Zürich (Kreis 1) / Lindenhof

After a mild panic last night over just how frugal I'd been with my baggage allowance when I booked this trip 😬 this afternoon I touched down in Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland. 🇨🇭 The tram ride from the airport to the city was easy to navigate and treated me to several views of idyllic Swiss countryside before arriving in the city centre.

The weather has been so pleasant all day and the Swiss are clearly taking advantage of it; the river-side bars are packed with people sitting outside enjoying the sun. ☀️

After dropping off my bags in my hostel near the Grossmünster in the old town (Altstadt), I meandered over to the Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum), as today will be my only opportunity to visit while I'm here. I took a busy but scenic route along the Limmat river that runs through the old town from Lake Zurich.

The Landesmuseum gave me my first dose of history on the trip 🤓 with its informative exhibition on the history of Switzerland running from the 9th Century through to the 21st. Starting out as a loose confederation of cantons in the Holy Roman Empire ✝️ that formed military alliances with one another during a power vacuum, the exhibition outlined the story of the Swiss people through civil wars, the Reformation, revolutions and federations, relations with France 🇫🇷 and Austria 🇦🇹, the impact of their famed neutrality during two world wars and their near-participation in the Nuclear Arms Race ☢️. Taken together, these events resulted in the unique political culture that Switzerland enjoys today.

Historical geekery aside, this evening I'm off in search of fondue and looking forward to my day trip to Liechtenstein tomorrow 🇱🇮En savoir plus