Traipsing around (Zurich)

Member Name: chris105

Product:	Zurich
Date:	19/09/02 (335 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: not too big, clean (of course!)

Disadvantages: nothing too exciting going on

I'm meant to be working at this time; not that I should be unless I want to turn into one of those hated workaholics (it's well past midnight, in case you're asking). Really, though, I can't complain as I've been having my fair share of hols over the past year or so... so much so, in fact, that I haven't kept up with me dooyoo-writing. Shame on me, lad ("lad" metaphorically speaking)...

Of course, being in this category I'm meant to be writing about Zurich "in general"... I'd gladly have written about some specific part of the city but there were no further sub-categories to the Zurich cat - oh well!

Zurich, though not the capital of Switzerland, is - together with Geneva - referred to as synonymous with Switzerland. It's the postcard version of "money, money, money, honey", and being home to the all-powerful all-dancing all-singing Swiss mega-banks this comes as no surprise. The Bahnhofstrasse, first mentioned in any travel guide on the place, is the gentlemen's club of Switzerland, as it were - lined with the headquarters of all the aforementioned banks, and interspersed with all the ultra-expensive fashion outlets that make you bleed any bank account you might have in the neighbourhood. This doesn't, needless to say, deter all sorts of tourists (including meself) from having a saunter up and down the street, pretending to window shop as if this were really "our kind of shopping experience". Ahem!

At one end of the Bahnofstrasse is Lake Zurich (which is a pretty sight though nothing like, say, Lake Lucerne), while at the other end stands the main station. Now THIS is a sight - an old, majestic high-ceilinged building having more airs of a library than a station. We arrived in Zurich by air, however I can imagine the impression the station gives to those getting to it by rail. The fabled cleanliness and reserve of the Swiss is all there.

On the ot

her side of the Station, we get to the Old Town which, as any European-city goer will know, often offers the best part of any city. And here indeed we spent the most of our time in Zurich. Not a huge Old Town, I might qualify, however well worth the visit and meandering. Relatively quiet streets all over, and interestingly scores of not-so-bohemian cafes and nightclubs and restaurants and peep shows... yes, quite unusually for an Old Town this part of Zurich once served as the racy red-light district. Mostly gentrified nowadays, of course, although the peep shows and late-night cabarets survive! It's curious to see a would-be raunchy nightclub sharing street frontage with its next-door wholesome family-oriented pizzeria (complete with Italian flag and misspelt Italian pizza names and ingredients).

Some of the shops here are worth a visit too, especially if you mouth watered during your walk down Bahnhofstrasse. The prices are much more reasonable here, and while definitely not a steal by any definition (except Queen Bessie's, perhaps), there are some worthwhile buys to be made. There's even an Apple Mac dealership!

One other trove of Zurich is the plethora of antique bookshops around - the Old Town especially is dotted with them! There are some high-quality and mint-condition antique books to be found, including respectable collections of English-language books. I actually found two excellently-preserved titles: a collection of Byron poems and a lavishly-illustrated Gulliver's Travels first edition...

Further up into the Old Town, the two cathedrals of Zurich are interesting buildings, though nothing to write to dooyoo about when compared to Italian and French masterpieces: the Fraumunster and the Grossmunster. Further afield, the Kunsthaus was one of the most diverse art museums I've seen in recent years - I spent a fascinating morning there in the company of the likes of Picasso (to whom a whole room is dedicated
), Kl
ee, Monet, and including an impressive photographic exhibition. Zurich would be well worth a visit just for this museum, believe me!

Overall, Zurich city centre isn't such a huge place - and in fact I spent just the couple of days there before heading to Lucerne and the mountains. Yet I have to admit that Zurich was way different from what I'd expected, yet special in many ways. I definitely recommend a (short) stay there. [As you might have realised, I've refrained from commenting about the Swiss themselves - there's a reason for that: I was less than impressed or amused by the snottiness of the few Swiss, mostly working in the tourist business, I met. However I wouldn't like to generalise so I'll keep mum about that aspect...]

PS. Oh, by the way, there's some pretty decent nosh to be had in the Old Town, too - just (as always) avoid the blatantly tourist places and you'll do just fine.

Bye bye

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