Goddess of Grammar
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I don't count Zurich as a large city, but it's certainly a city.
Regensberg is a beautiful medieval village just north of Zurich, with a several-hundred-year-old tower and a very pretty view.
Kyburg isn't much of a village but it has a very cool castle.
Further north, Eglisau is lovely, it's on the Rhine.
Schaffhausen and Winterthur are definitely towns but well worth a visit. |
ThomasR
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Zurich
It seems so easy to get around here! The trams and buses run constantly and cover a wide area—and Samuel and Simone (our friends from Massachusetts—he grew up here) are staying a ten-minute walk from the central train station (we, by contrast, are an hour out in Winterthur—not so convenient but with a wonderful family).
Arriving mid-day after a beautiful train ride from the Italian border through the mountains, we took a couple of short walks downtown. The Landes Museum is a striking, massive castle directly outside the railroad station. The river is an oasis of tranquility, but the city as a whole does not seem frenetic.
We're getting an insider's view: a gourmet store with lots of free samples, swimming in the river against currents so strong that there's a metal fence to prevent people going too far—I got a nice fat bruise on my leg when I was swept into it. Old Town is very pretty, lots of elegant churches, winding alleys, and such. We particularly enjoyed a walk through two streets lined with art galleries and antiquarian bookstores—Schiffl‰nde and Kirchgasse (Church Street).
Also in the old city— a famous church with five long vertical and one round Chagal stained glass windows—very lovely, and not crowded.
On our final day, we rode out to Albisguetli—the last stop on tram 13—to climb the Uetliberg, a tall, scenic hill whose trails twist through a beautiful—and nearly litter-free—forest and climax in scenic views of both Zurich and the rural canton of Aarau. The lookout tower at the top brings the total height to over 900 meters, and on a clear day, you can see the Black Forest in Germany.
Then another scenic train ride and we were in French Switzerland.
Many Swiss slip seamlessly from one language to another, mixing French, German, Italian, and English—which is not one of the four official languages, but is very popular. As far as I know, I haven't heard any of the fourth official language, Romansh, which is an old, dying Latinate language used deep in the mountains, and which comes in dozens of variants. The same conductor will ask for tickets in Italian as the train leaves Lugano and in German as the train approaches Zurich. |
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