“I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to, and people I’ve never met.”
Saturday, our last full day in Switzerland, we planned on exploring Zürich. Since we were still traumatized from our adventure in the Alps the day before, we really wanted to just have a nice, relaxing day around the city. We started our day at the train station and got some food, because the train station food in Europe is surprisingly good. The Zürich station had a place that sold sandwiches with ham, grilled apples and lettuce on a pretzel roll and I think I bought 4 of them in our two days there, I was obsessed.
We decided to buy a Zürich pass, which I would highly recommend for anyone planning on spending time in Zürich. It was 24 Francs, and it included free transportation around the city (including trains, trams, boats, taxis, you name it), free entrance to all museums, special deals at restaurants, and some other perks as well. We decided to go to the Landesmuseum, which was literally right across the street from the train station. It was a museum about the history of Zürich and Switzerland in general, which we thought would be interesting because none of us knew anything about Switzerland prior to our trip. The museum was beautiful, and we learned a lot about Switzerland’s history. Switzerland actually low key supported the Nazis in World War II, even though they famously claimed to be neutral. The craziest thing we learned was that women didn’t gain the right to vote until 1971, which completely blew our minds. That is within our parent’s lifetime which is hard to comprehend.
Although it was raining, we really had our hearts set on taking a boat ride down the Limmat River, which runs through the middle of Zürich. There was a boat tour in a covered boat that had a stop right outside the museum, and with our Zürich Pass we only had to pay a 5 Franc surcharge, so after about an hour in the museum we got on the boat. This was an amazing way to see the city! The boat stops frequently, so you can get off in any part of the city. We stayed on for about half an hour, and decided to get off near the famous Grossmünster Cathedral.
This cathedral is one of the most iconic symbols of Zürich. We went inside and paid 4 Francs to climb to the top of one of the towers. The tower is extremely old and narrow, and to get to the top we had to climb a spiral staircase for about 10 minutes. It was hardly wide enough for two people, so it was extremely difficult to squeeze by people coming back down. I have never been claustrophobic until climbing these stairs. By the time we got to the top we were all dizzy and a little freaked out, but the views were well worth it. Seeing Zürich from above was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.
After Grossmünster, we decided to just wander around the city for a little bit. We really wanted to try some Swiss chocolate, and it was raining pretty hard, so we went to the first chocolate place we could find, a beautiful shop called Confiserie Sprüngli. It had a café and a bakery/chocolate shop. The café was completely full, so we bought some treats at the chocolate shop and took them to go. I got a few caramel chocolates, a mini chocolate cake and a raspberry tart, as well as a warm ham croissant. They were hands down the best chocolates/pastries I have ever had in my entire life. Swiss chocolate is not overrated; it really does live up to the hype.
We tried to find somewhere to sit down to eat our chocolates, but since it was raining all the cafes we could find were full. We ended up in a pretty bougie part of Zürich, kind of like Zürich’s version of the Upper East Side. It was beautiful, but we decided to just take a tram back to our Air B&B to get out of the rain and so we could eat. I was craving coffee, so we stopped at a Starbucks on our walk home from the tram station to our Air B&B. I paid 9 Francs for a tall mocha espresso, which is a little over $9 USD. It was outrageous, but actually well worth it because the chocolate they used was noticeably better than at the Starbucks in the States.
We spent some time at our Air B&B eating our chocolate and drying off from the rain, and started trying to make a reservation at a fondue restaurant for that night. We were determined to have some amazing Swiss fondue, and we did a lot of research on the best place to go in Zürich. The overwhelming majority of people we talked to said that we HAD to go to this place called Swiss Chuchi, so we became determined to get a reservation. Online, it said that they had no reservations available for that night, so we decided to try calling. Once again, our lack of knowledge of Swiss German hurt us. We made a reservation at another place, but we were so set on going to Swiss Chuchi that we decided to just show up in person to see if we could get in. We knew it was a long shot, but also worth a try. When we got there we asked for a table for four, and just as we asked, a table of four opened up right next to us outside, and the host told us we could take that table. We were literally giddy we were so excited. We watched multiple people get turned away after we sat down who showed up without reservations, and we had no idea how we got so lucky. Per the recommendation of the waiter, we ordered two pots of cheese fondue, which came with unlimited bread. One of the pots was four cheese fondue, and the other was cheese with bacon and a plum liquor. We also ordered potatoes, which came in a literal sack, that were amazing to dip in the fondue. I have never had any fondue that could compare to the fondue at Swiss Chuchi. It was probably the most delicious thing I have ever had in my life. We ended up staying for two hours because we just kept getting more food. With our Zürich passes, we also got a free dessert, which was a delicious lemon custard thing. Overall, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had, and it was the perfect way to end our time in Switzerland.
We went to bed early that night, because we had to get up at 4am to catch our flight back to Madrid. It was a long travel day, and we didn’t get back to Salamanca until around 8pm. Despite all the obstacles that we had to overcome, Switzerland was by far one of the most incredible countries that I have ever been to, and it was one of the most unforgettable weekends of my life.
Idly Wild 