Cheese, Elephants, Lakes, Bankers... Switzerland!

(mood music)

"...this is why we don't like them, they are wasteful, not because the price of petrol is so high. The swiss, if we want something, we will buy it... price is of no concern to us."

-Bruno, my taxi driver, in reference to SUVs. I learned from the price of that cab ride ($107USD) the exact truth of "price is of no concern" part.

Before I get started, I wanted to share a pondering that me and Lauri shared while chatting during my JFK layover: How awful would it be if, upon entering Switzerland, you found out that the Swiss were defaulting on the international agreement that allowed them to keep 20% of all of their cheese (that's why Swiss cheese has holes... right?), and they had to pay your share back to you immediately, and so when you got off the plane they just filled your arms with cheese, so that you couldn't even carry or do anything because of all the cheese? Thanks Lauri, I was scared for my entire plane flight that that might happen....

Okay, here we go - first post abroad! I got into Zurich yesterday morning, and spent a long, long day fighting jetlag (sans cheese), although the day was not without some great highlights.

I got to Zurich and took a cab (rather pricey, as mentioned above) to my hostel in the western part of town, Youth Hostel Zurich. YHZ is a huge, clean, really well run hostel. I'd say Americans are probably about 20% of the guests here. The majority of the guests are Germans, Austrians, French and Italians.

(YHZ)

Luckily I got in before breakfast service was over at the hostel so I slammed some coffee, unsure about my prospects for making it through a full day without napping in order to manhandle my jetlag into submission as soon as possible. My cab driver said the thing to do in Zurich, since I'm only here for a couple days, was to just explore the city. Apparently he thought the city was pretty or something.

Psh, uuuugly...

Actually, he was right. I've spent the last two days exploring, and the city is amazing, not just for the scenery. Zurich is situated on Zurichsee (Lake Zurich), which is a spring and alpine fed lake. The city is also clean. No, like I mean really clean. So clean, in fact, that you can drink from the lake which the city surrounds.

How many rivers that run through a major city are clear enough to see all the way to the bottom, past the trout swimming in them?

The Swiss take a lot of pride in the lake, and many of them consider it a duty and obligation to visit the lakeshore often, especially when it is sunny like these last couple of days. The parks and benches that line the lake nearly all the way around were filled with people, and totally overflowing during lunch time. Everyone from students, to bankers, to elderly couples came to sit and enjoy the scenery.

Zurichsee, as seen from the central bridge on the northern shore. The downtown city is behind me

People would buy huge loafs of bread and feed the swans

My first day I decided to explore the city by foot. I made my way to the shorline near my hostel and started walking towards the Old Town. There are parks and paths that line the whole lake, filled with walker and joggers and, of course, elephants:

Ughhh, jetlag is making me hallucinate....

Actually, I stumbled upon the permanent circus within the first five minutes of my walk. Not a lot of patrons when I walked by, but apparently it's quite popular for its petting zoo...

I spent most of the day strolling through the town and lounging by the lake, trying not to fall asleep on my feet. It was nearly dinner when I got back to the hostel, and I managed to make it a couple more hours before I fell alseep. Luckily I slept right 'til morning, so I'm now pretty much on Zurich time.

Today, I decided to explore the city using it's cheap, fast, popular public transportation system of buses and trams. I started in the Old Town, visiting some of the better known churches and admiring the classic European architecture.

Then I paid a visit to Bahnhofstrasse, the 1.5km long stretch of road from the main train station to the lakeshore. In the last couple decades, it's become one of the best shopping districts in the world, rivaling Champs Elysees, 5th Avenue, Union Square, you name it. I can't think of a high end, expensive brand that wasn't represented. It's also right in the middle of the financial district, and let me get a feel for the reason the Swiss are often (unfairly) labeled as the serious, super-efficient banker types. I was there right around lunch and the whole area was just flooded with suits. Ties everywhere. It was nuts.

I spent the rest of today exploring the parks and neighborhoods around town. The city is really beautiful, and I think it was the perfect place to recover from my jet lag and relax a bit. Tomorrow, I head for Innsbruck - one step closer to my eastern european adventure! Thanks to everyone who's sent me love over the last couple of days, keep it coming. I love me my e-mails.

-C