Mike has been traveling A LOT. So much more than we anticipated. We knew he would be traveling around India to visit his teams, but we didn't think he would need to go to Europe as many times as he has. And we certainly didn't think he would need to go to the States. Well, I didn't think he would need to travel to the States. Maybe he knew that ... ANYWAY, he was the best husband ever this time and took me along on this business trip to Europe! I am happy here in New Delhi, so I was surprised at how happy I was to see this beautifully green and organized view of Zurich. Haha. Mike flew business class direct to London. Lucky guy. I flew economy to Zurich, and then on to London. Flying economy on a red eye flight that is 8 1/2 hours long is pretty brutal. Not fun at all! But I was happy to be going. :)
After a few hours in the Zurich airport, I was off to London. How strange to be back after 6 months. I must say that it did feel a little like home. We stayed in a hotel by Mike's office at Liverpool Street, which was a perfect location to hit up the shops on my list - the 3 store, Boots, Gap, Marks & Spencer's, etc. We were only there for a little over a day, so I had to be smart about how I spent my time. (BTW - If you visit Europe and stop in London first, I highly recommend getting a SIM card at the 3 store if your phone is unlocked. Get the all you can eat data plan with free calls and texting, which is £25 for 30 days. They have this free 'Feel at Home' plan where you aren't charged to use your phone in any of the listed 30 countries. It's awesome. Switzerland is one of those countries, so it worked perfectly for me. It stays active as long as you use it every 6 months.)
Ah, London! It was really nice to be back! Quite the contrast from India for sure.
I think I would gladly move back, but I'm fine not moving back. Does that make sense?
So, I was hoping to see a show while I was in London, so I looked up what was playing at the Globe Theatre. Lo and behold, The Taming of the Shrew with a Dublin twist was opening a few days before we arrived. Much to my surprise, Mike agreed to go with me. Wow! I was able to get some really nice seats (one with a slightly obstructed view, but not a big deal), so off we went. The walk was familiar over the Millennium Bridge with the London Bridge, the Shard, The Tate Modern and everything else practically within arm's reach. We really lucked out with no rain. It was a perfect night!
It's sort of a surreal experience to see a Shakespeare play at THE GLOBE.
Of course it isn't the original theatre, but it is the closest thing to the original.
They play fun period music before the play starts.
I could never stand for an entire play! So glad for a seat.
The actual play was pretty good. The first half was definitely better than the second though.
Walking back across the bridge and seeing St. Paul's get closer and closer is one of the best walks.
And then this was just me happy that a London hotel actually had the hair dryer next to a mirror since you can't plug it into the bathroom (DUMB), and hotels never have an outlet outside of the bathroom near a mirror. A big thumbs up!
Mike flew out to Zurich early on Wednesday morning. That was an expensive flight, and there wasn't any reason why I would need to get up so early. So, I slept in and took the 12pm flight. By the way, this was my first time going to the London City Airport, and I am completely sold on it. It's so quiet and little. It's also cheap and easy to get to by the DLR and the Tube. Hooray!
I think I arrived around 3:30pm, and was able to find my way on the train
from the airport to downtown Zurich. Their main train station in the city is so cool.
from the airport to downtown Zurich. Their main train station in the city is so cool.
After I checked into the hotel, I went on a little walk through Zurich. What a
gorgeous day it was! I walked along the river until I got to the lake, and then I
looped back around by walking up the fancy shopping street called Bahnhofstrasse.
The only time I have been to Zurich was in 2009 when we were supposed to move there and the company paid for all of us to visit. That was so much fun! But it was in February when everything was dead and it was super cold. It was nice to come when it was warm and everything was green. Especially after being in Dusty Delhi, Zurich looked liked it was put through a color enhancing filter!
This is Bahnhofstrasse, the super expensive shopping street.
Only these trams run through this street, which is really cool.
There are trams everywhere. Such a great way to get around the city!
This was basically the theme of my visit to Zurich:
On the second day I took it slow in the morning and headed out in time for
lunch at Nordsee in the train station. I have been dreaming about returning there
ever since we went in 2009. Lauren and I loved the herring sandwich. It's the best!
It's called the Bismark Baguette. Don't knock it til you try it!
As I was eating my lunch, I watched people passing out these red flowers to anyone walking by. They were obviously free, and they were making everyone happy. Some people took one, some people took two. And then there were men who walked away with a bouquet of red flowers. And they all walked away smiling. I had to find out what this was all about!
After finishing my lunch, I walked over to ask about the flowers. The nice gentleman said that they are from swisscom, a telecommunications company. Because everyone is so hyper-focused on their mobile phones and other screens, they wanted to create an opportunity for people to interact with each other by sharing a flower with a stranger. How nice! I really loved that.
Mike was really sweet and came up with a whole itinerary for my day. He even marked everything on the map in the little book the hotel provided. I started out by walking through the winding streets of Old Town. Lots more shops.
And then I was to visit Grossmunster, this church that was supposed to have
Chagall stained glass windows. Yeah, it didn't. But I didn't know that until I went inside.
It was very cool to see up close though.
I was intrigued by the panels on the door of Biblical scenes; especially when I
noticed that the bottom row was all women, including Bathsheba which was very interesting.
I couldn't help but wish Matthew was there to intrepret the braille
for me (reference to Krakow!). And I did my best to take a selfie. Hahaha!
I walked by Adler's Swiss Chuchi (love that name!) where we took the
kids for fondue. I wanted fondue so badly! But we never had time to go. So sad.
It turns out THIS is the church with the Chagall windows, but I didn't find that
out until later. Oh well! It's called the Fraumunster. By the way, Munster means cathedral.
Gross means big, so that other church was the BIG cathedral. And this one is the lady cathedral.
Mike scored even MORE points that evening by taking me to one of
his favorite places. Sorry for all of the huge pictures. It can't be helped!
We had the most amazing dinner. It was one of those quiet dinners in an
old house where the service is intentionally paced super slow so that you can
just relax and enjoy the experience. I loved it. Can you believe the desserts??
After dinner we walked along the quiet streets of old town and looked
inside the windows of all of the shops closed for the day. The teuscher chocolate
shop looked like a flower shop! We stopped inside the next day, and it was amazing.
Amazing and EXPENSIVE.
We walked up to this park that had a nice view. I kind of like that the picture is
so dark that it draws you to the Alps in the background. Kind of surreal to be there!
Mike wondered if this was Joan of Arc, but I didn't think it looked like her.
Wikipedia says this: "The Hedwig fountain (1688) recalls the legend of the siege
of Zurich (1292) by Duke Albrecht I. of Habsburg. The helmeted sculpture of the
of Zurich (1292) by Duke Albrecht I. of Habsburg. The helmeted sculpture of the
leader of the courageous Zurich women commemorates the incident." Yay for women!
By lunchtime we had made our way over to the flea market that takes place every Saturday this time of year. I was excited to go, but it turned out to be a bunch of junk (in my opinion). The best part was the Bratwurst we got for lunch. Yummy!
As if you haven't already seen a selfie of us, here's another one!
Love the lake and the Alps!
That night we had a gorgeous dinner by the lake with one of Mike's colleagues and his wife. It was so nice and a lot of fun. They are from New York and own a home in New Jersey, so we had lot in common with living abroad after living on the East Coast. It was a great final night in Zurich.
I was sad to leave the mild weather and go back to the Delhi heat, but it was time to go home after being away an entire week.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip!
