ZÜRICH
Autumn 2009
|
ZÜRICH |
Autumn 2009 |
We leave home around five in the afternoon. We take the underground to Rotterdam Central Station, where we board the train to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. We get there by 6.15pm and we drop off our luggage. We have something to eat before we board our KLM flight, which takes off promptly at 8.50. After a problem free flight we land at Zurich's aiport at 10.10pm. We take the train downtown to Zürich HB (Main Railway Station). We have already bought the train tickets on-line on the website of the Swiss Federal Railways SBB. From the Main Railway Station we take a taxi to hotel Rössli. The taxi driver is not too thrilled about the short ride, but we persist. Our room is in the annex of the hotel across the narrow street. We have beer in the hotel bar before we go to sleep.
he
reception. It is well presented. After that we explore the old town on
the East Bank of the River Limmat. Niederdorf is the name
of this part of the historical old town. We have coffee at the Rathaus
café, from were we walk to the Niederdorfstrasse that starts at the
Central square. The first part of Niederdorfstrasse is a bit sleazy,
with some strip clubs. But further down things brighten up considerably.
Fine shops line the street with designer clothes, furniture and gadgets.
We come across with a great shop selling exotic fruits, herbs and teas. In
Spiegelgasse, a side street Lenin lived in 1916 and 1917, before
he went off to Russia to start the October Revolution. Also in Spiegelgasse is
the Cabaret
Voltaire, where - in the same period - the art movement Dada
was formed, rejecting the atrocities of the First World War. We then
visit the Grossmünster,
the major church in town. On this site Charlemagne founded a church, but
the present structure dates back to the 12th century. In the
South Tower wall a big statue of Charlemagne can be seen high above the
street. It is a replica. The original is kept in the church's vault. The
church has become an austere and simple place of worship since the
Church Reformation in the 16th century. Almost all
decorations have been removed. Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531), the
great Swiss reformer preached here and distanced himself from the Roman
Catholic Church. He was influenced by Erasmus of Rotterdam and Martin
Luther, both his contemporaries. Later the 
teachings
of Jean Calvin of Geneva became more dominant in the protestant church
of Switzerland. The South tower can be climbed. 187 steps lead to the
top and a splendid view of the city. We also have a look at the
cloisters attached to the church, once part of male monastery. We
continue our walk along the Limmat towards Lake Zürich (Zürich
See). On its shores there are boat rentals, marinas and vast areas for
sun bathers. Also some grand villas now housing museums like the Johann Jacobs museum
(coffee) and a privately owned museum designed by the famous modernist
architect Le
Corbusier (1887-1965) . 
It
houses the Privat Museum Heidi Weber and Center
Le Corbusier. Unfortunately it is not open to the public today.
It is a remarkable sight nonetheless created by the founder of modern
architecture himself. The building was built upon the request of Heidi
Weber, an admirer of Le Corbusier, who worked with him on a number of
occasions. The building was finished in 1967.
We take the tram back to the old town and have lunch in the Kantorei restaurant
After lunch we walk to the Kunsthaus
Zürich. In this
modern museum we visit an exhibition devoted to Seuras, the French 19th
century pointilist painter. Many famous works are shown in the context
of pre studies. Centre stage is for a tiny painting of the Eiffel Tower
and a piece showing a circus show. After that we have a look at the
permanent collection with lots of works by Giacometti, the Swiss
sculptor. There not so many of his typical thin statues, but remarkably
many paintings. The rest of the collection consists of wide
range of art, including some Dutch School Masters like Rembrandt (Apostel
Simon) and some by Piet Mondriaan.
We round off the afternoon with a drink in the gay Cranberry bar, from where we go toBarfüsser for a sushi dinner. Barfüsser was the first Swiss gay bar, but is now a spacious trendy sushi restaurant with a mixed crowd. We would have liked to dine at Adler Swiss Chuchi but they were fully booked. We leave that to Sunday. The Sushi, Maki and the like are delicious and filling.
We return to the hotel. Later at night we explore some of Zürich's gay scene.
Weather: cloudy and some heavy showers in the afternoon. Evening dry. Max 10°C / 50°F
. We
have coffee at the Confisserie Sprüngli on Paradeplatz at Bahnhofstrasse. Sprüngli
is a Swiss institution in the field of chocolate and pralines.
Ever since 1839 the company makes chocolate and sells it in its own
shops. The company has grown since then. First by the merger withLindt
from Bern and later with take overs in Germany, Italy, France and the
USA. The shop on
Paradeplatz is its most prestigious one of 12 outlets in Zürich (there
5 more in other cities) and has a large café attached to it. Drinking
coffee with cake is a real pleasure here. We take an Apfelstrudel and a
original Sprüngli chocolate cake with our coffee. After the coffee we
visit the chocolate shop and buy a box for the homefront. After all this
sweetness we walk down Bahnhofstrasse
to the Zürich See. Bahnhofstrasse is a very prestigious shopping street
with many famous juwelers (Tiffany & Co, Cartier, Bulgari, Omega)
and clothing shops
(Prada, Dior, Armani, Chanel, Vuitton, etc). it is also home to
the flagship stores of Switzerland's major department store chains, Manor en
Jelmoli. Like the street's website states: "there are many Railway
Station Streets in the world, but there only one that is famous".
Next stop is the
Fraumünster,
the large Church (of Our Lady) on the West Bank. This medieval church
was stripped of all its icons, ornaments and organ during the
reformation. 
This
is the reason for it's sober look. In 1967 Marc Chagall (80 years old at
the time) made five stained glass window in the choir wall.
Unfortunately photography is not allowed inside the church. The choir is
remarkably high (18m) and is very beatiful with its windows. The three
main windows are in far eastern wall. The side windows in the north and
south wall. The blood red prophet window shows Elisah and Elijah.
The blue Law window shows Moses looking down on his inpatient an unruly
people. The main windows are the Jacob window (with Jacob ladder), the
yellow Zion window and the green Christ window in the middle, depicting
the life and descendance of Jesus. The is also a window by Giacommetti
(1940). It is impresssive to but with the Chagall windows nearby it can
only play second fiddle.
It depicts God, Christ and the eight prophets and four evangelists. We
stroll through the narrow streets and alleys of the west bank.. We pass
the 13th century Peter Church, with it enourmous Clock face (8,7 meter diameter)
and 13th century Augustiner church. The Church was decomissioned during
the reformation and was later used as the Mint. Since the 19th century
its in use as a Christkatolische Kirche, a liberal church branched off
from the Roman Catholic church in the 19th century, as a reaction to the
first Vatican Council of 1870. It has a considerable following in the
Northern Cantons.
We climb up to Lindenhof for a nice view of the river and the East Bank. It is the oldest part of town, once the sigth for a Roman customs post. We see groups of young boy scouts in the old town trying to sell gift wrapped cookies. Then it becomes time to leave the pleasant winter sunshine and descend to the Zeughauskeller for lunch. It is a traditional beer hall and eatery. Although it has all the trappings of a tourist trap (traditionally dressed wait staff, 10 language menu) it attracts lots of locals. It is Swiss Sausage Central. There is choice from 15 types of Swiss sausage accompanied by patato salad, rösti or fries. It is common to share tables with strangers. Erik opts for the Zürich Veal Sausage with onion sauce and patatoe salad. I take the Saint Gallen Schüblig (with best beef and pork available) with rösti.
After lunch we take tram line
8 to Helvetiaplatz in Zurich
West. Public Transport
in Zürich - without a metro or underground - is very well organised.
Trams leave 6 times per hour, but often more frequent. For longer haul
trips there is an S-bahn network of trains. At Helvetiaplatz we stumble
upon a flee market, where every thinkable item is sold. Zürich West is
quite a change from the well groomed and tidy old town with it guild
houses and posh Bahnhofstrasse with its designer 
shops and bank offices. Here, in districts 4 and 5, a peculiar mix of
counter culture, erotica, low life, immigrants and
trendy bars make up the scene. From Helvetiaplatz we walk up the Langstrasse.
This was once the red light district and there still some pockets of
seadiness. But more than that it is a multicultary hotchpotch of
eateries, bars, shops and art house cinemas. We stop for a drink in a
dubious kebab joint. North of the railway tracks things lighten up and
we see more of the trendy wine bars, street wear shops and cinemas. At Limmatplatz
there is a
giga super market of Migros,
where we have look inside. Over the super market is the head office of
the Migros corporation. It is the largest retail company in Switzerland
and still a co-operative enterprise with a membership right across Swiss
society. In the 1920s Migros started a revolution in the grocery
business by introducing large scale shops and 
low
prices. In 1948 it introduced self service. Migros grew out to a big
business (yearly turnover of 25.7 Bn CHF) with shops, factories,
wholesale, education, cultural promotions, tour operators etc. From
there we take a tram to
Schiffbau.
Af former factory for ship parts and now used as a cultural centre with
three theatres, a jazz stage (Moods)
and a restaurant
(Lasalle).
After a look round we return to the city centre by train. and walk from
the Main Railway station through the very busy Bahnhofstrasse, to the Urianastrasse
for a visit to the Jules Verne Panorama
bar. The bar is based in a tower and can be reached by elevator from
the restaurant Lipp. It is very busy around this time (5pm) and all
seats are taken. The views on the busy shopping streets and the city as
a whole are great. We enjoy our Prosecco standing up.
We head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at restaurant Mesa. We go there by tram. The restaurant has earned a Michelin star and rightly so. From the seven course menu we choose a 4 course dinner. Accompanied by a wine arrangement the evening turns out to be a real joy of taste. It comes at a price: the bill errs on the high side to say the least. After dinner we take the tram back (even this late it is still running 6 times per hour) to our hotel.
Weather: Sunny and dry, 8ºC / 46ºF.
We take the tram to the Main
Railway station (Hauptbahnhof) and from there the S10 or Uetlibergbahn
to the top of the Uetliberg, Zürich’s own mountain. The
mountain station is at 814 metres above sea level
.
From the station we follow a route to a viewing point next to the Hotel
and restaurant called Uto
Kulm. There is a viewing tower as well. You can see right until the
snow capped mountains of the Alps and with fine weather even into
Austria. Today it slightly overcast, but the views are nice just the
same. From the viewing tower we walk for about two hours towards Felsenegg via
the planet route. According to the information panels the routes is
supposed to be flat, but it does go up down as it turns out. The views
are worth the effort. En route we see models of the planets distanced
from each other according to scale. At Felsenegg there is a cable car
that takes us down to Adliswill. Our public transport tickets are valid
for the cable ride too. Down in Adliswil it a 10 minute stroll to the
railway station. From there we take S-bahn S4 back to Zürich. IN town
we eat our lunch at McDonald's (some contrast with last night!) before
get back to the hotel to freshen up.
Later we have some coffee at
Starbucks and check out the railway station's luggage facilities. They
have lockers. 
Back in downtown we have a glass of wine at the Rathaus Café.
In the evening we have dinner at Adler Swiss Chuchi a restaurant serving typical Swiss fare. It is packed and it is a good thing that Erik booked us a table. Erik takes Raclette, with smoked cheese, while order a Fondue with aged cheeses. For his raclette Erik get an electric grilling device with a pan and slices of cheese. The melted cheese has to be rubbed from the pan onto a cooked potatoe. The wholly cooked potatoes are kept warm in a bag. I get a fondue pan that is heated by a spirit burner. We enjoy it al against the backdrop of woodpaneled walls and Swiss folk music. Together with the wine this typical, relatively simple meal sets us back 160 francs.
After dinner we go for a drink at Cranberry.
Weather: overcast, 7ºC / 44ºF
We take the tram towards the
Hauptbahnhof and put our luggage in a locker (CHF 8 for 24 hrs). Next we
buy a Zurich pass plus. That is a card allowing unlimited travel on
public transport throughout the Canton and slightly beyond, including
busses, trams, trains and ferries. Today we take the train to Stein am
Rhein and Schaffhausen and Zurich Card plus
costs CHF 36, which is less than a return ticket. There is also a
regular Zurichcard, covering a smaller area (city and suburbs)
.
The card also offers discounts on ticket prices to lots of museum and
attractions. WE take the train to Winterthur and change there to the
S-29 to Stein am Rhein.
After the better part of an
hour we arrive at Stein am Rhein. Unfortunately it is raining
cats and dogs. The ride would have been that much nice otherwise. The
scenery is nice and mountaineous and we climb steadily towards Stein. In
Stein we walk to the town centre. For that we have to cross a bridge
across the River Rhine. In middle of town is Rathausplatz, supposedly
the nicest square in the country. The façades are decorated with
beautiful frescoes,one more impressive than the next. We drink coffee
with scone at the bakery shop. From there we explore the town centre.
After an hour or so we have seen it all and we take the Regionalbahn to Schaffhausen.
It is a nice and short ride of no more than 30 minutes. We have lunch
there at Restaurant Falken. From Schaffhausen we take the bus #6 to Neuhausen Zentrum.
It is 10 minute ride. And then another 5 minutes walking 
towards
the famous waterfalls in the Rhine. The weather is still
bad so we cannot enjoy the mighty sight of the falls as we would have
liked. From this point onwards the Rhine is navigable until Rotterdam
where flows into the North Sea. After a good look at this magnificent
wonder of nature we take the bus back to Schaffhausen.
In Schaffhausen we
look around the centre. There are quite a number of fine medieval houses
with great façades donned with frescoes, bay windows and decorations.
Most of those have a relationship with the house's name (or is it the
other way round?). Because of the rain we take shelter in a café and
have a hot drink. It is getting colder outside. We carry on and visit
the Münster
zu Allerheiligen (Minster of All Saints), the big 11th century
church of Schaffhausen. On the inside the Romanesque church is very
austere. Like so many Swiss churches it was stripped of its ornaments
during the reformation. Only the stained glass windows are worth a
closer look. Next to the church there are cloisters housing the Allerheiligenmuseum
. The museum has a historical collection. The monastery in Schaffhausen
used to be Benedictine. During the reformation the monastery was
dissolved in 1529. In World War II the church was damaged, just like the
rest of central Schaffhausen by American bombardments in 1944. Hundreds
of people lost their lives. 
Schaffhausen
is the only significant Swiss territory North of the Rhine and the
Americans thought it was German. The US offered its apologies and
compensation...only to commit the same error in February 1945. This time
only 16 people died in Schaffhausen and nine in Stein am Rhein. Across
the street from the church is a hotel with plaque commemorating its
destruction in 1944 and its rebuilding in 1945.
Rain has turned into snow as
we walk back to the station. We take the High Speed ICE train of 4.09 to
Zürich. We arrive there at 4.48 already. We collect our suit case and
take the train to the airport. Around this time there loads of trains
going there, but they are all delayed. It is only 10 minutes by train to
the airport. At the airport we have something to eat and look around the
shops. Then we just have to wait for our flight. 
As soon as we are all seated in the KLM aircraft we get the news that the snowfall is causing delays. The snow has to be removed from the aircraft's wings and as the aiport staff was taken by surprise by the snow fall today they have insufficient capacity available to do the job. It takes over two hours of waiting before our plane gets cleaned. All this time we have to stay on board. After cleaning we have to wait for a runway slot and we take off some time after 10pm (more than 2 hours late). At Amsterdam our suit case has gone missing. It turns out that is have been put on a different belt than where we are waiting. Once we find out we have a long walk ahead from arrivals hall 1 to 2. When we finally get hold of the suit case the last train of the day service has already left and we have to wait 75 minutes for the first night train. We arrive in Rotterdam a 2am and around 2.30 we are finally home.
Weather: rain, 5ºC / 41ºF. Snow in the afternoon and evening.