Zurich

Last time I was in Zurich it was cold and rainy - after all we were there to say "Goodbay" to winter. This time I was lucky to get a glimpse of a beautiful autumn time in Switzerland.

Zurich is located on the rives of the Zurich Lake. This is a nice and peaceful place. On one hand you can see the Alps ...

... on the other the historical city center, with the Grossmünster church. The legend says it stands on the ruins of a church that was built upon the order of Charles the Great. Anyway, the one that stands now was built in 12th century so it is really old.

The banks of the Lake are a nice pedestrian zone. You must however beware of crazy bicycles. It was the only place so far where I have seen people on bikes using mobile phones during their ride and wearing flip sandals. At full speed of course.

I took there a longer walk to admire the marine with the luxury boats ...

... and the swans.

Next to the lake you can also see there the Zurich Opera House. Its surroundings are now under construction works so I could not come closer to show you the interior. No proper path was available for horses unfortunately.

When you cross the Quaibrücke or the bridge over the beggining of the Zurich lake you will see the Limmat river.  I was sure that Limmat ends in the Zurich Lake but it turned out that actually it is the place where it starts (effluence is the scientific word).



Next to Limmat, in front of the Wasserkirsche, you will see the statue of Huldrych Zwingli, a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. He was the pastor at Grossmünster where he began to preach that the catholic church must be reformed. Many cantons followed him while others remained faithful to Rome. This has almost led to a civil war. The latter was avoided but some smaller fights took place - Zwingli was killed in one of them.

The city center itself does not offer spectacular buildings - each street is nice in its own way. Like Augustinergasse with its colourful houses.

When you read tourist guides you will learn that another place worth seeing is the Paradeplatz. It is best known for being the siege of the powerful Swiss banks.

To be honest, I was not impressed by this place at all. It looked like a huge tram stop.

I was however amused by one special tram that I have seen there. For those who are not as fluent in German as I am, "Hochzeit" means "marriage". And there was actually a married couple inside, with all the wedding guests.

The Paradeplatz is a part of the Bahnhofstrasse. But the Bahnhoffstrasse is worth a separate story.