A Day in Zürich
Another day, another city! The sun is high and streaming through the window at 7am so I don’t know how I didn’t wake up earlier. But we got up around 9, had breakfast and made some sandwiches, and off we went to the train station, Basel SBB.
Have I fangirled about the public transport system here yet? Well, after coming from England where you *plan* to have delays on the train, the Swiss really know their stuff ‘bout this. We made it just in time for the next train to Zurich and literally as the minute changed on our phones, the train departed.
It was an hour’s journey and we travelled comfortably on the second floor of the train. After coming from Basel, where there are much fewer tourists, hearing snatches of English brought familiarity to the city. First off, we climbed up the hill where the campus of ETH Zurich is. From the top, you can see the sprawling city spilling over the hilly terrain.
After that, we headed towards the river Literman and into the Old Town. It was so pretty! There were tiny streets lined with the Swiss flag which danced in the gentle breeze. The water glimmered like a diamond under the sunlight and along its banks, cute coffee shops and buildings bustled with people.
On our way there, we realized that the Zurich Ironman was taking place that day! So lots of the streets were cordoned off for the runners and cyclists as they thundered down. And ugh so inspiring – I really *really* want to do an Ironman soon. Today gave me even more reason to get serious in some of the training I’ve started playing around with. Maybe the Zurich one will be my target when I am ready for it!
Continuing along, we reached Lake Zurich and if the river was breathtaking, well I’m running out of words to describe this massive and clear body of water. Winding around to get past the racers, we got on a bench and had our sandwiches – a picnic with a view.
Next, we went all the way to the top of the spire of the Grossmünster. It started off with a tiny winding stone staircase and then old and weathered wooden steps after that. Quite a climb but the view at the top was worth it. We could see back across to the hill where ETH sat and in front to realise the lake was so big that we still couldn’t see the end of it!
We backtracked to the lake and kept walking, alongside the Ironman route with a never-ending stream of runners. I was itching to get into the water and hadn’t seen anyone in the water yet but as we kept going, it was like all of Zurich was out tanning and swimming. Into the water I go! The water was easier to swim in compared to the Rhine as it was much more still so I could do my breast strokes in every direction and went far out near the buoys. Back on land, I realized that as I swam, the rocks my feet scraped against left bleeding scratches. Oh well. I put my shoes on and continued beside the lake to tick off another city I’d run in. Completely dripping when I’d come out and without a towel, I was not only completely dry but sweating when I got back!
Quick plunge in lieu of a shower, put some clothes on to be train-worthy and then we made our walk back towards the other side of the city towards the station. Ooh and I treated myself to a Kinder Bueno ice cream (there are so many amazing products from Kinder here!). After almost 30k steps that day, we returned to Basel and didn’t need much to crash into sleep.
