It was time to leave this beautiful spot and head back into the big city as we are now heading to our last stop of this adventure. Today was a little bit of housekeeping and a little bit of touristy exploring! Having found our way to the Zurich airport we dropped off our rental car, walked through the airport where we found the entrance to our hotel for tomorrow evening. We dropped our large bags in their care and caught the train into the down core of Zurich. A short walk led us to the doors of the Hotel Glockenhof where we greeted very warmly and offered an upgrade on our room and given tickets for a free drink to enjoy in their beautiful garden setting. It certainly helped that it was a beautiful day!

Dropping off our gear in our room (which was quite modern and small compared to our last accommodation including an interesting view into the shower from the bedroom. Europe!! I freely admit that I am far more comfortable being a prudish North American… see photos!). We headed to garden enjoing a recommended local glass of wine in the sunshine and took a peek at the map and a walking tour I had brought for us to attempt.

Wandering somewhat on plan and somewhat aimlesslessly we found ourselves winding our way along high end consumerism and detouring off through pretty pedestrian only streets. We found ourselves at the Evangelical Reformed Church. This site dates back to the 8th century and parts of this church from 1230. The first mayor of Zurich was buried here in 1360. The clock face is the oldest in Europe and their bells are from the 1800's. Basically I'm telling you it's old. Really old!

At this point we gave up on the walking tour that was not very clear and eating up our precious last bits of data. We strolled along the Limmat River and shared schnitzel in Altstadt (German for old town), visited chocolate shops and boutiques and sat with the tourist friendly ducks and swans for awhile. Winding our way back to our hotel room for a rest we were exctied to head out again for my first Raclette experience. Little did I know it would be far from my last! (Grant had already experienced this at our kind neighbours who often take pity on him and feed him when I am away!)

We headed to our reservation at Hotel Adler Swiss Chuchi (Swiss Cusine) which is famous for being the first fondue parlour in the old town of Zurich and said to be "the place" to go for authentic Swiss dining like grandma would make. This did not disappoint!

The house has been standing since at least 1357 where it is mentioned in historic documents. In 1455 it became an Inn and in 1953 the first Fondue Room in Zurich. Sadly we missed Heidi who in 1998 moved onto the first floor balcony and became a popular tourist attraction. Heidi was a cow! Sad to have missed that!

Glad to have a reservation we only had to wait a few minutes and surpassed the very long line ups. We were packed in like sardines and could easily join in on conversations all around with our fellow diners. We shared a Raclette dinner and I was immediatly hooked! What a great way to eat a meal! Raclette is a type of swiss cheese that is typically served melted but it also describes this type of dinner that involves an electric table top grill with small pans known as coupelles that rest on a shelf just below the grill top where you melt slices of the Raclette cheese. We were served with an individual plate with an assortment of meats and vegetables and charcuterie (pickled onion and gherkin seem to be traditional) and slices of cheese. A bag of already cooked and steamed potatoes were brought to the table to share. As you grill your food on the top the cheese begins to bubble on the shelf below. The chesse gets poured over your now self cooked food. HOW DID I NOT DO THIS BEFORE?

I think my favourite part of this type of cooking is the social aspect. As each person cooks their choice of food to their own tastes you are eating and drinking at a much slower pace… and it is healthy (okay maybe not the cheese part!) and delicious! Success!! * It was my first purchase on my arrival back home!

We found our way back through the old town enjoying the evening and the people watching. I did some blogging while Grant watched mafia movie highlights … just for a change! Old dogs I guess! :)