Final step on our super-quick European tour was Zurich, where our airplane was going to be leaving from, and where we had to return the rental car to. I had visited Switzerland a couple of times as a kid, but never as an adult, and never any of the cities.
As a place to drop into for 24 hours, it was absolutely perfect. Hook up with a local for some recommendations, strap on the boots and the camera, and prepare yourself for some preposterously cute little streets and deftly attired people in bijou cafes.
Getting brunch in Zurich institution, Sprüngli. Feeling like Tyler Brûlée selecting our coffees, we sat and enjoyed watching sartorial old ladies and gentlemen come and go; and then watch young people seemingly wearing the same clothes do the same thing. Expensive – but dead nice.I have a policy of climbing the tallest things I can find in a new city. From Fraumunster, it was possible to see just how absurdly small the place is – like a little chocolate box of lanes and little eateries. The streets had a slightly similar feel to Paris, I thought.Patterns of useDrinks at Cabaret Voltaire; home of the Dadaist movement.Public transportCatching up with old friend Phil was a pleasure – an old colleague from DEM, now living it up in Zurich!Potential energyEven though the exchange rate is exorbitant right now, I still had to visit the Freitag store and get myself a replacement for my previous one, which was virtually falling apart.Climbing to the top, naturally.The last of our Swiss Francs were spent in the Jules Verne observatory – a fabulously kitsch bar with a working observatory on the roof – hilarious!
A lovely little excursion through the roundabout-strewn Switzerland, to Bregenz in Austria, up a cable car, down to Lindau in Germany, and back in time for dinner. Not bad!
ParklifeTop of the world – Pfänder MountainContrailsViews to the AlpsAutumn lightThe Bodensee was stunning in the stark lightI imagine the previous transport significance of Lake Konstanz cannot be overstated …… hence the ridiculous edifices at each end of the lake
