Switzerland, June 12-15, 2015

I'm not really sure why, but I have always wanted to visit Switzerland. Then when Christina Yang moved there in Grey's Anatomy I knew I had to see it!

We flew into Zurich from London Heathrow. The weather was so nice and so much warmer than I expected. We checked into our hotel, that was in a great location, the Four Points in Sihlcity. We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at Vapiano. I know, I know a chain, but Josh and I loved this place when it was in Dallas, but it didn't get a lot of customers, so it shut down.

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland with the capital being Bern. We heard so many languages being spoken with very little English. We did find this to be one of the more non-English friendly places we have visited. The official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian, Romansh, and many local dialects are common.

That evening we took a sunset cruise on Lake Zurich. It was so pretty! Harvey slept for most of it, but he did enjoy some milk while watching the sun set. On the cruise I got a call that my little Crix had escaped the dog sitter and ran 3 miles away to Battersea Park (toward our house). Long story short, all was okay and a good samaritan caught her and she was returned with just some small scrapes.

On Saturday morning we took a walking tour of the city. It was much hotter than we had expected, but we were grateful for some warm weather. Josh was glad he packed shorts.

Granny let Harvey watch cartoons

There are fountains all over Zurich with clean drinking water. They encourage you to fill your bottles up rather then buying bottled water.

Fraumunster

The arch outside of Fraumunster was to determine who could enter the church. If a woman's dress was larger than the opening she was not allowed in the church because she was considered too fancy. Josh and Harvey fit!

St. Peter's

 We saw the largest clock face in Europe located at St. Peter's Church. Someone would sit in the tower by the windows and keep watch for fires. When they saw a fire they would hold a red flag out the window in the direction of the fire, this way when people looked up to check the time they could run toward the fire to help put it out.

This church had a sun clock on it. The clock is an hour off because it is always showing winter time.

These glass balconies were for the owner to look out and see who was at their door.

Flag of Zurich

Grossmunster

Replica of Grossmunster for the blind

The replica of the church was made so that a person who is blind can feel the details of the building. the two towers caught on fire many years ago, so the smaller tower (that I am touching) is considered lucky to touch. Its been touched so much it is crooked.

I found a penny press

European snack

We traveled around Zurich mostly by trams, it was so easy because there was a stop right outside our hotel. We bought tickets at our hotel, but it's all on the honor system. No one ever checked to see if we bought a ticket. The trams were very spacious and really great for strollers.

For dinner we ate at Swiss Chuchi (Swiss Kitchen) for fondue. Its in a touristy area but since fondue is a winter dish not all the normal places serve it in the summer.

Normally the cheese comes only with bread. We added some steamed potatoes because we didn't think bread would be enough. Josh ordered a Diet Coke and this was very upsetting to our waiter. He said he NEVER serves soda with fondue because it will make you sick. Josh got it anyway and was fine. The fondue was amazing! I have never had cheese fondue as good! For dessert we got the fondue chocolate to which our waiter said was completely Americanized, and definitely not a Swiss thing.

After dinner we went to a "pop up" summer bar outside our hotel. The weather was great! We enjoyed sitting in the cabana, they had even poured sand down to put your feet in.

Harvey loves reading books, so we picked out a fun Swiss story for his souvenir. Its about a little boy, Ursli who is in search for a special bell to heard the cattle (a traditional Swiss event).

The next day we headed for a day trip to Lucerne or Luzern if you are Swiss, pronounced Loot-sern.

Outside Lucerne station

Chapel Bridge

On Chapel Bridge

 Chapel Bridge was build for defense. It caught fire in 1993, but many of the original paintings remained.

 The Weeping Lion, Lion of Lucerne, or Lowendenkmal commemorates the Swiss guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. "The most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world"- Mark Twain

We took a hike up to see the city and tour the Wacht Tower. I'm also pretty sure we saw a wild yak!

Musegg Wall- 870 meters long

The Wacht Tower was used to store gunpowder, and was hit by lightening on July 30, 1701. It exploded in spectacular fashion, and killed 5 people. The tower was replaced immediately and 8 windows were added for enhanced visibility.

We headed back to Zurich, and ate at Zeughauskeller, a popular Swiss style restaurant. It was so yummy! We sat at a family style table with a young guy from the Philippines, and a guy from San Fransico who works for Google. They have big headquarters in Zurich apparently. It was fun getting to know them.

I got Kalbsgeschnetzeltes nach Zurcher Art- "Must have in Zurich"

Mom got Wienerschnitzel with Rosti- Swiss potatoes

Josh got Zeughauskeller Wurstspiess- selection of sausages

Switzerland was very clean, and all the people were very clean cut and good looking. They were very athletic as well. We didn't notice many homeless people asking for money. I really liked the ease of the transportation systems. The only difficult part was our language barriers. When I made a reservation and gave my last name the waiter was super excited, telling me it was a Swiss name!