as soon as I was able to and caught the next train going back to where she was at. In the end it all worked out. We were carrying all our belongings since we were switching places for night and could not check in till later. Not a bad work out carrying a heavy backpack and getting 20,000 steps in a day. On the train there was a little kid a few seats down. He looked and looked at my socks and birkenstocks then was jabbering to his family. His little sister then leaned over to take a look at my footwear as well. Apparently that is not common for here lol. We walked around looking at the beautiful Swiss architecture and the old churches. The streets in this area are all cobblestone and narrow with only people walking. The curve and wind here and there and are just darling. Just like the calendar pictures. We found a place called Raclette. This is a traditional Swiss food where the melt cheese till its just a bit crispy, then scrape it onto boiled potatoes or bread cubes. I had a mix of regular cheese and smoked cheese over potatoes with sausages. It was delicious. Also a water bottle is $6 in a restaurant. No free water. However there are over 2000 beautiful stone fountains throughout the town that are drinkable water. We walked along exploring all over. Most stores were closed, but a few restaurants and coffee shops were open. We stopped and Cafe Henrici for some coffee. I had an espresso with cinnamon and melted dark chocolate in it. Fabulous. We sat outside at the cafe for a long time, talking, people watching, and enjoying the outdoors. The morning had been clear and sunny with jacket weather. As we sat there it cooled down as it got dark and the stars started coming out. The street lights are short and pretty little street lamps so there is very little light pollution. Once it got chilly, we walked around admiring the beautiful city at night. String lights are strung from across the high buildings, and most street windows are lit up beautifully. We meandered among the pathways and ended up sitting on a bridge where we were surrounded by churches and waited for the top of the hour to listen to the church bells. They are all on a little different time, and the sound was magical and they played for about 5 minutes or so. It all looked like a dreamland. The quaint buildings, the old churches, the pretty lights and all of reflecting in the lake. The lake water is crystal clear and comes a ways into town like a narrow river with cute little walking bridges across. There is no trash laying around the river. Except for an electric scooter we seen that must of had an unfortunate event. We took the train to our next hotel which was luxurious compared to last night. A spot of tea ended the day perfectly.
Jan 2. We got up early to catch a breakfast in the train station. We stopped at a little coffee shop for spinach quiche and cappuccinos. Which of course was delicious. We caught the train and then took a short walk to the Lindt Chocolate Factory. It. Was. Stunning. A giant gold whisk dripping chocolate several stories onto a massive truffle below. We walked through and saw how the chocolate was made. Then there were giant chocolate fountains of white, milk, and dark liquid chocolate with spoons where you could eat as much warm chocolate as you wanted. Another spot had machines when you put your hand under then a piece of chocolate fell out with several different flavors to try. At the end, you walk through a row of bins with many different kinds of truffles and you can try any that you would like. That’s a lot of chocolate right there. We took some to try later! We caught a train back to the main station, grabbed salads to go for lunch, and then hopped a train for our next destination: Interlaken, Switzerland.
