Zürich.

So blogs take some time to write. I will not say they dont. But nonetheless, I apologize for not having written about my Zürich adventure that happened three weeks ago earlier. On a Friday some time ago, Germans celebrated Unification Day, or Unity Day. This is a national holiday celebrating the unification of Eastern and Western Germany after World War II. School is then, naturally, off. My family took the opportunity to visit Zürich on this valant occaision.

Zürich is a truly beautiful city. Loved by much of Europe for its shopping, food, romantic atmosphere, and culture, I was very excited to see it. Switzerland is a land that has been relatively unlplagued (if that word exists) by war and strife. Switzerland has a policy in almost any war to remain neutral. Romans occupied Zürich in earlier years, but most of the very old buildings are still very much intact. We took a tour of the city on Friday upon getting there which was awesome because we really learned a lot about how laden in culture it is. At the Zürich institute, Albert Einstein lived and studied for some time in the city, and Lenin also lived in one of the small apartments on top of a Cafe we visited. The city is very expensive, with no lack of shopping. Large name brands and little ma and pa shops line the tiny (only walking streets), and lights adorn every path at night. The people are all fairly sweet, and all together the family had a very nice weekend in its central.

Crossing the Swiss border (from Austria, which I didnt even realize when we had crossed the border). Ah Europe.

I must warn you: NEVER attempt to drive anywhere in Zürich. Katharina was driving us to the grand city, and although new driver and all, I dont think it would have mattered if Dieter had been driving instead. Driving there is complete chaos. Im so glad I was not behind the wheel. With traffic and such a difficult time finding a place to park, our first impression of Zürich was defnitely not a good one. Walking is a spectacular thing, it really is. Its so gorgeous to walk around the city, there are all of these tiny little streets and new things to discover around every corner. Just dont attempt to drive.

Me in Zürich ! :)

At the beginning of our tour looking back at the main train station, which is really big in comparision to most of Europe. Millions of people travel through there every day. The entire weekend was very wet and cold, I had my rain jacket with me - but was stayed relatively wet the entire time. And therefore cold.
Ulla at a break we were taking on our tour next to the river. There we got to try a very special syrup that you drink with plain water, almost like an Italian Soda without the bubbles. The water was even freshly purified from the Zürich River. Apparently cinnamon was the best, but I had some sort of Rasberry or something. It was also really yummy.

Along the river, It was quite fun - Zürich reminded me a lot of Duluth, if maybe a little older.

A small street in the city, looking up more closely at St. Peter.

At the gardens overlooking the entire city where the Romans held a fortress as the occupied the city in earlier teams. In walking through other small streets in the city, our tour guide also made sure to point out (as we walked over one), that Romans were the first the think of Public Baths, running ingeneous canals next to the river.

Our tour guide, showing us the ins and outs of the city. (She spoke English and German, so I understood a lot of the tour, which was quite cool).

Starbucks is everywhere! (I thought Ben H. may appreciate that)

A city model, the Zürich river running through the middle. The city used to be surrounded by a large moat in Roman times, but as Switzerland developed as a country and the capital Bern became such a popular city, Zürich of course tried to keep up. They filled the moat in and turned it into the main sreet, and main shopping center. This new main street was designed like the "Boulevardes" in France, with trees bordering the cobblestone ways and lights on the buildings at night, to increase tourism.

Songbirds (which are somewhat cute but somewhat annoyingly everywhere) flying over Großmünster. I was just glad not to be pooped on.

St. Peter, to the right, houses the largest clock face in all of Europe upon it (Im pretty sure the largest, maybe second). In German, and sometimes used in English as well, its called a Glockenspiel.

Out to dinner on Friday night for Swiss food, so incredibly yummy! I had tortellini, from the Italian roots. Switzerland has about four different cultures it embodies, French, Italian, German, and Romanian, each culture dominant in relation to which country it borders. The German spoken in Switzerland is not normal German though, it sounds like a completely different language. Theresa could barely understand it, let alone me. German is the prodominent language however, of which about 40% speak. It was interesting to see in all of the public places, like the main train station, directions and signs would be written in German, then French, then Italian - but no English. We finished dessert off with Shokimousse (Chocolate Mousse), in case you were wondering.

Looking out at the streets of Zürich as we wandered through the city. I defnitely got blisters this weekend. It was so funny though, the Swiss flag is absolutely everywhere. Every building has the flag on it, and there are shops everywhere where you can buy clothes or all manner of material things with swiss emblems on them. The country is relatively small, but full to the brim with national pride. There is a cliche about Swiss as well, as in every culture, that all Swiss are good looking and rich. To some extent, I could definitely see that when I was there. Switzerland is very expensive, in every aspect. A shirt I bought at home that was fairly expensive was almost 70 more Frank in Switzerland, more I think. The currency is Swiss Frank. Switzerland is not part of the European Union. It is close the the one place in Europe (at least Eastern) where you need a passport.

We unfortunately werent able to participate in the film festival, but the Zürich Film Festival is known worldwide for its artistic representations in filming. It was just ending I think when we were there, or just beginning.

Looking from across the river at Großmünster, a famous Zürich fountain in the foreground.

There is also a smaller church, Fraumünster, across the river. In the early stages of Zürich Abbeys existed in the surrounding area, and one of the biggest and most famous was Münster Abbey, although it isnt there anymore.

The awesome stained glass windows inside Großmünster.

Inside the Crypt of Grossmünster, a statue of Karl Ludwig, a very famous German Kaiser/German leader from the early times. I cant remember exactly, but I think this statue is from the 1200s or so.

Looking at the first bridge built in Zürich (to the right, where the Carasol is). At the time the city was beginning, this bridge was the only one that ran across the river, so was always very packed. It sits right next to the town house. Now there are more bridges across the river though, and not as many horses riding across either. Mostly people on foot, bicycle, and some vehicles.

At the top of Großmünster, the largest church and main attraction in Zürich. It has two towers that look over the city, and I hiked one of them up to the top (only 187 steps). At least it was shorther than the "Stairs of Death" back home, and I hiked those almost every week this past summer. The Büchters didnt have the energy to hike with me. It started to rain though, and I was sort of scared. It was REALLY high up.

Looking over Zürich river and to Zürich lake.

Drinking from one of the many fountains in Zürich. One of the coolest things I found about the city was that there was about 1200 fountains throughout, and everyone was fresh, cold water you could safely drink.