Steven and I had hoped we'd be flying into Zurich from Luxembourg City but the pandemic continued to make this jaunt to Europe a little more challenging. Just a few days ago, we discovered that Luxembourg, the last of the BeNeLux countries we'd hoped to explore, had closed its doors to all Americans regardless of vaccination status. Oh well - it's certainly a lot easier traveling by train in Europe rather than by plane anyway for fairly short hops and certainly far prettier from Frankfurt, too.
As Steven had never visited Switzerland before, he really wanted to visit the Swiss Alps so Zurich in the eastern part of the country was a logical first stop. A lot of tourists just use the city as a transportation hub, hopping in and out of the airport or changing trains at its main station. Some locals joke Zurich equals zu reich, zu rubig which translates to "too rich, too quiet."
It was a little chaotic arriving at the main station as over 2,000 trains pass through there a day! The station was like a mini-city with a grocery store, shopping mall, community events, farmers' markets, and 'beach volleyball' - I kid you not! All that is looked after by the city's Guardian Angel that was created by a French-American artist in 1997.
Decades ago, I lived for a year in Geneva in the French-speaking, southwestern part of Switzerland and I visited Zurich for a few days. I was hoping to show Steven the train station's impressive facade with its mammoth triumphal arch that hearkened back to when Zurich was the country's leading city in the Industrial Age. At the top of the arch, now only visible on a plastic sign because of renovations or restoration, was Helvetia, the personification of the country waving a Swiss flag. The license plates, web addresses, and the abbreviation for the Swiss currency - all use 'CH' which stands for Confoederatio Helvetica.
In front of the station was a statue honoring Alfred Escher, the country's 19th-century politician who was the driving force behind creating Swiss infrastructure - railways, trains, and banks - that connected the nation to the rest of the continent and made it possible for Switzerland to run properly.
Just as we had plans to visit a couple of Frankfurt's museums when we were there, we also had high hopes to spend some time at Zurich's best museum, the Swiss National Museum, located directly across the street. However, this photo was as close as we ever got but we were both very much OK with it.
It was really hard for me to put a positive spin on this minute parcel of land a few blocks from the train station that was about big enough for a statue to famed Swiss educational reformer, Johan Pestalozzi. Because Swiss real estate is among the costliest in the world, the city doesn't put a premium on parks so it would be a helluva stretch to declare this postage-stamp piece of grass a park!
A few feet from the statue was this sweet fountain with Greek nymphs dispensing water. Be prepared for a 'few more' fountain shots as Zurich is promoted as Europe's most 'fountainous' city!
Swiss fountains are not just pretty additions to the towns and cities but the best way to get free, fresh, cold water as restaurants charge a pretty penny for tap water.
If you're only an occasional reader of these posts, you'll know that Steven and I don't often feel a need to visit police stations when we travel. However, I'd read that there was a particularly fine example of Swiss Art Nouveau at the local police department so off we trotted.
In 1920 Swiss artist Augusto Giacometti painted the entrance hall's arched vaults in glorious flowery reds and oranges in what he called the Hall of Flowers to celebrate the end of World War I. If the name Giacometti sounds familiar, you're likely thinking of his far more famous nephew, Alberto Giacometti, who's known for his angular statues!
The police officer at the desk denied my request to enter and take photos because it was a police station and was concerned with security. However, he kindly turned a blind eye as I stood in the doorway to take these shots. I was very thankful for his not-so-struct adherence to the rules as it was a very un-Swiss thing.
What a shame the light was poor so my photo doesn't do justice to the mural on the side of the Schweizer Heimatwerk shop that sold unique Swiss handiwork but at incredibly steep prices. The quality of the workmanship was top notch and the shop was fun to browse in until my eyes watered at the prices.
I'm sure our very young granddaughters, Max and Clara, would look as cute as all get out in these matching dresses and purses but there was no way I could possibly justify spending $370 EACH for the outfit.
These moveable wooden toys looked perfect but I was concerned about the weight and their $100 price tag just for one, too. Sorry, Max and Clara.
The Limmat River winds its way through Zurich until it ends in Lake Zurich. I was surprised that there was no boat traffic in the late afternoon as it looked like ideal weather to be out on the water. I must have some of my maternal grandfather's blood coursing through my veins - he spent most of his life on the open seas commanding hundreds of men. When Steven and I travel, I have always loved walking along waterfronts, taking ferries and boats of all sizes so the chance to walk along the river in Zurich was special.
After a while, though, we headed away from the water and ...
passed some intriguing architecture ...
huffed and puffed up steep steps that we weren't used to after flat Belgium ...
window shopped ...
and followed the river along an arcade ...
until we reached what has been described as likely Switzerland's ugliest bridge!
Coming from Belgium, we weren't used to such tight lanes and stairways but these were exceptionally charming.
Were we glad we happened to look up to admire these murals and artistic writing on some of the buildings! Little did we realize then that we would be seeing a lot of both in eastern Switzerland in the coming days.
We sure hoped that what awaited us at the top of this steep hill would be worth our aching calves as even the car struggled to climb the street!
Fortunately, the park at the top, Lindenhof, had been worth the hike up! From Roman times through the ninth century, important forts and strategic buildings were located on this bluff overlooking Zurich.
In one corner of the park, old men were playing chess with super-sized chess pieces under linden trees for which the park was named.
A statue on the other side of the park celebrated local women who defended the city against the Habsburgs in 1292 when they dressed in armor and made lots of noise as if they were a large army while their men were away fighting another battle. Luckily, their ruse worked and they fooled the Habsburgs into thinking the entire city was prepared to attack.
Behind the green spire on the other side of the river was the largest university in the country with 25,000 students.
Zurich's distinguished technical college, ETH, had another 15,000 students. Albert Einstein and two dozen other graduates of ETH have gone on to earn Nobel Prizes.
The twin domes on the other side also marked the Grossmunster, one of the four major churches in Zurich.
Steven wanted this photo taken of him with the very faint outline of the Swiss Alps in the background just in case the upcoming weather forecast proved to be correct and we wouldn't be able to see the mountains after all!
After tearing ourselves away from the park, we walked down lots of stairs and found a square with another fountain as this was Zurich after all!
If it were dinnertime, sitting on another square and watching the world go by in front of The Golden Bell would have been a fun way to pass the time.
I think I would have gone cross-eyed painting the black-and-white designs on the next building especially as it was painted on several sides!
Reblaube Gaststube was a restaurant and drinking establishment that German writer and playwright Goethe made famous in 1779.
The story is that Goethe and the minister of the adjoining St. Peterskirche or St. Peter's Church whiled many hours drinking together in the restaurant. When the church was founded in the 7th-century, it became Zurich's first, and its 28-foot diameter clock face is one of Europe's largest. I read that the town watchman used to live above the clock until 1911 and would sound the alarm if he spotted a fire by placing a flag out the window in the direction of the fire. Somehow the system must have worked as the city never had a catastrophic fire, unlike the cities we just visited in Belgium. Oddly, the church tower is still owned by the city of Zurich - I wondered if that was because of its history as a fire tower?
I couldn't help but smile at the creative recycling of old skis in these chairs in front of the church!
The church faced this pretty square.
Suellen and Janina: Perhaps the three of us should go into business in our spare time and knit adorable baby items for well-heeled offspring!
These images caught my eye as we made our way to Zurich's burbs where we had a small room with a kitchenette for three nights.
I love distinctive plates; one of these would have made a nice addition to our plate collection!
Even though we only had about four hours in Zurich that afternoon, I think we were able to 'pack' quite a bit of the city in without feeling rushed at all. We were looking forward to discovering what more Zurich would reveal.
Next post: Church and river hopping in Zurich.
Posted on October 21st, 2021, from Pisa shortly before we're heading to Florence, a city I haven't visited since 1975. How much fun it will be to discover it anew with Steven who has also traveled to Firenze.
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