Wanderings: Zurich

November 21 to 22, 2018

We took the TGV (high speed train) to Zurich, travelling over 180 mph at times. Upon arrival, we walked from the Hauptbahnhof up the river to the lake. It turns out that the last ferry boat of the day was leaving in ten minutes, so we hopped on (1). It was a pleasant ride to suburban towns along the lake, as a local family threw bread to the birds. We disembarked at Tralwil, found the train station, and took the next train back to the city.

After a nice Italian meal (2), we took the tram to Stettbach to attend a concert by my second favorite band: Within Temptation. Wow!

The next day, we had a pleasant stroll through the city. We stopped at the Frauminster, one of the oldest Churches in Zurich. From the 1200s to 1524, the Abbess was also the temporal ruler of Zurich, doing double duty as both the Abbess of the convent and the "Imperial Princess" of Zurich.

There were a number of large stained glass windows at Frauminster hand painted by Marc Chagall (3) in the 1970s. Occasionally, I understand why some art is renowned; there was something quite special about the design and execution of the Chagall stained glass.

There are many bunkers scattered throughout the country that can accomdate the entire Swiss population, just in case war comes to this neutral country. We noted one in the city.

We had käsespätzli (4) for lunch from an outdoor stall at the just-opened Christmas market.

The Polybahn funicilar took us to the Polytechnic school where Einstein studied physics. We enjoyed a small exhibit of architectural drawings before poking our heads onto a classroom during a break; the math on the board was certainly over my head. As the professor returned, we listened discretely at the door and learned that the language of instruction was English.

A walk further up the hill lead to another Funicilar going up Rigiblick (5). There were breaks in the low cloud cover that afforded us nice views of the city from the top.

After a German dinner (6), we took another tram further out of town to the Hallenstadion to see my favorite metal band: Nightwish (7). We got there early, so we planted ourselves right on the security fence, stage left. I've never stood (8) so close before. The heat when they blew off the gas jets was quite intense. Niggtwish gave another fine performance.

(1) The ferry crew told us the boat was not returning to Zurich this afternoon (a). However, a map posted on a bulkhead showed rail lines on both sides of the lake, so I figured we could take a train back to the city from wherever the ferry ended.

(a) The late Fall ferry schedule is rather limited.

(2) Italian is one of the four official languages of Switzerland. Perhaps that is why they have really good Italian food in Zurich. The other official languages are German (b), French and Romansch.

(b) Although my German-speaking friends tell me it is quite different from standard German and is often referred to as "Swiss German" (i).

(i) I had noticed a sign earlier in the day (roughly translated as "Freshest bread in the neighborhood") that seemed to combine three German words with one French word. Apparently, this was Swiss German.

(3) Marc Chagall was born in Belarus, but did much of his work in France. Both countries claim him as their own (b).

(b) A local Swiss man had no opinion on which country could really claim Chagall: "We Swiss are neutral about everything" he said

(4) Basically macaroni and cheese with lightly fried onions on top. Yum.

(5) We wanted to get the maximum value from the all-day transit pass we had invested in this morning.

(6) How was the German meal? Well, let's just say there's a reason there aren't many German restaurants in the world, compared to, say, Italian restaurants.

(7) I came to Zurich because my two favorite bands were (coincidentally) playing on two consecutive nights in the city.

(8) The standing area (stehplatz) was over the covered ice in the Hallenstadion arena that frequently hosts hockey games. There were seats in the arena (sitzplatz), but this was a metal concert! We had much more fun dancing, jumping, shouting and thrusting our metals horns in the air than the people in the seats (c).

(c) You can often tell who in the audience is a serious fan of the band by whether they know some of the band's kess popular songs. I was standing near such a fan. She recognized a kindred spirit and she high-fived me when I thrust my metal-horn hands into the air in time to a rather complicated passage in the band's masterpiece "Greatest Show on Earth."