Zurich

15th & 16th July 2010

The 50 minute train journey from Lucerne to Zurich, meant that we had arrived well before the check in time. As is the norm with Swiss hostels we were prepared to just leave our bags and come back after 3. Surprisingly we were able to check in just after 11am. We climbed the 5 flights up stairs up to our dorm (101 steps!) had a quick sit down - or recovery from the steps - before heading back out. We grabbed a Zurich guide from the common room and set off.

We decided to take the recommended walking route through the old town. It took us past some beautiful buildings, including a massive cathedral. We stopped at a supermarket to grab some lunch stuff and sat on the edge of the lake to enjoy our food.

We sat and ate with the crowds while watching people swimming in the sectioned off area of the lake. Kids were jumping off the big bridge and having an awesome time. They'd also set up a massive tower, I reckon it was at least 10m where people were climbing up and timidly throwing themselves off it. It was really enjoying watching people climb up then getting to the top and s***ting themselves - there was only one way down!

We continued on our walking tour, through the major banking sector. We just played 'spot the awesome car' which was quite fun because there were plenty of them; So much money just sitting in the streets. We checked out the biggest clock face in Europe before deciding to finally buy our Swiss Army Knife. We'd researched and looked at thousands of them during the week, and we'd finally decided so we went off and made our purchase happily. We then headed back to the hostel late afternoon to check up on the world on the net. We cooked another yummy pasta dinner but judging from all the noise outside that was the place to be. I went down for a look, and it was pretty cool. Hundreds of people the little square outside the hostel, all eating, others were just sitting and quietly drinking of the steps while a really great busker played some good music. If we had've known he was going to be there we would've purchased a few beers and sat and enjoyed the atmosphere. Instead we went to bed!

The next morning we were unsure what to do with our full day as we'd already covered the old town the day before. We decided to seek out some free bike hire (Again common in Switzerland) and go for a cycle. We found the place up near the train station, and after waiting 15 minutes for them to sort out a 'computer glitch' we were on wheels. We had planned to ride up along the edge of the lake, and see what was happening out of town.

It was really nice, Zurich has awesome bike paths along the lake, and we stopped a few times in the parks to just check out all the people kicking back in the sun, swimming and just having fun. We'd made it to the outer limits of the city when we thought we should turn back. Dan had an idea to up and check out the zoo or the botanical gardens. We set off, but on discovering that both lived at the top of a hill, I changed our plans.

We purchased more lunch from the same supermarket and sat on the lake again, still watching the terrified kids (and adults) hurtle themselves off the tower. After we'd eaten I'd decided that my arse was in pain and that it could take no more punishment from the bike seat and we set off to return the bikes.

After returning the bikes we strolled down the main shopping street of Zurich, where we successfully managed to spend a lot of time in the Apple shop, playing with the new iPads. I checked my facebook and football scores, while Dan sat and played some stupid game.

We headed up to a nice park, which overlooked the city and the river and chilled out for an hour or so before deciding to splurge and spend the last of our francs on a nice dinner out. We chose a nice German style beerhouse, where I treated myself to a massive Cordon Bleu, while Dan had one last go at a Rosti. It was delicious, albeit a little costly. We picked up a couple of beers for the walk and went and sat on the lovely rooftop terrace of our hostel and listened to some bogan Australians try to impress some French girls with their butchering of their language ("Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir"). By about 10pm we could take no more of it - and it started to rain - so we went to bed for our last sleep in Switzerland!