Hopped on the Logan Airport Bus from Portland, Maine and smooth ride into Boston for our evening departure to Zurich. Breezed through security and check-in. Boarded Flight 053 on SWISS AIR, ah good decision so far! Swiss Air’s service is outstanding. My last trip to Switzerland was in 1984 on an American carrier and of course I fly frequently and so am able to compare and sad to say, U.S. carriers have a long way to go to compete on service. One observation I had is that the Swiss Air seats may not be properly designed for some American derriere’s! Seats seem a little “skinny” in the width dept. but have plenty of fore & aft clearance.
Arrived on time in Zurich and zipped through immigration, easy to find the train station where I got a 3 day “Zurich Card” good for unlimited travel on the rail, trolley & bus systems in the Zurich area and includes FREE ADMISSION to over 37 Museums in Zurich. Took the train right into Central Station and just a few steps away and checked into our hotel, the Walhalla. The Walhalla is perfectly situated to walk to all of the major downtown sights, shopping and eating as well as on the transit lines connecting throughout the city.
We walked the famous Barnhoff Strasser (Main Shopping Street), and surrounding area, visited the Largest ChristKindli (Christmas Market) in Europe in the train station and listened to local children sing Christmas Carols from the “Singing Christmas Tree”. We then enjoyed a nice Italian Dinner out and conversed with some locals to find out about the local Holiday Drink (more on that later). Continued our stroll through the “Old City” section and stopped for a pint at an English Pub.
Great start, don’t you think?
Day TWO – More Zurich
Started the day with a typical continential breakfast in the hotel. Joined the City Tour by trolley bus in the AM and got familiar with the city. This is a great way to see the “highlights” and then decide what to go back and focus on during the rest of your visit. We left the trolley tour at the Barnhoff Strasser, and visited a couple of department stores to get a sense of how the locals live. Then off to a nice lunch in an Irish Pub and watched the run-up to the Big World Cup announcement being made here in Zurich (big news).
After lunch we took a tram back to central station and then walked to the Swiss National Museum. Spending the afternoon here was very enlightening and worthwhile. We learned a lot about Switzerland that I hadn’t known previously. Before dinner we enjoyed some of the local “holiday drink” GLUWIEN(sp?). Gluwien is sort of a HOT WINE drink with spices and a high alcohol content! Locals stand in LONG LINES to get a cup of this and then enjoy a standing version of “happy hour” with their friends before hopping on the trains back home…
Another dinner out then hit a café for dessert and coffee and we called it a day.
Zurich is well worth visiting and if you can afford it (everything is expensive here), you could spend a week here and still not see everything worth seeing.
Day THREE – Zurich to Basel by Train…
