Happy December! Monday consisted mainly of travel - from Stuttgart to Zurich. Upon our arrival in Zurich, we quickly had our first taste of how expensive Zurich is when we bought our pass for the local transportation. We had been told by many people that Switzerland is expensive, particularly Zurich, but it is hard to fathom until you live it!
We checked into our hotel and rested for a couple of hours - for some reason we were particularly travel-weary yesterday (perhaps because we have been traveling for 26 days straight...). The tram that we took to the restaurant for dinner went through the old town area and we were able to get a preview of the tour we planned to take today. We had a great meal and enjoyed hearing the Swiss German - at some moments we felt very successful with the language, but at other times, we were at a total loss.
Today (Tuesday) we started with breakfast in the hotel and then took the tram into the old town. We were early for our tour, so we explored a little bit around the Paradeplatz. We visited the Sprüngli shop, did some window shopping along Bahnhofstraße (one of the most expensive shopping streets in Zurich) and caught a quick glimpse of the Zürich See. Our tour guide mixed the history of the city with current events and tourist tips. One of the first pieces of information that we learned was that all of the water in Zurich is drinkable, including the water from the 1224 fountains located all around the city.
We continued on to the Fraumünster church, which was built in 780 as a monastery for women and the noble women who lived there became very powerful by the early 1300s, although this power did not last. In 1336, Zurich began to be ruled by a system guilds, who had all of the power. In fact, women did not have any governmental power for centuries, as they were not allowed to vote in Zurich until 1971! Many of the guilds still meet regularly today and there are guild houses located throughout the city.
We walked past the St. Peter's Church, which boasts the largest clock face in Europe (a diameter of 8.6 meters). From the clock tower, the fire watchman kept a look-out to notify the inhabitants in case of a fire - apparently, this practice continued until 1900.
We were surprised to find ourselves walking up steep inclines in the city. It is the first time since we left Vermont that we have had any real hills to contend with. We walked through the Niederhof area, one of the oldest areas in Zurich. The houses in this area all have names, such as 'Zur blauen Lilie' (to the blue lilly), although they also have numbers, which apparently were given by Napoleon since he had a hard time remembering the house names.
We passed the building where Lenin lived between 1915 and 1916 during part of his exile from Russia.
We strolled through the Christmas Market - very small in comparison to the markets we have been visiting in the German cities. Our tour finished at Zurich's most famous sites, the Grossmünster. According to our guide the legendary origins of this church date to the 300s. However it is more likely a 9th century building. It is a major feature of Zurich's skyline and the bronze doors are elaborately detailed. Both of which make the protestant interior all that much more surprising.
We spent the afternoon at the hotel getting some homework done. We had delicious Italian food at a local restaurant that was a little more reasonably priced than what we have seen so far.
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