At the end of October, I made a special five-day trip to Switzerland. The first two and half days I spent in Zurich, which was sponsored by the Zurich Tourism Office.
I had visited Zurich once before about 10 years ago just for an afternoon and honestly, I wasn’t very impressed. The city was nice enough and very clean, but it seemed dull except for the beauty of the lake. After my trip last month, I was beyond impressed and now Zurich has made it into my favorite list of European cities.
I took an early morning train from Gare de Lyon and arrived at about 11:30am, then boarding a tram to the four-star Bellerive au Lac Hotel. My well-designed room on the third floor had a lovely view of the lake and I stood for a few minutes taking in the swimming pavilions, small boats, and the mountains in the background. The décor of my room was modern Art Deco, and my favorite feature was the heated bathroom floor, so when I went had to go in the middle of the night, my feet were warm.
The tourist board arranged to have a private guide to take me around the old part of the city. Annamaria met me at the hotel, and we bonded quickly as were both tour guides for a long period of time. We walked along the lake and she told me the white wood bath pavilion in front of the hotel was the oldest one in Zurich, from the early 1900s. The water is clean enough to swim in and there are many spots along the lake that are designated for bathers.
The Linmat River is connected to Lake Zurich and the shimmering water reflected the dramatic foliage of the red and yellow leaves on the trees. There are four different sections that make up the old town and they are on both sides of the lake. I was intrigued by a sign that said Odeon Café, and Annamaria shared that the was Art Nouveau style café opened in 1911 where writers, intellectuals, artists, and poets such as Somerset Maugham, Erich Maria Remarque, Toscanini, and Albert Einstein gathered.
Next, we strolled through the hilly streets of the old town, and I marveled at the 13th and 14th century buildings, mostly in immaculate condition. Every few minutes we would encounter a square with a fountain streaming fresh, cold water and Annamaria said there were over 1200 of them in Zurich. I started to spot some great doors and when I stopped to photograph them, I explained my passion for doors to her. No sooner had I shared this with Annamaria, she began pointing out great doors all over the city, soon to be featured on my Door of the Month post. I loved the fronts of the buildings painted in lemon yellow, salmon, mint green, rusted orange and the one building in lavender with purple shutters. Many of them had painted overhangs and cornices jutting out. We also explored some of the cool boutiques and food shops, and of course I stopped in almost every chocolate shop for a tasting.
At the end of our delightful tour, we stopped off at the flagship Sprungli café and pastry shop. Sprungli is one of the oldest and best-known chocolate brands in Switzerland, dating from the late 1800s. The enormous and dazzling shop had endless counters and showcases filled with the most decadent pastries and chocolates, beautifully packaged and presented. It took unprecedented will power on my side not to buy everything in the store. I caved slightly and bought a Luxemburgerli, a mini-macaron and one of their signature pastries.
That evening I went to a chic restaurant, Razzi, which was an Art Deco movie theater, converted into a restaurant. The restaurant had just brought in a new chef who revamped the menu, offering Asian fusion cuisine, which I enjoyed, as I don’t frequently have Asian food.
The next day I was on my own and I was given a Zurich Card, which gave me free entry to many of the top attractions and museums plus an unlimited pass for the tram. The tram was super easy and efficient, plus it’s a great way to see the sites of the city.
My morning excursion was to the Lindt Museum and chocolate factory. The sprawling behemoth, measuring 65,000 square feet, is a pristine white marble temple dedicated to the history, art, and process of chocolate making. At the towering lobby of the museum is a 30-foot-high fountain where 1500 liters of liquid chocolate drips off a giant gold whisk on to a truffle. Climbing the winding staircases, I toured the three levels of the state-of-the-art museum with interactive displays, learning how the cacao bean was discovered in the Amazon thousands of years ago, how chocolate was imported to Europe in the 1600s, and the invention of milk chocolate in Switzerland in 1879.
In the afternoon I visited the Kunsthaus Zürich, the largest art museum in Switzerland, with a collection ranging from the middle-ages up to the 20th century. A new wing was just launched, which contains works from the 1960s and the Emil Bührle Collection, which is one of the most prized and important art collections in Switzerland.
The next morning, I visited the Pavillon Le Corbusier, which was one of the standouts of my visit to Zurich. The stunning steel and glass building with panels of red, Kelly green and yellow, stands on a secluded grassy knoll surrounded by tall trees. Erected in 1967, it was the last building Le Corbusier designed before he died in 1965.
It was a crisp, sunny day and after my visit to Pavillon Le Corbusier, I walked through the neighborhood, stumbling upon fantastic examples of Art Nouveau houses and apartment buildings, many with beautifully detailed doors, along with the enticing colors of fall foliage.
After my three-day visit to Zurich, I was smitten, and will return soon.
Stay tuned, as I will soon write about Lausanne, the second part of my visit to Switzerland.
