Sunday, June 14, 2015
Today was destined to be a whirlwind tour of Zurich. Despite a restless night adjusting to the new time zone, we were up for an early, sumptuous breakfast. Fantastic food! We were fueled for a day of many activities.
As we were warned, Switzerland is an outrageously expensive place to visit. The Swiss jokingly acknowledge that, BUT, they argue, there are hundreds of fountains around the city, providing clean, cold water to drink….at no cost. Such a deal!
Drinking that free, cold, spring water is wonderful
So how can the Swiss afford to live here? We learned that while it is expensive, Swiss compensation is very high. In fact, it is so high that workers from Germany commute to Zurich to work. They get paid twice as much as they would in Germany. Of course this conveniently plays into the Swiss’ reluctance towards immigration. Switzerland’s economy needs a labor pool beyond what is available with residents. So foreign commuters fill that need. Switzerland wants to decide who they will accept, and so doesn’t want unregulated movement of outlanders into the country. This is a sore point with the rest of Europe. But it is one of the reasons Switzerland has refused to join the European Union. The Union requires member countries to allow unrestricted movement of people across the borders of member nations. Alternatively, the Swiss have opted for unique, separate immigration agreements with each country. This immigration policy is currently the topic of a national debate. Perhaps a different solution will emerge after the next referendum vote.
So, armed with bottles of free water, we went to see where I lived just before leaving Switzerland. After a thirty minute ride on trams [such a civilized way to travel], we arrived at Bad Allenmoos, which is a swimming pool park where Marcel and I used to go swimming. The park borders the apartment complex where we lived.
Bad Allenmoos near our home
Our last home in Zurich
Next, we walked up the street to the apartment….first floor with the red awnings. It hasn’t changed. Some encapsulated memories come to the forefront:
The apartment had two bedrooms, a cooking kitchen [no refrigerator], a dining area, and a sitting area.
The milkman would come down the street, pushing a cart with large vats filled with fresh milk. My mother would send me out with a pail, and I would buy several ladles of milk. Since this milk was not homogenized, or pasteurized, it had to be heated. I never tasted cold milk until we arrived in Canada.
During the war [WW II], there were many nights when the air raid sirens would sound and everyone in the building headed to the bomb shelters in the basement. All Swiss buildings had such shelters, which doubled as storage space at other times. We could hear the bombs exploding around the city. Almost all the bombing came from American bombers that were disoriented and mistakenly dropped them on lighted areas.
Several times, refugees from adjacent countries, escaping from the German occupation, formed unbroken lines of people walking past our home, on their way to refugee camps. Some, including children, were obviously wounded. I remember handing out little triangular Swiss cheese pieces to some of the children.
Next stop was the center of the city. First up was the Parade Platz, which is the financial and banking ground ‘zero’. All the major banks encircle this square. We can only imagine the billions of dollars of gold and currencies stored in underground, bomb proof vaults. Samples anyone?
Parade Platz
In front of Hauptbahnhof
Bahnhofstrasse
From there we walked down Bahnhofstrasse which reputedly is known as the most expensive one mile road in the world. It starts at the Parade Platz and ends at the Hauptbahnhof [main train station]. Every major brand of wares including outrageously priced jewelry and watches can be found here. No cars are allowed on the street, only trams and pedestrians. Since it is Sunday, all the shops were closed – so not a lot of people. I remember walking down this street with my mother. We would stop and get a pastry treat at this incredible chocolate and sweets shop – Sprungli. It was the only thing we could afford on this street.
At the Hauptbahnhof, we discovered this multi-story, underground labyrinth of shops and food vendors. It reminded us of the train stations in Japan and New York City. After walking around, we discovered a Sprungli shop….and it was open! My favorite pastry was Morakopf – a round, thin layer of cake, with a dollop of custard, and encased with a covering of chocolate. With my rather broken level of Swiss, I discovered that they still make them. We bought four….for a mere $18….each one the size of one bite. Delicious! It was worth it.
Next was a stop at Fraumunster [Church of our Lady]. The stained-glass windows created by Marc Chagall in 1970 are the most beautiful stained windows I’ve seen. This church is a wonderful sanctuary to sit quietly, to focus on your breathing, and to meditate while viewing the stained-glass windows [no photographs allowed].
A short walk and we arrive at Burkli Platz which is located at the junction of Lake Zurich and the Limmat river. I have many memories of being here with my father. The bench where I asked my father to let me join my mother and brother, Marcel, in immigrating to America, is still here. As is the bench where a couple of months later, Marcel and I said goodbye to our father. We would never see him again.
Lake Zurich from Burkli Platz
Lunch on the shores of the Limmat
This is a beautiful part of the city. We had a late lunch at the waterfront restaurant, and watched the boats coming and going. It inspired us to get on one of the jump-on-jump-off tour boats that shuttle along the river and lake. This was an example where it looked like fun, but was not a good experience – it was more like a sauna with our clothes on.
Cobble stone streets of Old Town
And we thought Bogner only made ski clothes
Finally, we walked through old-town on the right bank. The narrow, cobble-stoned streets with shops, cafés, and inns are charming. It is clear that we could spend a week in this town and still not see much of it. But tomorrow, is travel day. We must go on. Murren, here we come.
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