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Published: June 30th 2009
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We got up just after Steve had taken Zack and Anna off to school. It was very relaxing to be sipping Starbuck's coffee and looking out the huge living room window to the rest of Zürich below. We got the kids up and had some breakfast before Steve returned to join us.
Steve has kindly offered to take us on a bit of a driving tour this morning. He was a great guide and had lots to tell us about everything we passed. It was amazing how quick it was to be out of Zürich proper and be on what seemed like country roads with farmland on either side.
On the way out of town, we stopped off at the headquarters of Fifa, the international Football (soccer association). They had an impressive compound complete, naturally, with soccer field including a really cool form of artificial turf. We went into the main building and Joshua had his photo taken with the world cup.
Across the road from Fifa headquarters are a series of small plots of land which Steve explained were garden areas for people who live in apartment buildings. They have a small yard space, complete often, with
a small garden shed and lawn furniture. A very civilized concept.
After Fifa, we drove for about 20 minutes to the town of Rapperwil. Rapperwil is a traditional Swiss town on the other side of lake Zürich. From where we parked the car, we walked up into the older section of the town. The buildings here look distinctly different from those in France or Italy with much more of a Germanic influence. We followed the cobblestone road up to a very small reformation church that dates back to the 12th century (before it was converted at the time of the reformation).
Below the church were a series of terraced gardens. It is amazing to see how the Swiss have build in a country that is defined by mountains finding ways to make use of every inch of land.
We walked back down to the lower part of the town and across to the train station where Steve helped us buy our tickets for Strasbourg, France where we are heading tomorrow.
After Rapperwil, we followed the lake back around and into
Zürich. Steve still had some time to spare before he had to pick up Zack and Anna
from school, so he showed us where we could buy some authentic bratwurst and hotdogs for lunch. I am still getting used to Swiss prices as four sausages at a stand up place, without any drinks came to about $26 Canadian. I think after a while there is no point in even thinking about it - things cost what they cost here.
After lunch we walked with Steve over a bridge that crosses the river and towards a quite exclusive shopping area. After some window shopping we stopped at a toy store with some amazing wooden toys. If we were not limited by our baggage wait I am sure we would be spending even more here.
We said goodbye to Steve for now, and after buying some souvenirs at another toy store, headed over to an English language book store. They had all the guide books we had been looking for here, but about a week too late so we ended up just getting a book for Benjamin and a travel game for Joshua.
We have now been in Switzerland for an entire day and haven't yet been to a chocolate shop so that was our next
stop. It was a boutique sort of operation where you could see them making the various types of truffles by hand behind the counter. They also sold packaged chocolates, including ones in the shape of swiss army knives. We each bought some small chocolates and left quite happy though I am still curious how Switzerland, a country with no way to grow cocoa beans, ending up with such good chocolate.
To get back to the apartment, we took the streetcar and then the funicular. Evy and Joshua had taken this trip yesterday, but for Benjamin and I it was new. The streetcars were more like trains with several cars. Unlike buses or streetcars in Toronto, they came along every few minutes making it an efficient way to get about. They run on their own right of way, so traffic is not an issue. As they have multiple sets of doors, it is easy to get on without the usual bunch up of people that you get at the front of buses. As well, they are equipped on the inside with a place to put a bicycle meaning that people can easily bike to their stop, put the bus aboard,
and then bike from where they get off to their final destination. It is a very efficient and convient system and one that cities like Toronto could learn from.
Once we finished our short ride on the streetcar, we got off and crossed the street to where we could catch the funicular up the hillside to the apartment. This again, was an interesting experience. The vehicle is an unmanned little cab that runs on tracks up the steep hillside. A second car comes down as the first car comes up, counterbalancing each other to some extent. You get a spectacular view as the car climb up the steep incline revealing the city centre below.
Once back at the apartment, the kids got more time to play before dinner. Joshua is certainly going to miss the time he has had here.
After a pasta for dinner, we all went for a walk up the hillside from the house to a small park on the next street up. The kids played ball tag in the park and we watched them a bit before we left them with a time limit for returning and continued further up the mountainside to
a small road from which there is a great view of Zürich and the surrounding mountains. The sky had cleared somewhat and you could easily make out the snowy peaks in the distance. Though it was getting on to 9 pm, it was still quite light out as we are considerably North of Toronto in terms of latitude.
Once we got back to the apartment, we had some desert before getting the kids ready for bed. Stephanie was still out, having had to go to a retirement party upon her return to London, so we will be saying our goodbyes in the morning.
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