The plan:
We get the 72 hour Zurich Pass from Zurich Airport from Switzerlandinfo+. That is immediately behind the arrival hall of the public area. This physical kiosk is in both T1 and T2. Cost : CH53 per person as of Dec 2023. The pass is good for Zurich downtown and from airport to downtown, Uelitberg up to Felsenegg.
We take the train, S16, from Flughafen Zurich to Hardbrucke, then change to Atstetten. Travel time : 16 minutes.
We will be based at The Flag, a self serviced apartment near Zurich Alstetten. It is a 800m/15 min walk.
The plan is a short rest if a room is available, then head out for a light brunch at Cafe Schobar. Thereafter we visit the churches (Grossmunster/Fraumunster), Lindenhof park and the main thoroughfare. I want to pick up a Victorinox camping knife for H.
Hopefully we can catch the funicular to ETH and then get down for an early dinner at Rqclett Factory (34 CHF).
What happened:
Other than a flight (LX177) departure delay of 1 hour, every item that was planned was spot on!
First off, I have something to say about SwissAir. For the amount we paid and its brand name, it didn't even live up to Scoot or Jeju Air. The leg room and width of the seat describes so aptly the word 'Cattle Class'. The dinner plate also could not sit properly on the table which makes eating a meal in a compact space a near impossibility. That said, Swissair app has a lot of good stuff that most other airlines should emulate.
Singapore Airlines which I complained often is by far better in terms of aisle width and seat space.
The flight was uneventful, thankfully! We arrived an hour late at 7am. Many folks have as a result of the late arrival missed their connecting flight! Immigration at Zurich was slow, with the line sneaking all the way to don't know where. We cleared customs, took awhile to locate the Switzerlandinfo+ counter to buy the 72 hour Zurich Pass (53 CHF each).
 |
| Train station at Zurich Airport is in the basement of the building opposite the arrival 2. Ticket is on B1 and trains on B2. You buy the Zurich pass at B1 ticket office/machines or at Switzerlandinfo+ at the arrival hall in the public area. |
After validating the Zurich Pass at the little orange box (just before the escalator to plateform 3), we hopped up IR13, changed at Zurich HB and transferred to S11 at platform 41 to Altstetten. Because we kept our heads up to watch the signs, it was a clear pass for us. New visitors would find the amount of information dizzying.
From Altstetten, we follow Google and did a 780m walk to The Flag (all possible because Pat was an excellent map reader). It was raining and we were dazed from lack of sleep and food. Thankfully The Flag allowed an early check in without charge since there was a room. It was already 9am.
We offloaded our bags and made a beeline to downtown. We were 'Zurich Pass empowered' and took tram S2 from Kapella tram station to Paradeplatz. There, our sightseeing began. The rain was moderately heavy and Zurich was in various shades of watery grey.
We marched past Fraumunster, crossed Limmat, Grossmunter and ended up at Cafe Schobar for our first meal (brunch) of the day. It was already 10am.
 |
| The non-descript cafe shop front |
The cafe was delightfully decorated. We took a tiny table facing the garden, spared from the cold by a glass window. Pat had a continental breakfast and I a chocolate cheesecake lunch. (26 CHF, ex tips). The coffee was excellent!
Partially caffeine driven, we marched towards Polybahn at Central. We took the funicular up to ETH Zurich, the top college in Switzerland. We took in the scenery and River Limmat through watery lens then scooted back down the same way we got up.
We walked along the Limmat and went to Lindenhof for a look-see. It was muggy up and down. It was one of the film location of 'Crashing Landing on You' where boy meets girl and passed each other by. It was a popular place for photos despite the rain. Strong currents ripped through River Limmat adding a little drama.
We went to Papeteria Zumstein to check out a Faber-Castell fountain pen without success. However we struck gold at Victorinox and got a Huntsman for 39 CHF, 30% cheaper than what we paid for in Singapore. Pat also bought a Spartan as a gift for his friend.
We got back to Paradeplatz. Rain has stopped, so we retraced the morning's steps to the 2 famous churches for some proper photos. On the way, we popped into Landholt, a pen shop, and were treated like VIPs. So were the prices. We did not buy but they were very nice about it.
The mercury has dropped quite a bit. We took S2 and walked to the biggest COOP in Leitzpark. We 'raided' the fruit and breakfast section, then headed back for much needed rest, It was 5pm.
6.30pm, we headed out again, this time to The Raclette Factory in Aldstat (again). We took bus 31 from Leiziback to Newmarkt. It was an easy walk to TRF, though it was already dark.
We had the most amazing raclette with bread, served by young, friendly staff. After mains, we had a not-quite amazing lava chocolate cake which was wee overcooked. The damage was 80 CHF but Pat enjoyed himself greatly. It has been the most 'bread-filled' day.
Again, we retraced our bus route, 31, back to the hotel.
It was just 9pm but we felt that we had been up for 2 no-good days. Our memories began to get hazy. We much needed sleep to get over our jetlag and whatever Swissair gave to us.
I think tomorrow will be a wonderful day.
Comments
Post a Comment