Switzerland: Home of the Summer Blizzard

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By the time I decided to make a trip to Switzerland my friend Richie and I had already decided to go to Munich for Oktoberfest. It's the spring of 2011 and Oktoberfest is at the end of September. I want to add something onto this trip to Munich though. It will only be my second time in Europe, having just been to Greece in 2008, and I want to add another country to my list. Having always wanted to go to the home country of my tennis Idol, Roger Federer (for more reasons than just that's where he's from), Switzerland seemed like the obvious choice. The Alps. The cheese. The chocolate. The nuetrelness. And so close to Munich. Richie was interested in going to Switzerland too, so we booked our flights from DC to Zurich then from Munich back to DC.

Unfortunately we only have one week available to take off from work so we have to make this a quick side trip to Zurich if we're going to experience Oktoberfest the way we want to. Not a problem. We'll fly out Friday night arriving in Zurich Saturday morning and head to Munich on Monday, giving us two full days in Switzerland. At least it's a small country.

I meet Richie at Dulles Airport. He's flown in from Charlotte and I've gotten a ride from my parents who live nearby. This is Richie's first trip to mainland Europe and my first since that trip to Greece. We have no idea what to expect in Switzerland and Germany, but we've been looking forward to this for a while.

We're flying United, not my first choice in international carriers but due to EU taxes European airlines are just so expensive to fly to and from the EU these days. We're still paying top dollar since our itinerary takes us through Munich during Oktoberfest. But it will be worth it. This is only the third long-haul flight of my life. I've flown to Vienna on Austrian Airways and Brisbane on V-Australia. I've always enjoyed a nice glass of wine with my meals on these flights. So I'm shocked when the United flight attendant tells me that all Alcohol is $7 on the flight. I'm like "even with meals?" Yes, even with meals. Ridiculous! But I guess that's the price you pay for flying a cheaper American carrier. I successfully complain enough where the flight attendant slips me a small bottle of wine next time he passes by. I tell him he's the man and enjoy my wine before nodding off.

When I wake up it's light out and we are flying across endless green fields. This is northern Switzerland. Next thing I know we've landed in Zurich. Time to get this day started. We take the train from the airport downtown. We're staying at the Crowne Plaza about a mile from the city center. Zurich is super expensive and we found this hotel for about $150/night. It's the best deal in town. By the time we get to the hotel it has started to rain. Not exactly the best weather for our first day in Switzerland. We can't check into the room yet so we check our bags at reception and the girl even lets us borrow hotel umbrellas while we wander around the city. We have at least 4 hours before the room will be ready so we decide to just walk downtown and see what Zurich has to offer.

Zurich is a small city. With a population of less than 400,000 people it's one of the smallest cities you can fly to direct from the US. Financially, though, it's a mecca. You always hear about rich people having international bank accounts in Zurich (or the Cayman islands...). Maybe that's one reason why it's so expensive. Zurich consistently ranks among the top ten most expensive cities in the world (http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html), along with the other Swiss cities. Everything is Switzerland is expensive, mainly because it is highly taxed. The high VAT taxes the Swiss pay contribute to their very high quality of life though. Zurich also consistently rates very high on the Mercer Quality of Living rankings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_Quality_of_Living_Survey). You can read more about what goes into those rankings but the gist of it is Zurich is a nice place to live if you can afford it.

We decide to walk downtown instead of taking a bus and by the time we get there the rain has subsided and there is even a little blue in the sky. We stop at a little cafe for some breakfast and then continue our aimless wandering. We don't really have a plan for the day, just try to see what we can see then take a nap and go out at night. It's a remarkably clean and safe city (quality of living, see?). The Swiss pride themselves on the fact that they have the best tap water in the world, or so they claim. There are hundreds of fountains around town that they encourage you to drink from. OK, whatever. Tastes like water to me.

As early afternoon approaches we're feeling a bit tired and head to a pub for lunch. This is our first slap in the face of the day when it comes to the prices of things in Zurich. 8 chicken wings are about $24 USD. Richie gets those and I opt for some chicken fingers that cost about $20 USD. We decide to order beers too, which set us back about another $8 each. We're not in Kansas anymore. But we decide to try as hard as we can to not think about the prices. We're on vacation.

After lunch we head back to the hotel and check into our room. It's time for a nap. I feel alright, having slept on the plane but a nap would be nice. The room isn't bad, even has American electrical outlets, and a decently comfortable bed. When we wake up it's almost dark outside. Looks like we slept a bit longer than we planned. We hop out of bed and get ready to head out for the night. For dinner we hit up a beer-hall-looking restaurant downtown. It's busy and we have to wait a bit but we are soon seated at a communal table with some Canadians. We order liters of beer and chat with the others at our table. Dinner for me is veal meatloaf with creamy potatoes. I'm not sure what Swiss cuisine is, other than cheese and chocolate, but this veal is excellent and goes well with my big beer.

After dinner we're ready to hit some bars. We walk into a place called the Rock and Roll bar and order some beers. It's not very happening, but it's still early(ish). At around 10:00 we leave the bar and start following some big groups of people. We end up in an area that is apparently the main nightlife sector in Zurich. Most of the people are lining up to get into some huge club, but we're not really interested in that so we hit up the bar across the street. They actually have a beer for only $5 per glass. We decide this is the best deal in Zurich and that we need to stay here for a while.

We end up staying here all night, as we meet some locals, Heidi and Aytac, who are fun and flirty. Before we know it it's 3 AM and it's time for some late night pizza. Heidi shows us to the best late night spot downtown and we chomp down some jumbo slices with a big crowd of locals. It's been a good night out. Tomorrow we have a little road trip, though, so it's time to head back to the hotel.

I've rented a car from Sixt at the Zurich airport for Sunday morning till Monday afternoon. The plan is to drive down to Zermatt, a small town in the Alps just north of the Italian border. The town is famous for its proximity to the iconic mountain known as The Matterhorn (http://gambarhd.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/matterhorn_riffelsee_wuxga.jpg). As you can see, The Matterhorn is a steep, jagged mountain that rises up from the foothills and towers over its surroundings. At 14,690 ft, it is one of the tallest peaks in the Alps. And if it looks familiar that's because you've seen it before. Maybe in the intro to Paramount movies? (http://www.jennielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Paramount-Pictures-Logo.jpg).

I couldn't go to Switzerland and not see the Matterhorn. I don't need to climb it - I don't have a death wish. I just want to see. So we set off Sunday morning for southern Switzerland. It's raining and the views are not as nice as we were expecting thanks to the overcast skies. We drive on the winding highway south from Zurich passing small Swiss towns that look like they're the setting for fairy tails. We stop for lunch at an Italian place where no one speaks English and manage to get some pretty decent pizzas. After lunch we're back on Highway 2 heading south to Zermatt.

Everything is going well until we miss our turn on to the 19. The 19 takes us to Zermatt. Unfortunately we missed it, but that shouldn't be a big deal. We'll just get off at the next exit and turn around. Ha! The Swiss Alps laugh at us. Next thing we know we're in a long tunnel. 26 kilometers it tells us. Oh yay. Looks like we're not turning around any time soon. By the time we are out of the tunnel we are in the small town of Airolo. According to the map on the GPS we can take a little shortcut through the mountains to get back to the 19 without going back through the tunnel. Perfect! Crisis averted.

The Swiss Alps laugh at us again. As we drive west on the small country road we are less than a mile from the Italian border. It almost makes sense to just get out and run to Italy. But it's raining so this doesn't sound like too much fun. There's a mountain pass ahead and we slowly start going uphill. The hill gets steeper and up and up we go. We've climbed pretty high on some switchbacks when white stuff starts falling from the sky. You've got to be kidding - it's summer! It's the end of summer, but still summer. Why is it snowing!? We figure it can't be too bad and press on up the mountain. The Alps laugh some more. Stupid tourists.

Our little hatchback isn't equipped with snow tires. And it doesn't seem like the kind of car that will handle well in the snow. Eventually we've climbed to a point where the snow is about 3 inches thick. I get out of the car to run along the road to see if we're at the top of the pass. If it's all downhill from here we will be fine. But it's not to be. The road keeps climbing up into the clouds. We have no option other than to turn back. Defeated, I get back in the car and begin an 8-point turn on the narrow road in the snow. One wrong move and we'll plow down the side of the mountain in a steel death-trap. Good thing my Swiss mountain driving skills are impeccable. I complete the turn and head back down by the mountain into the rain.

We head back through the tunnel and get onto the 19 west, about an hour and a half behind schedule. All should be good now, right? Or can you guess what happens next?

That's right, the Alps give one final laugh as the 19 starts heading up, up into the clouds and snow. The route is impassable. We'll have to head back towards Zurich. The Matterhorn will not be seen on this trip to Switzerland. I guess I should have counted on a summer blizzard in the Swiss Alps. Oh well, I'll just have to come back earlier in the summer some other time...

Our change of plans brings us to Lucerne, a small picturesque city on the banks of Lake Lucerne about 50 kilometers from Zurich and home to about 75,000 people. We arrive just before sunset and catch a beautiful sunset over the lake. The skies have cleared leaving spots of clouds which create marvelous colors in the sky during the sunset. We eventually find a hotel downtown for about $140 (remember, that's a deal in Switzerland). It's late by the time we check in but we're able to catch the tail end of dinner in the restaurant downstairs before it closes. It's Sunday night and nothing much is going on in Lucerne, but we find one bar that has a Sunday night drink special and is actually quite crowded. After a few beers we head to the bar next door then head back to the hotel. Next stop is Munich for Oktoberfest so might as well save our livers some work while here in Lucerne.

Not waking up in Zermatt, we have more time on Monday than we had originally planned, since we're less than an hour from the Zurich Airport. We sleep in and spend some time exploring Lucerne before heading back to Zurich. We're flying Swiss Air to Munich. Oktoberfest awaits us (see "Oktoberfest!"). I hope to make it back to see more or Switzerland one day. But for now a beer in the heart of Bavaria is all that's on my mind. See you at Oktoberfest!

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