Reflections on Zurich

Zurich is a very pretty city on two fronts. The city centre is filled with cobbled streets, attractive buildings and plentiful pedestrianised outdoor spaces. It is dotted with fountains ⛲ that dispense fresh mountain water for the public. The multiple rivers that flow through the city team with waterfowl 🦆 and the view of the Altstadt from the view spot at Lindenhof is very pleasant to enjoy in the tranquility of the morning sun over a quick breakfast fresh from a bakery 🥯.

The second front contributing to the city's attractiveness is its setting. The tall mountains, dense forests and clear blue lakes framed by the distant snow-capped Alps provide a rich backdrop to the city 🏞️

The people here have largely conformed to my mental image of the Swiss - friendly but reserved and proud of their country. The streets of Zurich are filled with the sounds of German, French and Italian, unsurprisingly given that these are all native languages here, but it is also very common to overhear English, Spanish and Mandarin. Unlike in more Mediterranean countries, when I have spoken my (admittedly very limited) German, shopkeepers and waiters have tended to react by smiling and quickly switching to English rather than encouraging me to keep trying to speak their language.

While I've enjoyed my time here, I do also see why many native Swiss do not like Zurich. Similarly to many major European cities, the city centre feels very busy and filled with tourists, diluting the "Swiss-ness" of the place. I think it is also expensive here even by Swiss standards - even a quick snack has tended to cost me a franc or two more in Zurich's Aldstadt than in Sargans or Kilchberg.

All in all, I leave Zurich continuing to have a bit of a crush on Switzerland. It's a stereotypically quaint country filled with natural wonders with a very distinctive, particular culture. While I feel that I have now seen most of Zurich's main sights, I would definitely be keen to experience more of Switzerland, perhaps in somewhere like Interlaken, Lucerne or back in Geneva.Baca selengkapnya