Switzerland, Zurich
Gruetzi! From Switzerland!
My morning first impressions, having left home 2:30 in the afternoon yesterday and arriving in Switzerland at eight in the morning. Switzerland is seven hours aways, foggy, and sleek and modern, since we hadn't left the motel yet, having slept in and not leaving the hotel until 15:00, trying to recover from the jet lag.
We hopped on the train and headed into Zurich. We spent hours walking through the streets, along the river and beside the lake. The narrow cobble stone roads winding around like a labyrinth were lined with three to four story buildings, each with ornate and delicate decoration. As I walked these pedestrian filled streets, I'm filled with the impression that this is what I imagined a stereotypical Old European village to look like.
I like that there are no tall sky-scrapers buildings. It's odd, you still get that feeling of not being able to orient yourself to a landmark, like in New York City, even though all the buildings are relatively low.
Along the lake, we can see the Alps fading away with the light of dusk in the distance. Swans are tucking themselves in for the night under the bridge. After the sun set, the city sparkled on the water and the air was filled with bells ringing and chiming from the dozens of church towers.
Over dinner, I broke my long standing rule of not eating things that I needed to dissect to consume. I had a lovely pumpkin risotto topped with whole flamed scampi- as in, there were shrimps on my plate staring back up at me, "don't eat me!" they were tasty!
We were so tired after dinner, full of good food and wine, still quite a bit jet lagged, I just wanted to be whisked away to our hotel room.
My morning first impressions, having left home 2:30 in the afternoon yesterday and arriving in Switzerland at eight in the morning. Switzerland is seven hours aways, foggy, and sleek and modern, since we hadn't left the motel yet, having slept in and not leaving the hotel until 15:00, trying to recover from the jet lag.
We hopped on the train and headed into Zurich. We spent hours walking through the streets, along the river and beside the lake. The narrow cobble stone roads winding around like a labyrinth were lined with three to four story buildings, each with ornate and delicate decoration. As I walked these pedestrian filled streets, I'm filled with the impression that this is what I imagined a stereotypical Old European village to look like.
I like that there are no tall sky-scrapers buildings. It's odd, you still get that feeling of not being able to orient yourself to a landmark, like in New York City, even though all the buildings are relatively low.
Along the lake, we can see the Alps fading away with the light of dusk in the distance. Swans are tucking themselves in for the night under the bridge. After the sun set, the city sparkled on the water and the air was filled with bells ringing and chiming from the dozens of church towers.
Over dinner, I broke my long standing rule of not eating things that I needed to dissect to consume. I had a lovely pumpkin risotto topped with whole flamed scampi- as in, there were shrimps on my plate staring back up at me, "don't eat me!" they were tasty!
We were so tired after dinner, full of good food and wine, still quite a bit jet lagged, I just wanted to be whisked away to our hotel room.