Getting Around Town

Pain! I’m not used to the amount of walking I did the first day/night I was in Zurich. My heels ached this morning and my shins shouted at me every time I took steps downhill. It eased up as soon as I got moving but I wisely bought a 24hr tram ticket for my trip back in the late afternoon and to cover my night excursion (tripod and all).

I was a little late getting started (still somewhat jet-lagged) but got to the main station just in time to miss the tour I wanted. I bought a ticket for the 2pm one instead and went to get some lunch. I elected for the “Jules Verne Lounge” which is a 360° bar that allows you to see out over the entire city. I took photographs (there’s that surprise thing again) and maybe I’ll be able to stitch them in to a full 360° panorama of Zurich. I asked an older local couple to join me since there were no tables available when they arrived and I was alone at a table for three. They spoke English and French as well, so we had a good conversation.

Nice restaurants are expensive here and apparently a “bar with a view” gets the same pricing. I paid CHF13.50 for a small bowl of beef broth with three small potatoes! I should have gone for the chicken or pasta, but they were pushing CHF30! (CHF1.00 ~= CDN$0.95) We certainly won’t be eating out much when we’re here, but then we don’t eat out much now so that won’t be any real hardship.

The trolly tour was interesting. I followed on a map as we drove aronud to help fix in my mind the locations of sights I’d seen walking. The two rivers (one was originally a moat) flow north, out of the lake, and through the middle of the city which provides a nice reference if you happen to cross one.

Let me clarify a couple things…

Language: English is almost as prevelant as Swiss-German (it’s not German, as I have been politely corrected) in tourist areas, but that’s about all. Groceries are labled in Swiss-German, French, and (I believe) Italian. No English. Many locals, it seems, are bilingual or trilingual and even the ones who are not know a smattering of English words that allows you to find the toilet when in need.

Smoking: I’ve read that Switzerland has long been a smoker’s haven, but I didn’t see any notable difference in the number of smokers on the street than in Ottawa. Of course, there is no smoking ban for indoor places here, so you have to put up with it in restaurants and bars, but the place I had lunch was pretty good. One thing I have noticed, though, is that those who smoke seem to make it part of their personal style. They have very personal and sometimes eccentric way about it. The picture is of the “smoking lounge” at the airport. Yes, that umbrella-shaped hoodfan is the only place you can smoke in the entire airport.

Tomorrow I think I’ll take a train out to a nearby city to see what things are like in the surrounding area. Who knows… I may end up living out there.