Recently in Europe Category
Zurich
Zurich has only 360,000 inhabitants, yet it feels like a bigger city. Luxurious shops along the bahnhofstrasse contrast with the slightly alternative feel of the Niederdorf. Restaurants, cafés and bars that open till late. Walking along the Limmat river down towards the lake. The antiques market at Bürkliplatz on a Saturday morning. Banks banks everywhere, and is there really tons of gold buried underneath Paradeplatz?
Let's start at the HB, or hauptbahnhof. Ease of train travel was one of the reasons I was able to travel so much during my stay, the rest of Switzerland and Europe were within such a short distance. The journey is meticulously planned, down to which platform to change trains and the name or number of the train. Hop out of the HB and onto Bahnhofstrasse, with the big shops like Jemoli and Globus and banks galore. The big intersection at Paradeplatz, something of interest on all 4 sides - big UBS buliding on the west, which in fact is the private banking building and not the headquarters (that's the one at Bahnhofstrasse 45). Credit Suisse building on the north side. Sprüngli and Mövenpick on the south side and the Zeughaus Keller on the east side.
The summer I was in Zurich was the year of BenchArt, with colourful and sometimes funny benches everywhere around town.
Omnipresent in Zurich is of course the lake and the river. The Limmat divides the city into essentially left and right banks. The west bank is the oldest part of the city, with old buildings, shops and the raised platform at the Lindenhof. St Peter's church has the largest clockface in Europe and the Fraumünster has beautiful stained glass windows by Marc Chagall. The east bank is dominated by the Niederdorf, the bohemian, and at certain parts raunchy, heart of Zurich, it's basically a series of cobbled streets full of restaurants and small shops. A favourite is Vom Fass, a shop that sells oil, vinegar and liqueur in all types of flavours in beautiful glass bottles and flasks.
Of course, there's also the lake ...
Street parade every summer is a long weekend of floats, costumes and dancing in the streets to the beat of loud techno music. At the end of the night the streets will be littered with red bull, paper and sleeping couples. But once dawn breaks the ever efficient swiss cleaning brigade would have cleaned it all up. Sechseläuten in the spring is so typically swiss in its tongue-in-cheek seriousness. On the third Monday in April, a parade of folks in traditional garb is followed by the ceremonial buring of the Böögg - a snowman stuffed with fireworks perched on a bonfire — at Sechseläutenplatz. It is said that the faster the snowman burns up the better the summer.
Schauffhausen & Stein-am-Rhein
An easy day trip from Zurich, so much so that many of us delayed this trip until we had visitors. An hour-long train journey from Zurich followed by a short bus ride and it's the Rhinefalls. Europe's largest waterfall is not very tall but it's wide. Another short train ride is Stein-am-Rhein, a car-free village still retaining its medieval buildings.
St Gallen
St Gallen has a cathedral, library, museums and cobbled streets. But I went there to visit the olma, an agricultural fair with farm exhibits, produces, a fair and of course the major attraction - the pig race. I kid you not.
Luzern
Probably the most touristy town in Switzerland, it's harder to get away from the crowds so it's better to become one of them. Obviously the must see is the Kapellbrücke, the oldest road bridge in Europe. In 1993 the bridge caught fire and was destroyed, the bridge as we see it now is a restored version.
Lauterbrunnen, Mürren & Jungfrau
The Lauterbrunnen valley has been described as the most stunning valley in Europe and it's so easy to see why. The deepest U-shaped valley in the world, cliffs either side and 72 waterfalls. Took a steep vernicular followed by rickety train to car-free Mürren, a hamlet set on a shelf on the cliffs, the perfect stepping stone for summer walking or winter skiing.
We spent Christmas in a self-catering apartment in Mürren. Brought a goose from Zurich and cooked it for 4 hours. It was fabulous. Boxing Day we had breakfast at the revolving restaurant up on the Schilthorn. Skiing in Mürren side was great but the better skiing was on the other side, at Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg. Kleine Scheidegg is essentially a cluster of four buildings with restaurants and sports shop, and a train station where passengers change for the train up the Jungfraujoch, at 3454m the highest train station in Europe. On a good day the view is spectacular.
Thun
Most people go to Interlaken where the 2 lakes of Thunersee and Brienzersee meet. But in reality the 2 towns at the other ends of the lakes have much more charm.
Gruyère
A perfectly preserved picturesque village with a cobblestone street leading up to the castle at the top of the rocky crag. At the bottom of the hill is a diary where all sorts of cheeses are available, obviously notwithstanding the local product, which comes in 5 stages of maturity.
Bellinzona
More scenery. Castles. A beautiful lake. We stayed on a farm, should do that more often.
The train from Zurich was the first time I'd ever taken an overnight train, we changed at Leipzig onto a rather drab and suspiciously East German looking train. But whatever uneasiness I felt was instantly dispelled when we got to the Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, the castle and saw the well-preserved buildings and churches. The change to democratic society has treated Prague better than in other former Eastern European cities.
Prague, kind of like many similar cities, is great to explore on foot, with its network of cobblestone, medieval streets lined with Baroque buildings. The hub of operations is naturally the Old Town Square where there are two churches, the Old Town Hall, the Kafka museum and the astronomical clock.
A short walk from the square is Charles Bridge which is full of tourists and hawkers peddling all sorts of souvenirs and crafts. Walk on from the bridge and it's Prague Castle which took a good half day to explore.
The major attraction is the river. Either walking along the peaceful paths away from the throngs, or on one of the many available cruises, it is a truly magnificent sight.
Food was typical meat, potato and dumpling fare, which could get stodgy after a day or so. Beer was cheap and plentiful, we stumbled across a localish homely feeling restaurant with hardwood tables and grit on the floor and had the best meal of pork and dumplings and beer which as CHF 1 for half a litre.
Not huge nightlife people but there were students handing out leaflets for concerts all over the city and it was too plentiful to ignore. Finally attended one in a small hall of no more than 50 people, music students performing Strauss and the like, not a bad way to spend an evening.
Stars gather at Cannes for the film festivals, supermodels saunter along the beach at St Tropez, but the draw of Nice is undeniable. Despite of the image of glitz and glamour, in reality the beach is made of pebbles not sand, which was the first surprise. The second surprise, this time pleasant, was the colourful old town with narrow streets, alfresco dining and vibrant nightlife. It was possible to find tranquility in Nice, sitting quietly out on the beach watching the waves. But at night the bars and clubs opened their doors to the nightowls. It was in Nice that I first tried this cocktail (forgot the name) that was a shot glass with crème de menthe at the bottom and Bailey's on top, in 2 distinct layers. One gulp of mint and coffee and cream combined, neato. It's easy to do at home too, just have to pour very carefully so not to mix the layers.
At an outdoor restaurant we had French styled tapas. A giant outdoor counter with all sorts of different foods - bread, roasts, salads, seafood and something new: socca, which is olive oil flavoured chickpea bread. We placed our orders, received them on small plates, paid and ate at one of the pavement tables. Sigh. All sorts of yum.
Drove from Nice through the Corniches to Monaco. Probably one of the most spectacular coastal drives in Europe, if not the world. Beaches spread out along the shore, luxurious houses on the hillside and yachts moored in the bays.
Monaco is, well, decadence central. The smell of money is prominent and kind of scary. It's more built-up than the rest of the Côte d'Azure, the yachts just seem that little bit bigger and the shops more exclusive. The casino has a dress code and charged an entrance fee, so we skipped it. There is a small area inside the lobby for slot machines that is free, so we played a little there, to bolster our claim of having gambled in Monte Carlo.
A city with no cars, no diesel buses, with a rich maze of alleyways and squares that interconnect with one another. By all means, line up to go inside the Basilica, feed the pigeons at the Piazza, take a picture at the Bridge of Sighs. But Venice is more that that. Venice is where every street and square leads to another alley, another square, another new place to explore. Just go without a map and without a fear of getting lost. Eventually you'll come out into a bigger street or square and you'd know where you are.
Venice is where all the senses are fully occupied, sight, sound, smell, taste. During the summer the canals tend to have a distinctive, perhaps even stinky, smell. But that's what makes this city unique. Everyday life goes on under our noses, gondolas may take tourists on the romance of a lifetime, but the vaporettis run 24 hours and are the lifeblood of locals. To cruise down the Grand Canal on a sparsely occupied vaporetti is just as fulfilling as the equivalent gondola ride. Cross the canal on the rickety standing-room only traghetti which are old gondolas. Buy souvenirs from the small shops everywhere selling the unique masks, or colourful glassware, or beautifully handcrafted notebooks.
Visit the Rialto Bridge of course, but don't miss the Rialto markets where stalls groan under the weight of foods on sale. Try squid ink pasta at a small osteria, or make a meal out of cicchetti (Italian version of tapas) at a small bacarro. Try the melt-in-your-mouth varieties of smooth creamy gelato. Sit at a café and sip bitter, strong coffee. What else is there, what else?
