Zurich

◊ Ah, Switzerland. Land of the Alps and a billion price tags. What an odd trip. I found it simultaneously infurating and relaxing that we did not have enough money to buy, visit, or do much of anything. After a long and arduous bus ride we arrived to a very cold and cloudy Zurich Thursday morning and quickly found that the guide books were not exagerating in any way about how expensive the place was. Kebabs which can typically be found elsewhere for about $3 cost more like $8 there. Wether we liked it or not, we were stuck there untill Sunday night so we walked up one side side of Zurich lake for a ways and then we walked up the other side for a ways. The hostel was really nice. Expensive by comparison, but really really nice. It ran about $32/night for a three-person private room which was luxurious by hostel standards.

Yes, that is a clear bow tie. Yes those are snowmen in it. Yes, it costs 279 Swiss Francs. At 1.17 Swiss Franc to each dollar, one can see that the Swiss have both bad taste and way way way too much money.

Most cities have pigeon infestations. Zurich has a duck and swan infestation, and they all adore chocolate. They came right up to us and quacked untill we gave them some.


Some of their outdoor art was odd to say the least.



The hostel


((Rich People) + Water) / Climate = (A Lot Of Sailboats)



It did not take us long to notice that Zurich has images of naked women everywhere. There was a painting, statue, or carving at least every 10 meters. This was above and beyond the norm even for a European city. From what else we saw of Switzerland, I think this is unique to their capitol.

◊ On Friday we took the ferry to a town at the other end of the lake. If you didn't know this is a very long lake so it took us a couple of hours to get there. The town is called Rapperswil and it is at the most narrow point in the lake, near the end opposie of Zurich. It has the country's longest bridge (which is not very long if you ask me) and a castle. Oh yeah, did I mention an incredible view of the Alps?

"That's my boat"

◊ The day trip was great, and the scenery was beautiful. There were only two things that spoiled things. First, I lost a very expensive transit pass for the day and had to buy another one. Second, we couldn't afford any food at all. I was beginning to tire of sausage and mustard that we all brought from Prague. I decided to buy some oranges, but at 4.80 SFR/kg, I couldn't afford to do that again. That evening we walked around to see the city by night. It looked the same, only empty and darker. Except for, of course, the red light district behind our hostel. All the guide books advise women not to walk alone at night in Zurich, and for good reason. Still, it did strike me as a little odd. Zurich is so clean you could eat off the street if you so felt the urge, and yet it is not safe for women. Prague is filthy and crime-ridden by comparison, but I don't think it has the same problem.

◊ The next day we decided to dedicate to hanging around the city, buying chocolate, and shopping. By shopping, I mean staring longingly at the infinite array of ingenious Swiss gadgetry. Those Swiss sure know their gadgetry. In the end, I just could not take it. I broke down and purchased a Swiss Army Knife. Yes, it was very expensive, however it cost me about the same price I would have paid for on the internet and it was way cheaper than if I had tried to purchase it in a store back home. I may be a total geek, but I think it is totally awesome.

These windows were made by some really famous guy. When you mention these to any of the architcure students they invariably begin talking about how incredible this guy was. I've never heard of him before.

◊ We had been warned many times that the entire city is closed on Sundays, so we set aside that day for hiking. This had me a bit concerned, as I did not exactly pack for such activity. On top of everything, it rained all night and only stopped while we were on a train out of the city. Our destination was a town in the foothills of the Alps. It was all up hill from there. Our final objective was an observation tower on the top of the largest hill in the region. At first the hike was not too bad. At one point we back down most of the way we had come up on some "stairs" (by stairs I mean logs laid down to keep the trail from washing away) that went down to this beautiful waterfall and cave. We stopped and at a lunch of... you guessed it, sausage and mustard. The real difficulity for me did not begin untill the climb back up those stairs. That was when my legs decided that they were tired and from that point on, breathing began to be a become a problem.
◊ Up and up and up we went for four hours. The sights were breath taking. I saw some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever seen in my entire life. I only wished that I was not fighting down asthma attacks every time we had to climb more stairs. The biggest problem for me turned out to be the trail it's self. In many places it was pure mud. I had several frightening moments where I found myself sliding right off a cliff face. But eventually, we did make it to the top. I was in a lot of pain by that point, but I did make it. Then it was only another 6 floor climb up to the top of the observation tower.
◊ It was all worth it. The view was unbelievable. I could see a large part of notheast Switzerland. We were high enough that there was still snow on the ground in some places. I only wish my pictures could do a better job of relaying the majesty of the sight, but I could have done a better job with my camera settings so what you see here is what you get.

Europeans and their gnomes...

The ascent begins





The Waterfall Cave



At the top of the tower. Most of these just did not turn out.
The distances were just too great to get good pictures.

◊ By the time we made it back down, my legs were pretty tired. After sitting down to wait for our train back to Zurich I almost fell on my face trying to stand up. My expectations were that I was going to be in a lot of pain for the next few days, but so far I am feeling fine except for one painful knee. The bus ride back stunk more than the one there as I was having more trouble sleeping. When all is said and done I guess I enjoyed myself on this trip. Just don't expect me to ever visit Zurich again. I think this one broke the bank.
◊ Spending money is not becoming easier for me like I was told it would, and instead it is becoming harder. Because of that fact, I have decided to call off my trip to Venice. I hear it is a very expensive place too. This means that as of now I have only two trips left. The weekend after next I will be going to Dresden and some of the smaller town inbetween. My last one will be quite a doozy though. After the first week in June I will be going to Amsterdam, Paris, London, and then flying back to Prague with the possibility of stopping by Copenhagen. Before going I plan on finding out exactly how much money I have left to spend and calculating what that breaks down to for each day.