I ended up having a great time in Zurich, though I wasn’t sure it was going to be that way from the beginning. I spent my first afternoon walking around and taking pictures, but starting to wonder what I was going to do with an entire second day. A happy surprise answered that question and guaranteed a great time.
The most famous building in Zurich, and the one that ends up on most of the knickknacks (shot glass alert) is the Grossmunster, which is really a lot cooler that its name might lead you to believe. You can climb the towers, but I didn’t because it’s not THAT cool.
Do you know what structure has the largest clock face in Europe? Do you know what church has largest clock face of any church in the world? The answer to both of those questions is the same – St. Peter’s Church in Zurich. Just one of the little tidbits that you pick up in Zurich.
Another question. Do you know where to get a sausage and beer in Zurich. That’s a trick question. The answer is pretty much anywhere. And there are lots of types of sausages. I tried numerous ones, with my favorite being the Knoublachwurst. I only tried it because it reminded me of the baseball player and, you know, it was a sausage. Here, though, if you are order a sausage, you don’t get it on a hot dog bun. You get it wrapped in paper and along with this gummy, dense roll that I guess is supposed to fill you up. And you can get beer and drink beer anywhere. There were open containers on the bus and at the train station and it was a little disconcerting, though that’s not a complaint.
I also walked down the Bahnhoffstrasse, which reputedly has the most expensive real estate prices in the world. I say that because I read that somewhere while I was here and I have no idea if it’s true or not and I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of it before. Like Fifth Avenue or Rodeo Drive, though, it’s lined with stores like Tiffany’s and Chanel and Walmart. Okay, I didn’t actually see a Walmart, but it had to be there, right? I must just have missed it.
On the second day, I went to the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, or Swiss Museum, for a few hours. You’d think a country that didn’t actually become a country until the 19th century and is known for neutrality wouldn’t have that much stuff to put into a museum, but it was full of stuff. Actually, it was very interesting and I learned a lot about Switzerland while I was there. Like how much they profited by dealing with the Axis powers and denied refugee status to Jews. Didn’t make me like Switzerland more, but at least it was honest.
I honestly had no idea what I was going to do my final night there that I hadn’t already done. Then, I was flipping around channels and saw that FC Zurich was playing on television that night. While they were playing out of town, it alerted me to the fact that the Swiss Premier League was playing and I figured there must be other clubs in Zurich. After a little research, I found that Grasshopper Club Zurich was playing FC Aarau at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich. The crowd was tiny and the quality was subpar, but the home club won 4:0, I had sausages and beer and I learned a little about Zurich public transportation. I’d call that a complete success.
Okay, that’s it for Zurich. Now, on to Munich and Oktoberfest.
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