Zurich

Zürichsee (Lake Zurich).  Watches.

Population: 350,125

Our first day trip was to Zurich (the "big" city!).  I can’t say enough how truly fabulous and convenient the train is.   We just hop on our tram to the SBB train station, buy tickets from an automatic kiosk, and walk out to the platform.   It’s so quick and easy.  The trip from Basel to Zurich was right under an hour, and the station is at the center of town.  We window-shopped our way down the main street (Bahnhofstrasse), ogling the high-end clothing and watches/jewelry.  The street ends at the sprawling lake, where we found a flea market (with random stuff, I might add - it was more like a big garage sale).   We wandered through the winding pedestrian streets on both sides of the Limmat River, popped into a few churches, some funky boutiques and  took a short boat tour on the lake.

We had a quick lunch at Sternen Grill, a famous sausage stand (think shiny, silver 1950’s trailer).  The place was a total zoo, loved by both locals and tourists alike, but we were lucky to find a little table outside to enjoy our meal.  We got 2 kalbsbratwurst, which comes with a side of spicy mustard and big hunk of bread – very hearty and good value for money!  We're learning that sausage *in* a bun is an American thing.  Sausages here are "a la carte", served with either a hearty roll or slice of bread.

After lunch, we took a 1.5 hour tour around the lake.  It was relaxing to sit in the sun with a cool breeze blowing on our faces, enjoying the views.  And I was glad to be off of my feet for a bit.  We even spotted a few vineyards on the hillside.  The Zurich suburbs are really nice!

We walked to Züri-West and passed a bunch of arcaded stores built under the bridge.  We hit the Freitag outlet , the brand of the “it” messenger bag, made from recycled  items.  The store is made up of stacked storage containers, with a lookout at the top.  We have never seen anything like this before, so interesting!

 

We walked all around the city, and with tired feet and hungy stomachs, we ended with a wonderful dinner at a pizzeria we read about online.  It was was tucked away in a non-descript warehouse across from the Salvation Army!  Apparently, it’s popular with the artists in the area and without a reservation, we were seated at the end of a huge [empty] 12-top, which was fine, we were just glad we found it.  (See “Lost in Translation” post).   Overall, we were pleased as it was very tasty.