Heading to Switzerland brought feelings of excitement and anxiety for us. Switzerland was a place I had always wanted to go—the images of gorgeous countryside and the snowy Alps had lured me in. So, I was pretty pumped about the visit.
Going to the Nice train station early in the morning, without a place to stay in Zurich, made us pretty uneasy, though. The night before, I had requested a place to stay through Airbnb, but I was awaiting confirmation and booking details. We had a 10 hour travel day ahead of us and didn’t know if we would have a place to sleep when we arrived in Zurich. There are available hotels, yes. But, we had recently learned that Switzerland was verrrrrrry expensive. 2 star hotels were running over $200/night, and our budget was well under $100.
It was on this walk to the train station that we decided to plan better moving forward. Finding a place on the fly sounds really adventurous and fun, but in practice, it just freaks us out too much. If we had a much higher budget to accommodate that situation, then we could afford the spontaneity.
So, throughout the train ride, I was obsessively searching for an open Wifi connection. I wanted to see if we had the confirmation and how to even get there. During our 8 minute layover in Geneva, I had my laptop open and FINALLY found a free, open connection…and was able to get it for exactly 90 seconds. That was long enough to confirm that yes, we did have a place to go and directions. It was not long enough, however, for me to reply back and provide our arrival info.
We arrived in Zurich at 7pm. I was able to reply to our host (who had offered to meet us at the final bus stop) with the time we would arrive there. We also witnessed a political demonstration within the train station, which was really bustling at that hour.
While waiting for our train, I asked a lady nearby to confirm that we were in the right spot. The train tickets were very different than we had used before (I understand some French, so this was the first place where neither of us really knew what was going on). Midway through our conversation, I hear my name yelled out in a female voice. Knowing this surely wasn’t Chris, I looked up to see Lisa Epstein.
Chris and I both worked with Lisa at Sony before she recently left for Zurich with her new husband. Lisa and I had briefly communicated that we should meet up while we were there, but hadn’t yet touched base on a time. She just happened to be on the same train platform with us at the exact same time. Her new husband, Florian, was also with her, so we got to meet him. They both are awesome people and kindly escorted us through the train connections…even drove us to the bus stop.
Our host was waiting for us at the bus stop and we walked to his house which was incredible. It was featured on Airbnb in their “modern home collection” and it was visually stunning—full length glass windows, beautiful mid-century furniture (Chris was giddy), big huge comfy bed, and for the neat freak in me…super clean. The towels and linens even smelled good! Andrea and Chris (our hosts) were great people and had Swiss chocolates waiting for us. They even offered to drive us to Luzerne the next day.
Chris and Andrea live in a rural, countryside area outside of Zurich (we learned that very few people actually live inside tiny Zurich). After inhaling a lovely breakfast that they had laid out for us (fresh bread, jam, juice, coffee, etc), they drove us to Luzerne, about an hour away.
There is a huge lake in Luzerne, with a walking path halfway around it, and the mountains facing you. We first went to one side of the lake with two bridges. Both were wooden, but one was very picturesque (and apparently famous) and covered in red, yellow, and orange flowers. The other bridge had intricate, hundreds year old drawings on the inside. After looking at the buildings surrounding this side of the lake (“old Luzerne”), it became very obvious that the architecture in Switzerland was similar to Germany but different than anything we’d seen. There were stories told in pictures on the outside of buildings, and they had more rounded roofs.
Going to the Nice train station early in the morning, without a place to stay in Zurich, made us pretty uneasy, though. The night before, I had requested a place to stay through Airbnb, but I was awaiting confirmation and booking details. We had a 10 hour travel day ahead of us and didn’t know if we would have a place to sleep when we arrived in Zurich. There are available hotels, yes. But, we had recently learned that Switzerland was verrrrrrry expensive. 2 star hotels were running over $200/night, and our budget was well under $100.
It was on this walk to the train station that we decided to plan better moving forward. Finding a place on the fly sounds really adventurous and fun, but in practice, it just freaks us out too much. If we had a much higher budget to accommodate that situation, then we could afford the spontaneity.
So, throughout the train ride, I was obsessively searching for an open Wifi connection. I wanted to see if we had the confirmation and how to even get there. During our 8 minute layover in Geneva, I had my laptop open and FINALLY found a free, open connection…and was able to get it for exactly 90 seconds. That was long enough to confirm that yes, we did have a place to go and directions. It was not long enough, however, for me to reply back and provide our arrival info.
We arrived in Zurich at 7pm. I was able to reply to our host (who had offered to meet us at the final bus stop) with the time we would arrive there. We also witnessed a political demonstration within the train station, which was really bustling at that hour.
While waiting for our train, I asked a lady nearby to confirm that we were in the right spot. The train tickets were very different than we had used before (I understand some French, so this was the first place where neither of us really knew what was going on). Midway through our conversation, I hear my name yelled out in a female voice. Knowing this surely wasn’t Chris, I looked up to see Lisa Epstein.
Chris and I both worked with Lisa at Sony before she recently left for Zurich with her new husband. Lisa and I had briefly communicated that we should meet up while we were there, but hadn’t yet touched base on a time. She just happened to be on the same train platform with us at the exact same time. Her new husband, Florian, was also with her, so we got to meet him. They both are awesome people and kindly escorted us through the train connections…even drove us to the bus stop.
Our host was waiting for us at the bus stop and we walked to his house which was incredible. It was featured on Airbnb in their “modern home collection” and it was visually stunning—full length glass windows, beautiful mid-century furniture (Chris was giddy), big huge comfy bed, and for the neat freak in me…super clean. The towels and linens even smelled good! Andrea and Chris (our hosts) were great people and had Swiss chocolates waiting for us. They even offered to drive us to Luzerne the next day.
Chris and Andrea live in a rural, countryside area outside of Zurich (we learned that very few people actually live inside tiny Zurich). After inhaling a lovely breakfast that they had laid out for us (fresh bread, jam, juice, coffee, etc), they drove us to Luzerne, about an hour away.
There is a huge lake in Luzerne, with a walking path halfway around it, and the mountains facing you. We first went to one side of the lake with two bridges. Both were wooden, but one was very picturesque (and apparently famous) and covered in red, yellow, and orange flowers. The other bridge had intricate, hundreds year old drawings on the inside. After looking at the buildings surrounding this side of the lake (“old Luzerne”), it became very obvious that the architecture in Switzerland was similar to Germany but different than anything we’d seen. There were stories told in pictures on the outside of buildings, and they had more rounded roofs.
After purchasing a $7 bottle of water, we walked alongside the other side of the lake which afforded more views of the mountains, although it was still a little foggy. This was Switzerland’s best weather, so there was no snow anywhere, including the mountains.
There was a McDonald’s near the train station, and we figured they would probably have the most reasonably priced lunch. We hadn’t really eaten fast food yet, but since we see American specialties McD’s, KFC, and Subway everywhere, we wanted to partake. It was the most expensive lunch at McD’s we could ever have. 2 kids’ happy meals (and an extra “dollar” menu cheeseburger for Chris) cost us the equivalent of $18!
We caught the train back to the house, and after a brief public transit miss (the name on the buses don’t always say the direction they’re going) we went to Lisa and Florian’s American Football party. This was actually our first “social” event, since we haven’t known anyone in the cities we’d visited. Their friends attending the party were really nice and outgoing, and were mainly American expats. It was so interesting to hear their stories about how life in Switzerland compared to America. For example, the work life balance is really strong, even more geared toward the “life” end there. It’s very typical to work only 8 hours each day and have 5 weeks of vacation. Pay is also pretty good—minimum wage provides about $45k a year—which is necessary to support the high cost of living.
On our way home from the party, we had a bus stop connection in the middle of nowhere. It was dark and the only sound was cows mooing (they’re EVERYWHERE!) and their bells clinking. Fortunately, there’s basically no crime in Switzerland so we weren’t too nervous, although if you were in that setting in America you should be.
The next day, we discovered Zurich. It’s actually a very small city and also has an “old Zurich” area (most towns like to distinguish their old and new parts). As in all the other main cities we’ve visited, there is a river running through the middle of the city. Lake Zurich is on the end and is very large with clear, blue waters. We sat on one side in a park and just enjoyed watching the swans and ducks interact.
There were several cathedrals, including Fraumuenster and Grossmuenster on opposite sides of the river. Fraumuenster, like its name, was geared more towards nuns and female nobility place of worship. The architecture was very similar between the two—Roman—and rather simple with basic stone and carvings. They had the same architects and artisans work on the two, including the man who completed the stained glass. It was beautiful, and at Grossmuenster, was the most abstract religious portrayal I’d ever seen in a church.
I loved the narrow alleyways with cobblestones (they massage your feet), along with shops and cafes lining each side. We grabbed a bratwurst from a butcher shop and sat ourselves down on the side of a street.
There was a McDonald’s near the train station, and we figured they would probably have the most reasonably priced lunch. We hadn’t really eaten fast food yet, but since we see American specialties McD’s, KFC, and Subway everywhere, we wanted to partake. It was the most expensive lunch at McD’s we could ever have. 2 kids’ happy meals (and an extra “dollar” menu cheeseburger for Chris) cost us the equivalent of $18!
We caught the train back to the house, and after a brief public transit miss (the name on the buses don’t always say the direction they’re going) we went to Lisa and Florian’s American Football party. This was actually our first “social” event, since we haven’t known anyone in the cities we’d visited. Their friends attending the party were really nice and outgoing, and were mainly American expats. It was so interesting to hear their stories about how life in Switzerland compared to America. For example, the work life balance is really strong, even more geared toward the “life” end there. It’s very typical to work only 8 hours each day and have 5 weeks of vacation. Pay is also pretty good—minimum wage provides about $45k a year—which is necessary to support the high cost of living.
On our way home from the party, we had a bus stop connection in the middle of nowhere. It was dark and the only sound was cows mooing (they’re EVERYWHERE!) and their bells clinking. Fortunately, there’s basically no crime in Switzerland so we weren’t too nervous, although if you were in that setting in America you should be.
The next day, we discovered Zurich. It’s actually a very small city and also has an “old Zurich” area (most towns like to distinguish their old and new parts). As in all the other main cities we’ve visited, there is a river running through the middle of the city. Lake Zurich is on the end and is very large with clear, blue waters. We sat on one side in a park and just enjoyed watching the swans and ducks interact.
There were several cathedrals, including Fraumuenster and Grossmuenster on opposite sides of the river. Fraumuenster, like its name, was geared more towards nuns and female nobility place of worship. The architecture was very similar between the two—Roman—and rather simple with basic stone and carvings. They had the same architects and artisans work on the two, including the man who completed the stained glass. It was beautiful, and at Grossmuenster, was the most abstract religious portrayal I’d ever seen in a church.
I loved the narrow alleyways with cobblestones (they massage your feet), along with shops and cafes lining each side. We grabbed a bratwurst from a butcher shop and sat ourselves down on the side of a street.
On the way back to the train station, we passed 2 Swiss chocolate shops. I tried a Springli chocolate, which looks like a mini cheeseburger confection delight. We also grabbed a truffle and pistachio chocolate from the other shop, and headed home.
Because my mind is sometimes like a 12 year old, I found some of the Swiss German ads funny. Phrases translate funny (like “aus haul”), and I found my favorite one on the way home—“Dammit do da.” That is now thankfully integrated into my vocabulary.
We had picked up a few things from the market earlier, and chef Chris cooked us spaghetti with butter. Since meals, like everything else in Switzerland, are really expensive, we wanted to cook at the house. This was actually our first time to cook in someone’s home, and Chris cooked both that night and the next one. It was yummy and a great way to save money.
On our last day in Switzerland, we traveled to St Mortiz, which is typically a ski resort. The trip included 9 hours on a train, which sounds long, but really was one of the best parts. Swiss trains (like their regimented, precise culture) are very high quality and comfortable. They just glided up the hills and weaved around mountains. We got amazing views of the Alps, waterfalls, little towns (with a central church in every one), ski slopes, and bridges.
St Moritz has a lovely, very clean lake lined with a forest. There were images of what it looks like in the winter time—frozen over. The Olympics were held nearby in 1928 and 1948, so the area became quite built up then. It was a strange feeling being in a gorgeous place that is about to become totally packed in just a few weeks. It’s a little surreal to see it so empty.
At 11pm, after Chris made us dinner #2 (spinach-filled tortellini), we planned our trip to Prague the next day. I had received an email from my friend Chris Moore—who we were staying with in Prague—was delayed on his flight home and wouldn’t be there. So, we decided to take a pit stop in Nurmberg the following day. The train stopped there anyway and we would’ve taken a bus from there to Prague, so we thought Nurmberg could be pretty cool. I briefly freaked out about the last minute changeup, but Chris deftly calmed me down, and we focused on the positive (our theme for the day) and unexpected benefits this trip to Nurmberg would bring us.
Switzerland was beautiful, and we left feeling refreshed and really grateful at the calming landscapes we had been able to see. The green, rolling hills with cozy houses and roaming cows, and massive size of the Alps, were all sights we were very fortunate to experience.
Because my mind is sometimes like a 12 year old, I found some of the Swiss German ads funny. Phrases translate funny (like “aus haul”), and I found my favorite one on the way home—“Dammit do da.” That is now thankfully integrated into my vocabulary.
We had picked up a few things from the market earlier, and chef Chris cooked us spaghetti with butter. Since meals, like everything else in Switzerland, are really expensive, we wanted to cook at the house. This was actually our first time to cook in someone’s home, and Chris cooked both that night and the next one. It was yummy and a great way to save money.
On our last day in Switzerland, we traveled to St Mortiz, which is typically a ski resort. The trip included 9 hours on a train, which sounds long, but really was one of the best parts. Swiss trains (like their regimented, precise culture) are very high quality and comfortable. They just glided up the hills and weaved around mountains. We got amazing views of the Alps, waterfalls, little towns (with a central church in every one), ski slopes, and bridges.
St Moritz has a lovely, very clean lake lined with a forest. There were images of what it looks like in the winter time—frozen over. The Olympics were held nearby in 1928 and 1948, so the area became quite built up then. It was a strange feeling being in a gorgeous place that is about to become totally packed in just a few weeks. It’s a little surreal to see it so empty.
At 11pm, after Chris made us dinner #2 (spinach-filled tortellini), we planned our trip to Prague the next day. I had received an email from my friend Chris Moore—who we were staying with in Prague—was delayed on his flight home and wouldn’t be there. So, we decided to take a pit stop in Nurmberg the following day. The train stopped there anyway and we would’ve taken a bus from there to Prague, so we thought Nurmberg could be pretty cool. I briefly freaked out about the last minute changeup, but Chris deftly calmed me down, and we focused on the positive (our theme for the day) and unexpected benefits this trip to Nurmberg would bring us.
Switzerland was beautiful, and we left feeling refreshed and really grateful at the calming landscapes we had been able to see. The green, rolling hills with cozy houses and roaming cows, and massive size of the Alps, were all sights we were very fortunate to experience.
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