Zürich in a day

Our time in Winterthur has been met with semi-daily exclamations of, "You know, we really should visit Zürich." The train tickets for a 30km ride seemed outrageously expensive though (20 chf per person). But, we finally did it - and wow, what a great city! There are a bunch of cool (and spendy) shops to lighten your bank account alongside plenty of beautiful buildings and stunning architecture.

We were greeted at the train station by George Clooney staring down from us from an advertisement for a cappucino machine. Funny! The train station is also home to a vast shopping district and indoor Christmas Market. Neither of which we explored much in the interest of time.




Of note was the Singing Christmas Tree - granted we didn't see the evening production as the kids don't handle late-night excursions very well. But it was enjoyable and is the first time Megan has seen a choir.



Crossing over to the "hip" section of the city, we found the super spendy shops. Very fun to window shop, but definitely out of my budget. Found a beautiful, soft, wool shoulder wrap with satin trim ... for a very cool price of 499 chf! Yipes. I can wear my sweaters and jackets, thank you!

We visited two churches, St. Peter's Church (the oldest church in Zürich - official site) and Fraumünster Church (official site). Both were very elegant. St. Peter's has some very old and faded murals in the alcove and Fraumünster Church is home to world-renowned stained glass windows designed by Marc Chaqall in 1970.

Various pictures from around Zürich:

Dan in Zürich:

Clocktower - St. Peter's Church:



Fraumünster Church:



Door to Fraumünster Church


Babar Store (I was a litle surprised to see an entire store, in the trendy section of Zürich, dedicated to Babar the Elephant):



From Zürich with Love: (no, that's not Megan in the sculpture. Random sculpture in gardens across from the marina. Goes well with the next picture, don't you think?)



Free Hugs: (it's up to you to decide if you think it's funny or creepy. There were several folks with "free hugs" signs at the train station - a happy bunch. And hey, who can't use a hug?)



A side note: Short of our train ride from Brussels to Köln, we have not had our public transportation tickets checked at all. Fortunately, we always buy tickets. After four months of no checks, we were checked twice in two days. The first was on the bus one evening - after a normal stop, the bus driver announced a ticket control stop. When we next stopped, about 20 control officers boarded and very quietly, casually checked everyone's tickets. The fine is steep if you don't have it - 80 chf per person! I was amazed how quickly and quietly the whole process was conducted. I think one person in the back didn't have their ticket, but the only reason I clued in was that a control officer was back there so long. I kept thinking that in our neck of the woods, there would be loud voices, arguing over the rules or the "I must of lost it..."
Our train tickets were not checked enroute to Zürich, but were checked on the return leg.