After leaving the Zurich airport, we plunged into the heart of Zurich's industrial district. The area looks sleek and modern, as if it was just built yesterday. Those who are used to the grimy-ness of even the newest American industrial districts would not believe the cleanliness of the one here in Zurich. We were not in the district long, however, because we immediately stepped on the tram. The tram system in Zurich is the city's main form of public transportation. There are some underground trains, however, the stops are few and far between, and are mostly meant to shuffle passengers from the airport to the main train station in Zurich so they can then go all over Switzerland and Europe.
My sister and cousin were deep in conversation about the plan for the next two weeks for the entirety of the first tram ride. I must confess I did not hear a word they were saying as I was constantly whipping my head left and right to take in as many sights I could see. As the tram continued along its journey, we transitioned from the industrial district to the old town. The stark contrast in architecture was immediate. From the sleek and modern buildings and warehouses to classical and turn of the century German architecture. I almost expected the tram to stop using the overhead lines and transition to steam power for this part of the journey to comply with the scenery. That was not the case however as the old city was dripping with 21st-century tech.
Our stay in this section of Zurich did not last long however as tram travel was quick and efficient. At some point we switched trams, however, I was still too filled with wonder for my surroundings to notice where. It was at this point our cousin told us she had a surprise in store for us in terms of getting to their apartment. Getting to this surprise allowed us to leave the old town, and progress through the new town. A beautiful mix of turn of the century, mid-century, and modern architecture, all laid out together and in perfect harmony with each other. The surprise came in the way of another of Zurich's public transport solutions, the seibon! Or as we later found out, the English translation: funicular. (Seibon is German and a very common name for the machine) The seibon/funicular is essentially a cable car that's constructed like a set of stairs. They are made to be quick and easy transport up even the steepest slopes. Our cousin informed us that her and her husband particularly enjoyed this funicular as it was a short walk from their apartment, and had a convenient grocery store at the bottom of the slope.
The funicular offered beautiful views of downtown Zurich as it made its way up the hill, and into one of the city's residential zones. This particular area where my cousins lived is well known for its views of Lake Zurich, the downtown area, and, on a particularly clear day, views of the surrounding mountains off in the distance. A short ten-minute walk or so from the funicular, which seemed to be lengthened considerably by my heavy luggage, brought us to their apartment building. A modern but understated affair that offered six residents spectacular views of the lake and all of its splendors. I will save you from the monotony that is unpacking and refreshing ourselves from the flights, and a quick lunch.
As it was Wednesday, our cousin, a Ph.D. holder in Psychology who teaches and works at the University of Zurich, along with her husband, a Doctor in Economics who also works at the university, informed us that it was lecture day. Every Wednesday someone from somewhere in Europe comes to give a lecture on what they are currently working on. However, it turns out that her office is in the University's botanical garden, which was one of the attractions in Zurich. Once we got to the botanical gardens, I did not expect to take as many pictures as I did! A selection of some of my favorites is below.
(Please note all pictures were taken by my Google Pixel XL unless otherwise noted!)
This is my sister photographing the white flowers below.
These were quite annoying to get a picture of, as they were very small
and the wind kept moving them around.
These were growing on the side of rocks and were quite large!
Along with these, there were many other flowers, plants, bugs, and bees around. I will not be posting all of the pictures here for the sake of space, however, I may be able to link the album at some point in the future! We spent a good hour or so walking around the paths of the garden before we headed towards Lake Zurich. We were supposed to go the way our cousin had described, however, we ended up getting rather lost looking for the "Picture of a fox on a pinkish-red building." Sometimes when you get lost you end up someplace much better than what you were actually looking for, and this was absolutely the case today.
While wandering around the smaller streets on the outskirts of the city, we (Elizabeth and I) came across an antique bookstore. Antique bookstores always seem to have a certain magic around them, and this one was no different. The small aisles in the corner store were made even more cramped by the stacks of new and old inventory that just didn't fit on the shelves. The door to a back room was open, and more large stacks of books could be seen. As we were leaving this shop, there was a younger woman at the register who I swear was not there when we walked in. She gave us this smile as if to thank us for stopping in, and not knocking anything over with our backpacks. However, her face looked much older than the person who was wearing it, and further deepened the questions I have about that mysterious little shop.
As we continued down the street, Elizabeth spotted a small child running with an ice cream cone. This made her very excited as she has a love affair with ice cream that cannot be satiated. Naturally, we spent the next 45 minutes of our evening looking for the elusive ice cream shop/stand. When we finally came across one, however, it had just closed for the day. (This annoyed her quite a lot and put her in a bit of a mood for the rest of the day.) As luck would have it, the hunt for the frozen treat brought us to a very peaceful alcove on the lake where a few people were laying on the grass, having picnics and swimming in the lake.
Not seen is the portly old man to the left, laying in the grass,
sporting a speedo that was way too small.
We spent a half hour exploring the public parks on this side of the city. Elizabeth brought her camera and was taking many pictures of the gorgeous lake and scenery. We met up with our cousin shortly after, and were discussing what we wanted to do for dinner when the rain hit. A small drizzle at first, it picked up rather quickly and was soon a full-on downpour and thunderstorm. As we took refuge under a few trees with a group of people, one of the street performers took the crowd as an opportunity to show off his craft. It was one of those moments that seem surreal but the occasional freezing cold raindrop down the back of my shirt kept bring me back to reality.
We decide to make a run for it during a break in the rain to try and catch a tram so we could go to where we decided to eat for dinner. Tibbits, a Vegetarian and Vegan cafe and restaurant that offered a plentiful buffet, and charged by weight of the plate. A clever idea, I must admit but I was not hungry at all. My sister and cousin both got plates of food, and will admit I stole bits from their plates. I was very enthralled by my iced vanilla chai latte. (I feel way too blogger-y typing that sentence.) We chilled in the restaurant for a good amount of time playing a new app on our phones. (The game is called SpaceTeam and I highly recommend it for groups of friends to play. Yes, it is cross compatible.)
After looking at the radar after around 2 hours we saw that it was going to rain for the rest of the evening. So we decided to make another run for it to the tram stop. The trip to the apartment was very uneventful, other than being soaked by the rain. (You will find this to be a common theme for this trip!) We ended the day welcoming our cousin's husband when he walked in the door, and watching the first episode of the new season of Arrested Development with our cousins. I have never seen the show before in my life, and I was thoroughly confused by the whole show. It was very good though. Finally, just around midnight we climbed into our beds (an air mattress for me) and fell into a much needed deep sleep.
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