If you have been following along on my blog, you know that I have been traveling around Europe with my family, visiting my father who is currently living in Germany! I love it here, and I appreciate being able to walk the streets of different places to learn about the culture and the history of other countries. Also, I am having a lovely time catching up with my father.
Day Three
We woke up at a decent time on day number three and made our way to Zurich, Switzerland. Oh how excited I was to go to Switzerland! I had heard things about the country from different people, which made me anxious. I was anxious to see what we would make out of the day, but honestly, I also felt that way because I feel like a lot of people have "hyped up" Switzerland for me, and I wanted it to live up to my expectations.
The drive to Zurich was approximately two hours from my father's place. We traveled on the autobahn at a high speed, which was an absolute thrill in itself. I LOVE the autobahn. Some people are clearly incredibly confident in their driving capabilities - much more than I would ever be. It is fun to vicariously live through those ambitious drivers. I cheer them on when they proceed to pass a mass of cars by going a ridiculously fast speed. I cringe a little when it happens, but also smile and laugh. What can I say? I am definitely not a "dare devil", so watching other people go fast is enough of a thrill for me.
We arrived in Zurich slightly past noon. We found a parking spot downtown after some searching. As the day progressed, we cheered about our jackpot of a parking spot, as it was right in the center of the city. Come to find out, we had parked in a spot that required a permit! Unfortunately, we found a nice little note left on our car windshield when we came back.. oops!
We were hungry, as it was around lunchtime when we arrived, so we ventured to the streets to find a bite to eat. We knew that Switzerland had a different currency than the Euro - the Franc. What we did not know was how high the prices were in Switzerland! A burger at Burger King was priced at almost five francs! Even if you compared the exchange rate of the Swiss franc to the U.S. dollar, one of these burgers will cost around five dollars, when in the United States, you could get the same burger for around two dollars. This threw us off a bit. Luckily, we weren't too hungry and we knew that we had some snacks in the car that would be able to hold off our hunger for a while. Furthermore, we decided to pass up the option of a five dollar Whopper, although it was enticing.
We did some research about Zurich prior to our trip, but we didn't know all that the city had to offer. Unfortunately, we had a difficult time finding a tourist information building. Once we found a map, we were golden! The map listed out about thirteen "must-see" destinations in the city. My father took on the task of leading our tour of Zurich, and he did a wonderful job. We walked up and down the sides of the city and enjoyed the walk. Some of our destinations included: the great churches of Zurich, the waterfront, and Zurich's financial district. Below are some pictures!
Day Three
We woke up at a decent time on day number three and made our way to Zurich, Switzerland. Oh how excited I was to go to Switzerland! I had heard things about the country from different people, which made me anxious. I was anxious to see what we would make out of the day, but honestly, I also felt that way because I feel like a lot of people have "hyped up" Switzerland for me, and I wanted it to live up to my expectations.
The drive to Zurich was approximately two hours from my father's place. We traveled on the autobahn at a high speed, which was an absolute thrill in itself. I LOVE the autobahn. Some people are clearly incredibly confident in their driving capabilities - much more than I would ever be. It is fun to vicariously live through those ambitious drivers. I cheer them on when they proceed to pass a mass of cars by going a ridiculously fast speed. I cringe a little when it happens, but also smile and laugh. What can I say? I am definitely not a "dare devil", so watching other people go fast is enough of a thrill for me.
We arrived in Zurich slightly past noon. We found a parking spot downtown after some searching. As the day progressed, we cheered about our jackpot of a parking spot, as it was right in the center of the city. Come to find out, we had parked in a spot that required a permit! Unfortunately, we found a nice little note left on our car windshield when we came back.. oops!
We were hungry, as it was around lunchtime when we arrived, so we ventured to the streets to find a bite to eat. We knew that Switzerland had a different currency than the Euro - the Franc. What we did not know was how high the prices were in Switzerland! A burger at Burger King was priced at almost five francs! Even if you compared the exchange rate of the Swiss franc to the U.S. dollar, one of these burgers will cost around five dollars, when in the United States, you could get the same burger for around two dollars. This threw us off a bit. Luckily, we weren't too hungry and we knew that we had some snacks in the car that would be able to hold off our hunger for a while. Furthermore, we decided to pass up the option of a five dollar Whopper, although it was enticing.
We did some research about Zurich prior to our trip, but we didn't know all that the city had to offer. Unfortunately, we had a difficult time finding a tourist information building. Once we found a map, we were golden! The map listed out about thirteen "must-see" destinations in the city. My father took on the task of leading our tour of Zurich, and he did a wonderful job. We walked up and down the sides of the city and enjoyed the walk. Some of our destinations included: the great churches of Zurich, the waterfront, and Zurich's financial district. Below are some pictures!
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| Downtown Zurich |
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| My Father and Me in Downtown Zurich |
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| The Most Colorful Buildings in Downtown Zurich |
Although the city doesn't contain remarkably notable historical landmarks or sites like other European cities may do, it is just as fulfilling to roam the streets that rest on the coast of the lake, in my opinion. The city sits on an elevated surface, and below is the water. If you stand on the waterfront of Zurich, looking across the lake you can see the MOST GORGEOUS mountains. They are beautiful white-capped mountains, right behind the small town that faces Zurich. I was in absolute awe. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of these mountains, but just trust me, they are incredible.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Zurich was a bit different than I thought. The city doesn't have many tourist sites, which isn't a good or bad thing. After all, Switzerland has always been known to be a neutral country, so there were no famous battlegrounds or landmarks of that nature, like in the European countries around it. Nevertheless, the city is a city of natural beauty. If you can appreciate natural beauty, Zurich is the place for you. It is a beautiful and peaceful city.
My final FINAL thought - make sure you are mindful of the prices in Switzerland before you decide to visit. I have no doubt that I would've paid for a meal at those prices in Zurich if I was hungry. I won't deny that I would've! Nonetheless, if I was planning a trip to the cheapest place in Europe, hoping to avoid breaking my (college student) bank account, Switzerland would probably not be on my list of potential destinations to stay for a week. I hope this heads up can help someone avoid future troubles!
Regardless of the road bumps, Zurich was absolutely beautiful. Once again, I feel so grateful to be able to explore this neat city. Thanks for reading along!
Until Next Time,
MM
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