Oct 10 - Zürich

Some of us who still had some energy joined William on a walking tour of Zürich while the others went to the hotel with Ivan.

We saw the house where Vladimir Lenin. It was in Zurich that he finished his work "Imperialism: the highest stage of capitalism”. Lenin's interest in Switzerland declined dramatically after he heard of a new revolution in Russia in 1917.

We visited the Grossmünster, a Romanesque-style Protestant church. Construction began around 1100 A.D. on the banks of the Limmat River and it was inaugurated around 1220 A.D. According to legend, the Grossmünster was founded by Charlemagne, whose horse fell to its knees over the tombs of Felix and Regula, Zürich's patron saints. The church contains the most beautiful pipe organ I have ever seen which is ironic, considering that the Swiss-German Reformation which originated here originally proposed a complete ban on church music.

We are staying in Zürich at the Hotel Schweizerhof Zürich. This historical hotel is located opposite Zurich's main train station. The famous pedestrian shopping street "Bahnhofstrasse" with its exclusive (which means ferociously expensive) shops is right beside the hotel. The hotel reeks of gentility and Old World elegance. I discovered that the beds have electric controls to raise/lower the head/foot of the bed. We’ve only ever had that feature in a hospital room, never in a hotel room! There was a beautiful real orchid in the room and a fresh rose in the bathroom. A butler came to the door and offered us chocolate, papers, soft drinks - anything our hearts desired. I took chocolate.

Our quick visit to Zürich has left us wanting to come back again. We had a farewell dinner in a private room that was beautifully decorated. The floral budget for this hotel must be astronomical. We had a lovely time. We traded stories with our fellow travellers of destinations that we have visited and places that we hope to visit. Our next trip is already planned to New Zealand and Fiji in January-February 2020.

Tomorrow, we are off to Eppelheim, near Heidelberg to do stage 4 of this trip.Read more