Guten Tag from Zurich, Switzerland

Switzerland was not a country I anticipated visiting during the semester, but my friend Jessica stumbled upon an insanely cheap flight to Zurich and I very impulsively agreed to go.

Boy, am I glad I did.

We arrived in Zurich on Friday afternoon, and after accidentally hopping on a very swanky train at the airport that we definitely didn't have tickets for, we arrived at our hostel. The hostel was in a really cute residential area about a 10 minute walk from Zurichseen (Lake Zurich, pictured above) and served an amazing breakfast that featured Swiss yogurt, which I discovered is even better than the world renowned Swiss Chocolate (Shout out to Swiss cows for making such delicious dairy-based foods and for adorably wandering the hills and valleys).

Saturday was spent in the city of Zurich. But before we set off, we went for a run in the morning by the lake. The crisp mountain air was a sweet relief from the heat wave we have been experiencing in Madrid, and the stunning mountain views were breathtaking and more incredible than words can describe. The whole time I felt like I was in the Shire in Middle-earth. 

We met in the central part of "Historic Zurich" for a free tour Saturday morning. There must have been over 100 people there for the tour, and luckily the enormous group was divided up into different languages to cater to the diverse group of travelers. In order to practice our Spanish, Jessica and I opted for the Spanish guided tour. I am happy to say that, despite the confused looks we received from native speakers when we joined the groups, we understood 99% of what was said!

Zurich is a very very old city and has been inhabited for longer than most European cities. However, much like most other European cities, Zurich's history follows a recurring pattern I have started to notice in every tour I have been on so far this semester.

Here's the general pattern:

1. (Insert religious/cultural group here) is living happily in their own community.
2. Catholic Church stomps all over (Insert religious/cultural group here) and asserts its dominance for a long time
3. (Insert religious/cultural group here) gets sick of the Catholic Church and ousts them

While the general pattern between Europe is the same, it has been very interesting to learn the intricacies of cities like Madrid, Toledo, and now Zurich.

Fun Fact: Despite Switzerland's official stance of neutrality during WWII, Lenin hid out in Zurich for a while it the building pictured above and conspired about a bunch of not-so-great things.

Zurich is by far the cleanest city I have ever seen (Which I suppose is to be expected of a city where "only poor people drive Audi's"). The river that runs through it literally sparkles, there is almost no litter, you could safely drink from basically any fountain in the city (decorative or not), and swans terrorize  gracefully swim along the shore.

At the top of my bucket list for Switzerland was experiencing a traditional fondue dinner. During my limited pre-trip research, I discovered that fondue was actually created in Switzerland and I immediately knew that I couldn't allow myself to leave the country without consuming melted cheese to my heart's content. So Saturday night we showed up at Fribourger Fonduestübli, one of the most highly recommended fondue restaurants in Zurich. We didn't have a reservation, but since we arrived before the restaurant officially opened we were able to get a table without a problem. While we were waiting outside, we met a man who now lives in Costa Rica, but grew up in Richfield, Minnesota. It's occurrences like these that make me realize how small the world can be.

But anyways, back to the topic at hand: melted cheese.

Our fondue arrived bubbling over in a red pot, accompanied by one basket piled high with bread and another with potatoes. As you can tell by the excitement on my face in the picture below, it smelled and tasted out of this world. The best part was at the end when our server came to the table and pulled the crisp cheese from the bottom of the pot for us to eat. It was like a Cheez-It from the gods. 12/10 would recommend.

Sunday was relegated as outdoors day. There are a lot of trails through the foothills of the Swiss Alps (yes, the actual Swiss Alps!!!) not too far from the city itself. So, early in the morning we hopped on a tram and began what has to be the steepest hike I have ever taken. The trail was absolutely vertical for over 2km. Just when I was beginning to think I couldn't make it a whole 2 hours more, the trail evened out and became far less steep. As a reward for our leg-burning trek, an amazing panoramic view of the city of Zurich became visible through the trees.

We spent the day exploring the trails and breathing in as much of the glorious Swiss mountain air as our lungs would allow. When it was all said and done, we had hiked over 14 miles in about 5 hours. 

Although, if I am honest, we didn't walk the for the entirety of the 5 hours. We happened across an elevated tram that takes you up and down the side of the mountain. We hopped in the bright red tram and descended and re-ascended the peak that had taken us nearly two hours to climb in less than five minutes. Needless to say, the views were absolutely gorgeous.

We celebrated our outdoorsy-ness with a victory lunch at the top of Utliberg Peak. To the south were the Swiss Alps in all their glory, and to the north was Zurich. I honestly could have stayed up there indefinitely. However, seeing as all good things must come to an end, we made our way back down the mountainside, onto the tram, and to the airport after making sure to snag an obligatory Swiss Chocolate souvenir. 

I left Zurich feeling more peaceful and energized than I had in a while. And as I stepped off the plane once we landed in Madrid, I couldn't help but think how nice it felt to be home, and how exhilarating it is to be able to call this city my home for the next three months.

Auf Wiedersehen, Zurich!