Discovering Zurich

This past weekend, I went on my first solo trip: Zurich, Switzerland.

I actually did not plan on going to Zurich. I purchased a “blind” plane ticket from German Wings, in which they choose the destination. They give you a list of cities depending if you want to go for culture, nightlife, shopping, etc. The ticket is cheaper than most and I thought it would be fun to purchase and be surprised. You can ask anyone – I am awful at decisions. I mean seriously awful. (A lot of the time when I am trying to choose between two things, I mix them around behind my back and choose a hand. I know, this game is usually played with two people – it does make it a little challenging to mix them behind your own back, since you still know in the back of your head which is in which hand. So I try to hum a song, like Elephant Love Medley or something Disney while I’m mixing them up. That way, I forget to pay attention to which is in which hand.) Now that I’ve given you a tip on how to make decisions for yourself if you, too, are bad at making them, I will continue. Basically, anything that takes the decision-making aspect out means I am happy, so this blind plane ticket was perfect for me. I already told you I went to Zurich, so you know the outcome of my purchase. Initially, I was not overly excited. I had never pegged Switzerland as one of my top 5 places to travel while being here. Nevertheless, I threw myself into researching and psyching myself up for my first trip. As the planning began and I researched Zurich, I grew more and more excited.

I have to say that I was not sure what to expect of Switzerland. I made sure not to have any preconceived notions, as I didn’t want to be disappointed if it was not as beautiful and serene as I have been led to believe. However, there was no need to worry. Everything about Zurich is beautiful: the people, the turquoise-colored river that flows through the city and into Lake Zurich, the cobblestone streets, the view of the snow-capped Alps in the background, the chocolate shops on every corner…just, everything. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. I was in love.

I arrived at my hostel around 9:30 on Friday night. There were two girls checking in at the same time as me, and they were also American. We immediately recognized each other as Americans and started talking. They were sisters about my age that had been travelling around Europe for three months. Switzerland was one of their last stops before returning home to New Jersey. It was so nice to meet some Americans that I could tour around with during my stay. After putting our stuff down in our room, we went back to the hostel’s café for our free drink and to start planning the next day. I, of course, had made a list of everything I wanted to do in Zurich. So, I whipped this list out and we made our plans.

We first rode a train to and then hiked to the top of Uetliberg (a mountain), where it is possible to see all of Zurich and the surrounding Alps: the bird’s eye view, basically. We got back to the city of Zurich around noon and began our own walking tour of the city, starting out by walking down Bahnhofstrasse, the most expensive street in all of Switzerland, lined with the major designers: Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and on and on of stores that would fulfill any girl’s Pretty Woman fantasy. One of my main goals on Bahnhofstrasse was to find Spruengli’s. It is the go-to chocolate shop. All of the reviews I read said that it was a must. And it was. We each bought a few chocolates (not too many as they were expensive. I got 4 little pieces and it was CHF 7.20, which is about $9.00) and then went outside to sit on a bench and eat them. They were divinely (yes, it is a word – or if it isn’t, it is now) delicious. For the rest of the day, we walked around Zurich – to the old town, where the Roman’s first settled Zurich in 200 A.D., to the various churches along the river, down Augustinerstrasse, one of the oldest and cutest streets in Zurich, and other various spots. We found lunch as we were walking by a square – there was a band playing to benefit MS and a restaurant had set up a table selling some superbly scrumptious mushroom risotto out of wooden bowls. We rode a boat around the lake and watched all of the swimmers, sailors, and boaters enjoying their day. We stumbled upon a flea market with all kinds of old treasures. We went into the toy store, and looked at all the Swiss toys, then to a music store that was 5 stories, where we drooled over the Steinway pianos and other instruments, all wishing we were more musically-inclined (it is one of my goals in life to learn to play the piano).

View from Uetliberg

Walking along the river...

We sat for a long time at Lindenhof square, which is the exact spot in Zurich where the Roman’s first settled. They have giant chess boards there, of which 2 out of 3 were taken up by white-haired old men, but we took the third one and started to set up the board. Then we realized none of us knew how to play chess, so we didn’t know how to set up the board. I hadn’t played since 5th grade when we had to play a tournament in GT, so I definitely didn’t remember. But we set it up how we thought and then I asked a guy that was walking by if it was correct. I asked him in broken German, “weiss du if das ist richtig?” (Christian/Monika – what should I have said?) Ok, so the “if” is English, but he could figure it out. Anyway, he just looked right at me and said, “Why don’t you just say it in English, it will be a lot easier for both of us,” in his barely-there Swiss accent. So I asked him if it was correct; he said yes, it was, and then asked us if we were going to play. We told him we didn’t remember how, so he showed us and then sat with us for a while and told us all about Zurich – where to go, the history, and lots of other interesting things.

Let me just stop here and say how much I love meeting new people here. I love the European lifestyle. This Zurich guy (we never asked his name) is just one of the examples. He was eating a carrot (I mean, a whole carrot. It looked like he had just pulled it out of the ground. It still had the green part attached to it. I’ve never seen anyone eat a whole carrot like Bugs Bunny – it made me smile), and he had no problem just sitting down and talking to strangers, telling us about his city and country. Most Americans would have just kept walking, or at least not have given us all this information. Another example: the girl that worked at the hostel was from Germany. She moved to Berlin when she was 16 for a couple of years. She then went to visit some friends in London. And she liked it. So she stayed for 4 years. Then she visited some friends in Zurich. And liked it. So she stayed. I so admire the sense of spontaneity and courage that it takes for her to make those choices, and I’ve met quite a few Europeans like that so far. People just amaze me. It’s so interesting for me to meet new people and find out their story and background. What makes them who they are today? That is one of my favorite things about being over here: just the culture and lifestyle of all of the people I will meet. I feel it will make my life much richer, just learning these things and meeting these people. They know how to live in the present, and that is one thing I need to learn to do. Rather than planning out my life so much, I need to be better at just letting it happen.

Back on track: after Lindenhof Square, we began our search for dinner. Switzerland is beautiful, but expensive. We walked around for an hour, and the cheapest restaurant we could find was about 25 Swiss Franks (CHF) for a plate (around $31). While I would love to eat a nice dinner for that price, I can’t afford to do that. So, we kept walking and finally found a Beer Garden-type restaurant right on the river with a band playing, which was pretty cheap. I got a small salad, a side of potato salad with a drink, and it was CHF 20. Expensive, but the view and atmosphere was worth it. I also learned that I have reached one of the minor goals that I have been working on for a long time: I think I FINALLY like tomatoes! I am a believer in if you don’t like something, but keep eating it, then you will teach yourself to like it. I’ve done it with potatoes (which I now regret as my diet would be a lot healthier if I didn’t), collard greens, black-eyed peas, lima beans, and now, tomatoes! So that was exciting.

After dinner, we walked slowly back towards our hostel, got our free drink, and we all sat down to plan out Sunday. Jenn and Carrie were going to be leaving in the morning, so I was solo on Sunday until my flight back to Germany at 6:30. I still wanted to do a guided walking tour to find out small tidbits that I didn’t know already, and go to the Swiss National Museum (mostly because it is in a castle).

So Sunday, I woke up, went on my guided walking tour (where I learned a lot), ate lunch and wrote postcards, then went to the Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum), (where I did not learn much because most everything was in German & French – the English translations, which were just on papers by the door, were all out, and I didn’t have enough time or patience to try and read all the German descriptions). The Landesmuseum was very pretty, though, and I’m glad I went. I did get to go to the special exhibit on the WWF, which was very interesting. I did not know that it was founded in Zurich (World Wide Fund – not wrestling, people).

View from Lindenhof Square

Although Zurich would not have been my first choice, I am so glad that German Wings made that choice for me. I got to see a beautiful city with beautiful people and a beautiful atmosphere.