Then they were kind enough to see us off to the train station where it was hard to say goodbye...we had such a great time! We all decided Patrick looked good with my pink suitcase and my "I love not camping" luggage tag:
The ride to Zürich was uneventful and thankfully without any stops. I was coming to the end of my rope with the train station and trains in general. I warned Brian that this may be the last day I take a train for a really long time!
We arrived to our hotel about 2 hours later and it was really nice and modern...it even had an iPhone docking station conveniently built into the nightstand:
The hotel was close to the airport (Brian requested a room with airport view, lol) which would be good for tomorrow morning but meant that another train was involved before we could see the city. Ugh. We walked the 7 minutes along a busy stretch of highway in the pedestrian lane as the day turned overcast and threatened rain. We had to cross a foot bridge to wait at the #4 platform for the train to the city...
It was a short ride to Zürich city center and as the usual routine goes here, a million people lit up cigarettes immediately after getting off the train. Just when you think you will get a breath of fresh air, you realize it is just filled of smoke. The train station was bustling with people in a rush to go somewhere. We took the escalators up and emerged to an Old Town with a river and several footbridges that flowed down into Lake Zürich. We were close to the museum and had some time before we needed to meet Brian's distant cousin Katka so thought we would check it out...no sooner did we arrive that we decided to simply walk around the town instead. We saw several clock towers and churches along the way but unfortunately the blank sky was not a great backdrop for taking pictures:
We strolled up and down cobblestone streets and did some window shopping...everything seems to close down in Switzerland on Sundays. We passed Lucy's bar:
We headed back to the train station to meet Katka by 4pm and found her at the gigantic clock. She was thrilled to see us! I was disappointed that I messed up the European 3 kisses thing (even though I made Brian practice with me earlier...how quickly I forget!) but she laughed it off. Katka only had 2 hours to spend with us so we buzzed about Zürich at a brisk pace. I asked Katka about the furs and blankets that are draped over every chair in the outdoor restaurant seating areas...Katka told us that they used to have the metal heat lamps but then Switzerland forbade them because they were a waste of resources. I suppose the outdoor seating sections are necessary for smokers...not quite sure why anyone would choose to sit outside on a day like today...
We strolled along the bahnhof strasse (Train street) which was a shopping district she compared to NY's Fifth Avenue and although she didn't think it was quite as nice, she said that the prices for anything here far exceed that of prices in NY or Tokyo. Lucky for Brian, everything was closed ;) We ended up at Lipp Restaurant...a famous French place in a building with a bar on the top floor with Panoramic views of the city...what a great note to end our trip on! We each had a drink as she explained city landmarks and pointed them out to us through the window...I was very happy to explore Zürich in this fashion and be able to sit and relax a bit on our last day. She shared a story of a friend of hers who lives in a gothic house which was probably built in the 10th century...that still has Gothic style wallpaper on the walls...incredible!
We decided we were all ready for a bite to eat so she took us to Tidbits...a great buffet style restaurant and modern bar with a great vegetarian and Indian selection. You help yourself to the buffet and then they weigh your plate at the end...if Brian's mom lived here, this would definitely be her favorite place! The food was delicious and exactly what we were craving. We had pakoras, yellow vegetable curry with rice, okra in a spicy sauce and chana masala...afterwards, Katka was sorry to have to leave us but we walked together a little bit farther and she pointed us in the direction of the Thermal Baths...and I had the opportunity to redeem myself and correct my 3 kisses when we parted ways :)
We walked up a hill and found the building on the right side...we rented towels, went through the respective Daman and Herren dressing rooms and climbed a story of slick stone stairs to get to the first indoor hall of pools...we wanted to get to the roof so we continued on to a heated elevator and up another stairwell to a steamy pool that simply seemed to spill right off the roof! It was just starting to get dark and the city was just starting to light up. Bubbling seats lined the perimeter of the pool and we found ourselves a prime spot on the edge. Too bad it was so cloudy...I can only imagine how impressive the views would have been on a clear night with the city followed by the lake and then topped with snowcapped mountains. We took a few pictures with the water camera that I am sure will not do it justice...it was a great experience and very cool way to see the city and to end our trip...
It was a bit crowded (I can only guess because it is probably the only place open on a Sunday night!) and we checked out the indoor pools on the lower level...the water wasn't quite hot enough for me and we were just considering leaving when we were whistled and yelled at by an employee to get out of the pools! We couldn't imagine what we had done wrong and we made our way out to be reprimanded for using the camera...apparently cameras are banned at pools all over Switzerland according to this woman! We weren't sure it was true but were not in the mood to argue and were ready to leave anyhow...we took quick showers, then found the #13 bus to take to the train station where we needed to take a different train to the airport because I really wanted to get dropped off directly at the hotel and not have a 7 minute walk in the dark along a highway...it was a little extra time but it was worth it!
We slept well our last night in Switzerland and enjoyed this night light of Zürich splayed out on the ceiling:
and for an extra charge enjoyed a nice hot breakfast of you guessed it...eggs, cheese, speck, croissants. It was nothing compared to Yetta's spread yesterday but was better than expensive airport food. We had 8 minutes to grab our bags and get to the 8:00 shuttle...we arrived in the nick of time at 7:59 and I checked out while Brian took care of the luggage...check out delayed me getting in the shuttle at approximately 8:02 and I climbed aboard to a van of angry men. The Swiss do not like to be late especially on the account of an American! Oh well, at least the driver didn't seem bothered anymore when I gave him a nice tip. Worn and weary, we arrived to gate 56 in plenty of time for out flight but not before we had to take yet another mode of transport...the airport tram. I absolutely cannot wait to get in a car!
Looking forward to getting home and seeing all our family and friends...thanks for following along :)
PS: stay tuned for our Final Trip Counts blog!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Zürich, Switzerland
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