Zurich

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

So much for our hopes for overblown weather forecasts!  Once again, all of our intended destinations for our time here were expecting rain so, feeling that an urban destination was a better play than a scenery-dependent one, we chose Zurich. 

It did rain most of the way to Zurich, and it was pouring when we arrived in the city.  Given that, we headed first to the Zurich’s art museum, but when we reached its neighborhood, the parking situation was daunting, so we headed to a garage near the main rail station instead.  As luck would have it, by the time we parked the car there, the rain had decreased considerably and, armed with maps from the TI, we headed down the main drag, Bahnhofstrasse.  We soon veered off the wide shopping street and headed for the Lindenhof, an elevated, tree-shaded terrace overlooking the Limmat River and the medieval lanes of the Old Town.  It was hard to believe that this peaceful park and the narrow streets below were such a short distance of the busy Bahnhofstrasse.  In a light rain, we wandered through those old cobblestoned streets, most lined with small shops, down to St. Peter’s Church, with Europe’s largest clock face, and the Fraumunster (Church of Our Lady), along the river’s quai. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just across the river was the Grossmunster, with its twin towers. The rain was still coming down as we left the church, and we decided that the hour had come to visit Zurich’s Fine Art Museum; it was dry, warm, and free on Wednesdays!  The museum’s collection is a fine one, ranging from Old Masters to contemporary works; we enjoyed our time there, though we barely scratched the surface.

 

We headed back through the pedestrian lanes, re-crossed the river and reclaimed our car as the rain was beginning again in earnest.  Though we put our rain gear to good use today, the heaviest rains actually occurred while we were warm and dry in the car.

 

Beatenburg and our apartment are along the road on the right side of the photo

The sun was shining brightly when we got back to our mountainside home base and the views of the lakes, snowy peaks, valley towns and green hillsides dotted with chalets was just gorgeous.  The sound of cowbells – big, bulbous bells – was the perfect audio track to the idyllic scene.