Zurich - A brief stay
The “Salt and Pepper Pot” Towers of Zurich Cathedral over the River Limmat
We arrived in Zurich by TGV train from springtime Paris. It was around 10.30 pm as we orientated ourselves, making sure we exited in the appropriate direction from the vast and impressive Hauptbanhof and walked a couple of kilometres to Lang Strasser. Even non-linguists could readily make a stab at translation to come up with Long Street, which indeed it turned out to be. Unfortunately, we chose the wrong direction to walk once we found the correct thoroughfare to find our modestly priced guesthouse.
The street was lively and buzzing, however, with busy bars and restaurants, clientele spilling out onto the pavements, chatting and laughing. Lang Strasser also thronged with scores of Black African prostitutes touting their wares. Something we were not expecting.
Once we had realised our map-reading mistake and doubled back, we found our accommodation above a twenty-four-hour mini market, which was also part of the business.
It was a decent room. We were only staying overnight, but it would be okay for a few days of city orientation. It had a kitchenette with a fridge and a microwave and was in the heart of Zurich.
Although it had been a long day of travel, we both fancied a little nightcap and found an ideal place just around the corner. The friendly young woman running the tiny little wine bar explained she was closing shortly, but we assured her it was just a quick drink we were after.” That will be fine then,” she said, smiling.
We woke naturally around eight and threw back the curtains to a wonderful blue sky day. As we only had the morning to explore before taking a further train journey through the mountains to St Anton in Austria, we showered and dressed quickly.
It was much easier to find our way around in the daylight and crossed a pedestrian bridge over the River Limmat on our way to the city centre and the station.
On the opposite side of the station was Bahnhofstrasse, one of the most expensive and exclusive retailing areas in the world. The regular parade of Porches, Maseratis, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris along the street also bore out the fact that we were very much amid high-end luxury.
This conspicuous consumption did not particularly interest us, though, and we strolled down a smaller side street and explored some of the network of ancient streets that make up Zurich’s old town. This was a picture-perfect spot with beautiful pastel-coloured buildings, including former wealthy merchants’ homes with window shutters and prolific and colourful flower displays. We also saw the St Peterskirsche which, slightly bizarrely, boasts Europe’s largest clock face.
We came to the riverside, and we could immediately appreciate the liveability of the city. It is not a large city; the population is around 350,000. Beyond the stately buildings on the opposite bank, including the iconic Salt and Pepperpot towers of the cathedral, we could see the mountains in the distance. To our right, we could make out where the river flowed into Lake Zurich. On the banks, owners had moored up scores of modest leisure boats, all under their winter tarpaulins waiting for the time that would come shortly, when families would regularly go out for fun trips on the lake.
After a coffee and croissant stop, we continued our exploration, walking towards the waterfront, where larger passenger boats offered trips around the lake. We could also see man-made bathing beaches along the shore, which undoubtedly would be very popular in the summer months.
Wending our way back to the station in good time for our lunchtime departure, we bought some food and drink for the journey, which would take us initially down the lakeside, before going on into Austria through some majestic Alpine scenery. We were both looking forward to the trip.
We confirmed the details of our departure (on a train that was going eventually going to Bratislava) with a railway employee. The chap spoke good English, but with a disconcerting North East accent. We found out this was Barry, an ex-jockey originally from Middlesbrough, who had been with the railway company for twenty years.
Our stay in Zurich had been brief, but most enjoyable. It would be pleasant to visit again and explore the area more fully.