The Münsters

ZURICH! So, I got to Zurich and there was some sort of strange Dance thingy going on in the station, and there were like 300 people all swing dancing in the middle of the train station while somebody called the steps in a wonderful mix of German and English. It was a great way to get into the city.

Then I stopped by the tourist office to pick up a map and some directions to my hostel. My hostel was… a ways from the city center. It was nice enough, just far away. Hosteling isn’t a thing in Switzerland like it is some places, it would seem. Because I didn’t have a lot of choice in location. But it worked out.

So after I checked in, I headed back out. I went for a lovely walk along the shores of lake Zurich, which, like Geneva is in a basin on a lake surrounded by mountains. It is truly lovely.

So the tourist map has this recommended route on it, and I decided to take some of it, and walked by the plaza with the opera in it. While there I bought a bratwurst and some bread from a vendor, because that’s about what I could afford for dinner (seriously. So expensive.) and sat by the lake a while.

I then continued on up the river to the Grossmünster, which in German means something along the lines of “Greatminister” (like Westminister). But my knowledge of German combined with my English brain just sees, “BIG MONSTER” which is funnier. (“groß” means “big” in German) But it was a lovely church. That did not permit any photos. Which was SAD. Because it was beautiful. It’s the most important church in Zürich, and was the home base of Zwingli. Because Switzerland was all about dat reformation (well, about half of it was. The other half… not so much.) And it’s really cool looking, inside and out.

So then I walked uphill, just kind of exploring the city, and I found some nice gardens that looked out over the city and the lake, so I sat and read there for a while and admired the view. I kept climbing and found the university, which likewise has a nice view, and the hospital, which has a nice park attached. I just kind of chilled and read and enjoyed the view for a bit. When it started to get later, I headed back down the hill (and bought a 24 hour tram pass. Which was a good investment) and back to my hostel. I chilled there for a bit and hit the hay. The people in my room were very interesting, and I did stay up later due to conversations with them. There was a woman living in Spain, so we had a good time comparing stories, and a Kiwi who lived in Florida for a year, and seemed to have a generally interesting life.

The next day, I got up early (watched the penultimate episode of OUAT this season), ate breakfast, and headed out. I took a free walking tour of the city, which is always fun. We visited several famous and important sites, including the Fraumünster (again, Dameminister? Lady Minister? Something. “Frau” is woman/Mrs./Ms./Ma’am. But I’m like, “LADY MONSTER.” And that’s what they call maturity.) Which actually has a supercool history. Because apparently, there was some King, and he wanted to give his daughter a present, so he built a convent there, and the nuns there basically ruled Zurich for a while. Like, they chose the mayor and collected all the taxes. And then for some reason the guilds in the Middle Ages didn’t like a bunch of nuns telling them what to do and they seized power. Whoops.

Also, Tina Turner got married there.

And then we walked up a very tall hill to the OTHER famous Church in Zurich, which fortunately for all of you, the good people of Geneva decided to call St. Peter instead of like PETERSMONSTER! I mean, minister. And then after the tour the guide was very nice and gave us chocolates, and one of the tour people gave her chocolates to me. Because I was easily the youngest person on the tour, and we had been talking, and she wanted to help out the “starving college student” which was nice. Those chocolates constituted a decent portion of what I ate that afternoon. The other bit was the brownie voucher we also got at the end of the tour. I ate the brownie. Not the voucher. Eating the voucher would have been a waste.

So then I went off and explored some more. I found the place where Vladimir Lenin lived when he was exiled from Russia before the whole Bolshevik revolution.

Oh, so then I did stop at a grocery store and have a chicken curry strudel for lunch. If that isn’t multiculturalism I don’t know what is. It was also delicious. And then I sort of followed the rest of the recommended tourist route, which was nice.

I then took advantage of my bus pass and went up to some further out part of town, where I caught a funicular up one of the mountains surrounding Zurich. I’m not 100% sure of where I wound, up but it was gorgeous, and had a beautiful view of the city and the lake and the mountains. So I was pretty content to just wander around out in the sunshine and the beautiful day. I then walked about half an hour through some trails to the zoo. I didn’t actually go to the zoo, but I walked around some of the area outside it, which was stunning. It made me feel like I was in the Sound of Music. It was great.

But then I went back down the mountain to continue on with the PLAN. Which involved continuing on with the recommended tour, right by the post office, and on to the docks. From there, I took a nice little 30 minute cruise up and down the river, which was a lovely way to see the city. Then I went back to the grocery store in an attempt to eat and not bankrupt my entire family for generations to come. Then I went back to the docks, and took a much longer cruise around the upper part of lake Zurich.

This was truly spectacular. I got to see the mountains, get out of town for a little bit, enjoy the crisp spring air. It was great. I even met a very nice guy from North Africa, and got to practice my French. Which is turning out to be a very useful language. Glad I’m learning it.

So after the delightful boat ride (that I have lots of pictures from) I walked back to the train station to await my night train to Budapest. Most entertainingly, I found a bookstore, which had an English section, and I enjoyed seeing what they had.

But yeah, I got on my train to Budapest at like 10:30, settled into my bunk, and passed out pretty quickly.

And that was Zurich.