Blogs from Zürich, North-East, Switzerland, Europe - page 3

Had a slow start to the day as train to Zurich didn't leave until lunchtime, was expecting lots of tunnels and lots of mountains, got neither! Stephen kept saying I think we are going the wrong way, but we did eventually arrive in Zurich. Get off the train and find the taxi stand, get the first one in line, looks a bit grubby but ok, Stephen asks is he available, yes he says, it will be the taxifare plus 10 francs for the luggage....what???....10 francs for the luggage...well I spose we have no choice, I said, can hardly leave them at the railway station for three days can we, what a bloody rort! The taxi to our hotel was around ten minutes cost us 30 francs for trip plus 10 francs for suitcase.....40 francs all up ... read more

Zurich! Last big stop of my Europe trip. I've traveled to Zurich a number of times in the last 9 years for work and many times traveling around together the area or around during Zurich. This trip brought me mixed emotions. My aunt and uncle live in Zurich, which gave me a good reason to add a stop in Zurich. I hadn't intended on going to any places I'd been before but the free lodging, free laundry, option to see family and option to see some old colleagues one last time felt like a good reason to go. Oh yeah and also the option to leave luggage while I traveled around in Europe on trains :) So yes convenience was a HUGE reason!!! I was so happy to see my family in Zurich as well as ... read more

In September 1946 Winston Churchill gave his famous United States of Europe speech at the University of Zurich. During the speech the iconic wartime leader asked for cooperation amongst the great European nations, specifically Germany and France, to avoid the horrors of the world wars ever occurring again. The ironies of this speech are not lost on the Swiss today, as this historic moment is considered by many the catalyst for the formation of the European Union. The Swiss themselves, however, are notable absentees from the Union. The country maintained neutrality for the entirety of the two world wars that tore Europe apart in the 20th Century, it’s certainly unpredictable the way history tends to play out. The local economy remains a powerhouse of Europe, with Zurich a magnet for international business, banking, and finance. There's ... read more

WE MADE IT!!! Sat up until 12.00 midnight to see in the new year. Sterling effort considering we have both been awake since about 4.00 am and I only managed to catch a small nap on the train from Innsbruck. Thank you Zurich - what a crazy night it was! Leading up to the fireworks show at 12:20 am (don't ask why because I don't know) we kept hearing random fireworks going off from probably about 9.30 pm. Thought perhaps it may have been an early show for the kiddies - but no. In Austria & Switzerland you can buy your own fireworks and set them off on National holidays. This would be Ross Nelson heaven! And surprisingly, apparently Bruce Ballard heaven too! We went out onto the street near our hotel as midnight drew closer ... read more

Our Munich adventure came to and end with a phenomenal dinner Saturday night. It was at a restaurant where the chef-owner is the brother of Chuck's next door neighbor. I may do a separate entry on that. Today, we headed out Germany by way of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, drove almost the length of Austria, crossed Liechtenstein, and went on to Zurich. Along the way, we had two objectives: finding sapsago cheese in the beautiful Swiss canton of Glarus, and seeing the Glares thrust fault in the same area. Skunked on both. As we later learned, the local name for sapsago is schabziger,and although we did not see any in the store it may have been available if we had known what to call it. We grew up eating sapsago grated onto pumpernickel bread with butter. As for the ... read more