Trip to Zurich

This blog is interesting. Everything is so new to me that I feel the urge to write about everything, but without internet where I am staying and only at work, it is tough. I'll try my best to keep on top of it and I promise once the living situation gets sorted out I can update on any adventures I undertake in the meantime.

This weekend was my first in Switzerland. Since I am staying with two other students who are on their first visits to Switzerland and are staying more short-term, I have the opportunity to explore with them. Saturday was my first sojourn into the actual downtown core of Zurich. We drove instead of using transit and it was interesting. The city seems to place a lot of value on public transit so there are many stop lights for advanced bus movement etc. Also as any European town, traffic circles/rortaries abound. These seem to be the general hubs of neighbourhoods with all of the main shops and often have a tram stop in the middle and then cars move around the outside. After spending a while finding a parking spot (which is free after 4 PM on Saturdays) we walked around the main downtown core. We visited a couple of the main churches in downtown (the Fraumunster and the Grossmunster) which were definitely the oldest structures I had ever been in (both founded around the year 1000). Fraumunster features some nice stained glass by Marc Chagall, but no pictures were permitted. Below is a panorama of pictures looking northwest from the top of of one of the towers (you can click on it for a larger view):


After these visits we walked along the river and stopped in the Lindenhof, a nice quiet garden located above the main streets. I also went for my first tea in a cafe in Europe. At 5 CHF each I doubt I will be drinking more until I save some money.

We finished the day by going for burgers at a restaurant on the west side of town with a researcher from the lab. The food was alright, but extremely expensive. I paid 40 CHF for my burger which was a decent amount of food and 2 beers. I will also likely not be going out for dinner very much (most Swiss don't eat out very often) due to the price and the fact that there is still smoking inside. I smelled like an ashtray when I got home and my sweater still smells. I'm going to try and air it out (any tips?), but it might need to go for a wash.

Sunday was also interesting and I'll try to get a post up about that.