Hotel Arlette Am - A Review

I’m going to double-back for an entry here and do a brief review of the Hotel Arlette Am in Zurich. The first thing that I have to point out about it is how convenient it is with respect to the main (only) rail station in Zurich. From the spot where I got off of the train from Paris, Hotel Arlette Am is only a ten-minute walk away. As much stuff as I was lugging around, this was a big bonus.

Another bonus, and for the same reason, was that the hotel had a lift. Seeing as I was on the fifth floor, this again prevented me from having to carry heavy loads up lots of stairs.

I forget how much the hotel cost, but it seems to me that this one was on the higher end of the spectrum – in the neighborhood of $140/night. After complaining earlier about Paris being expensive, I learned that Zurich was probably even worse. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the richest country on Earth.

The hotel is between the train station and Central tram line, which borders the part of Old Town on the east of the river. Another A for convenience as the historic part of Zurich was all within a 20-minute walk of the hotel. That includes the Swiss Museum, Bahnhofstrasse and all of the buildings in the earlier pictures. As with the Hotel Mozart in Brussels, the hotel was in a perfect location for a tourist and was even closer to public transportation.

One strike against the Arlette Am was the nickel-and-diming. It was the first hotel that I stayed in that didn’t have free wi-fi. It turned out to be about $10 a day for the two days that I was there, but Zurich isn’t big on public options for free internet, so it was a price I felt compelled to pay. Also, the breakfast was pretty light, though the hotel had additional options to choose from, for a price. Figuring that if I was going to pay for breakfast, I wasn’t going to do it for hotel food, I opted out.

The staff was very friendly. I understand that the hotel is family-owned and operated. The people there were fluent in English and able to answer questions that I had about Zurich. Like at the Hotel Monte Carlo in Paris, I had to leave the key at the front desk when I left, which I find annoying, but it isn’t the biggest annoyance in the world.

The room was very clean and rather small. Kind of par for the course in the hotels that I’ve been staying in, though I think I can say that this room was cleaner than most. There also was absolutely no noise problem. As I’ve experienced everywhere, there was no air conditioning, but the window opened onto a street that was very quiet, at least at night.

The television had two English-language stations: CNN and MTV. I ended up watching a few too many MTV reality series and worry that my sanity will suffer because of it. We’ll see when I get back if I find myself compelled to watch Rock of Love.

Anyway, in summary, good hotel. Great location. Quiet and clean. Friendly staff. Pricey for what I’ve been spending, but not so bad for Zurich. Would have appreciated free wifi.

Fin.

Zurich: Turned Out Good

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 19^th 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.

Zurich: Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome.

Does anybody else remember the opening to Cabaret?

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome!

Fremde, etranger, stranger.

Gluklich zu sehen, je suis enchante,

Happy to see you. Bleibe, reste, stay.

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome

Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret!!

That’s all I could think of on the train from Paris to Zurich. Every announcement was in German, then French, then English. The very first announcement was Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome and I thought we were getting ready to see a free show!!! We didn’t.

I got to Zurich and, just as I had heard, everything is in German. Now, the only German I know is what I was able to absorb at the feet of my grandfather Herman. Unfortunately, my grandfather Herman died when I was little and I never actually met him, so I didn’t absorb very much. Fortunately, Switzerland put the multi in multilingual, so I have had no problem communicating.

I’ve just been here a few hours walking all over town – there’s not really that much of it. Lots of clocks and old buildings. (Including an old building with the largest clock face in Europe.) Okay, it’s a little nicer than that. Some of the buildings are pretty cool. I’ll go into more detail in an all-inclusive Zurich post that I type on the train to Munich, with pictures and everything.

The hotel is literally a five-minute walk from the train station. Talk about convenient. Any closer and I would be checking in to my hotel while I’m still in on the train.

It’s beautiful, from what I’ve seen, but I’m not sure what to do to spend an entire day here. The Swiss Museum is across the street from the train station and I’ll probably check that out in the morning. Also, I’ll probably stroll by the lake. I’ve already been through Old Town a few times. Like I told you, it’s a pretty small town.

If you have suggestions, I’ll take them. Otherwise, you’ll probably here back from me from Munich with any Zurich stories I may have.