THE NEXT STOP ON OUR 28 DAY TOUR OF EUROPE. Review on Zurich

To get from Germany to Switzerland you pass through the tip of the famous German ‘Black Forrest’. We saw a few of the expensive Spas along the way. Once we approached the Swiss border we went through

the valleys of the German and Swiss Alps. I was surprised at the Alps as there are more valleys than mountains. Our Rockies are much prettier to drive though.

Our tour took us to ZURICH, (the largest city in Switzerland with a population of just over 330,000 people), next. This time we had a hotel in the center of the city. Zurich is on the north end of a Lake Zurich, (that is shaped like a crescent moon).

The Limmat River divides the city in the middle. We had to cross one of the bridges to reach the old city on the other side.

THE OLD CITY

On our tour we visited the Grossmünster Cathedral. It has twin towers and the bones of a Saint encase in glass. Next we saw the Marc Chagall's stained glass windows at the Fraumünster Church. We made our last stop at the bottom of a Mountain to take the cable car to the top. If you think my friend, MM, hated water the thing she is most afraid of is cable cars. She drank a 'mickey' of scotch before we reached the top. I was mad because she didn't share any with me! We were dropped off and we had 1 1/2 half free glorious days.

We went back to the old town to visit the designer shops and each bought a purse and some shoes at the Lois Vuiton Shop. They were one third of the price we would have paid for them at home.

ON OUR SIDE OF THE CITY

We shopped along the Bahnhofstrasse. The watches you see one shop in many cities each have their own store in the major Swiss cities. I bought a Cartier watch from a selection of a 1000. I was in New Orleans 6 months later and that was the only Cartier watch that had been made into a ‘knock-off’. I guess I have good taste! MM had to have a 'coo-coo clock'. That was very nice but it was large and had to be shipped home. I had told her what I thought we should budget for each day that we were away. She finished her traveler’s checks when she bought the clock and we began a series of visits to every American Express shop that we saw for the next twenty days. We both bought glasses and a terrific price.

We visited the Swiss National Museum we saw the history of the Swiss people. At the Kunsthaus, (the Art Museum), we saw graphic art, paintings and sculptures that were mostly from the last Century. I thought the Museum of Fine Arts was the nicest Museum in Zurich. We spent hours viewing their Religious Art, (from the 15th Century on), and the paintings of Man Ray, Manet and Monet.

I wanted to take a boat trip as the lake was calm but MM refused and I didn't want to go alone. We spent a long time sitting, reading and relaxing by the lake and watching the swans glide by.

WHERE WE ATE

Our breakfasts of a hard roll, butter, jam and tea or coffee were included in our tour. There is a special room where the people from all the tours go to eat.

The Guide who should have been around a few times a day to suggest where we might like to visit or eat had disappeared the moment our half-day tour ended. So we had to decide where to eat ourselves. Often the 'group on the bus' was waiting for us to tell them where we were eating that night.

The first night we at the Kropf. It is in a charming old building. The meal was very heavy as they served meat soup with dumplings, a stew with dumplings and an apple dumpling for dessert.

One lunch we ate at Schlock a cafe that only serves healthy food. The other lunch was at Zähringer that served sandwiches and beer.

The last night we were in Zurich part of our tour package included a meal, (which was terrible), and an evening of 'folklore' music and dances. I learned to play the 'cow bells' on stage but I wish I could have blown into the long horn and yelled 'Riecola', (a couch drop that uses the musicians and the horns in an ad).

SOME THOUGHTS

I loved what I saw of the countryside and the Alps as we drove to and from Zurich. Zurich was a very interesting city and I think most people would love it as much as I did.

Thanks for reading my review

©LL