On Friday, May 13th, Sam and I embarked on a 23-day European vacation. We ubered to LAX and flew over eleven hours on Swiss Air to Zurich, landing around 4pm local time on Saturday.
The Zurich airport is quite small but tidy and neat, like an airport built by Ikea. We took an easy train into the city and discovered “Zurich’s got talent” taping at the main rail station, just a short walk from our hotel.
After settling in we went out to find dinner. We tried Rheinfelder Bierhalle as it looked open and not too busy. We weren’t sure what to expect in Switzerland, and our waiter was very rude when we asked questions about the menu. We gave up and ordered a salad and a vegetable plate (the traditional raclette). Both ended up being more cheese than anything else, which isn’t as good as it sounds.
We didn’t know it then, but we should have expected a certain “rudeness” in a bierhalle (beer hall = pub = bar), as German/Swiss versions are set up for rowdy hearty drinkers who demand what they want from no-nonsense waiters. That said, unlike the Hofbräuhaus in Munich, the Rheinfelder wasn’t boisterous when we walked in (or out) and nobody was sharing a table with a stranger.
After dinner, it started to lightly rain as we walked towards Linden.
By the time we got to the lake heavy rain obscured the lights shining in the dark on the other side. We broke out our umbrella (the first time of many on the trip) and wandered back along the (mostly closed) shops on the western riverbanks.
Sunday we ate at a cafe before taking the train up to Uetliberg.
After hiking up the hill we discovered the automated entrance to the “top of Zurich” steel platform was broken. The platform offers the only view unobstructed by trees. This was the first of many unexpected closures of attractions we’d have to grin and bear during the trip.
As we started back down I began to sneeze. Allergies, too, would become a staple of our trips to nature for the next three weeks. We had both planned ahead and brought an ample supply of Allegra that would be completely exhausted by the time we boarded our return flight to LAX.
After checking out of our hotel and eating lunch back at the main station in Zurich we boarded the first train to St. Moritz.
