Days 9-13 Swiss Bliss

Swiss Alps
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I had visited Zurich several times before, so I did not feel a great need to spend much time here. Rather it was going to be a brief 3 day stopover on my way to India. When I arrived, I quickly remembered how much I love Switzerland. It has to be the cleanest country on the planet. Everything is pristine here: the airport, the transit systems, the streets, even the public restrooms. I never managed to figure out how they maintain such a high level of cleanliness in such a large urban area.

Bahnhofstrasse
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My hotel Schweizerhof was conveniently and dangerously located on the Bahnhofstrasse. This mile long street is noted for being the most expensive shopping street in the world. Every luxury designer has a shop on the Bahnhofstrasse, but you will need to win the lottery, if you plan to purchase any luxury items. In general, Zurich is exorbitantly costly even compared to NYC or SF. In a few days, I bet I spent a few hundred dollars just on bottled water at $8 a pop. Surprisingly, this city does not appear at all to be impacted by the global economic crisis, as I found trendy boutiques and restaurants packed with Europeans ( I did not see any American tourists).

A great place for chocolate and champagne...

chocolate
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Probably the most tempting stores for me were the chocolate shops. Literally every 5th store on the Bahnhofstrasse sells chocolate and the smell of chocolate is overwhelming and irresistible. So I found myself getting sucked into every single shop, trying to find and sample the best chocolate in the world. Luckily I knew I was heading to the desert in India, where all my chocolate would melt, so I was not tempted to purchase any to take home.

However, after shopping all day, I would return back to my hotel and find my room filled with chocolate….it was literally everywhere I looked. Every evening, a butler would bring a cart of more chocolates to your room and later in the evening they would leave more sweets on your bed. I can not figure out why no one is Zurich is overweight? Everyone is thin and beautiful here. I don’t understand? Perhaps I should consider a chocolate diet? The starvation diet in Cartagena did not seem to make a big difference, so I perhaps I should just stick to chocolate and champagne in Zurich. I will let you know how that works out.

Zurich at night
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In addition to shopping, I did spend hours touring the entire Old Town, which is filled with churches with tall steeples, medieval guild houses, cobblestoned alleyways and fountains. I visited both the Grossmunster and Fraumunster cathedrals with their beautiful stain glass windows. I am a big fan of Marc Chagall and you will find 5 of his enormous stain glass designs in Fraumunster. No photography was allowed in the church, so I do not have any photo documentation of his art.

One afternoon was spent walking around Lake Zurich, which is spectacularly beautifully. I missed the boat tour by one minute and unfortunately, never managed to back the following day to catch the ferry. I imagine it would be a lovely tour of all the lakeside villages.

Nat in front of train station
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Monday night, I met up with Christiana’s (friend from SF) sister and we had a lovely dinner at Tao’s, a great hip restaurant. Later, we went to the financial district for drinks at Kaufluten and then dancing at Mezzanote. It was a fun filled entertaining evening!

Unfortunately, I never made it to any museums, but I did manage to see a lot of great artwork around town and in restaurants. I had a memorable visit to Zurich and look forward to returning again soon! Time to go to India.

Jennifer and Nat at Taos
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Thanks for all your emails and notes on the blog. Even though I am very far away, I still feel very connected to you back home.

xoxo - Natalia