The Land of Cheese, Chocolate, and Banks: Zurich, Switzerland

The land of cheese, chocolate, and banks?  What else? Maybe their watches and army knives.  I found myself in downtown Zurich on a 5 hour layover from my trip to Barcelona.  I hadn't made any plans to head to Zurich but I hadn't made any plans not to.  I've had layovers in Zurich before (I love Swiss Airways btw), but this was the first one where I actually had enough time to leave the airport and consider this a real trip to Switzerland. 

I had five hours on my layover which really meant that I had about 3 and a half hours in Zurich.  The city of Zurich is only a 15 minute train ride from the airport.  The train is actually in the airport.  It was super easy to figure out and only 3 short stops later, we (myself, mother, and aunt) had arrived.

Zurich is not the capital of Switzerland,  that title belongs to Bern, but Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland...and the wealthiest.  Meaning also that it's one of the most expensive cities in Europe.  Let me put things into perspective for you.  We went to get a water, a water folks, from McDonalds of all places, and that was about $5, or 4.44CHF in Swiss Francs.  I noticed for a Big Mac, about $12.  Ouch.  On the flipside, the amazing Swiss cheese was a prettty reasonable price, whereas, it's crazy expensive every where else in the world.  If you've never had real Swiss cheese, they are known for their soft, creamy, and sometimes smelly cheeses.

I pretty much resolved not to buy anything during my little stroll through Zurich.  Right off of the train you see the big business and shopping district. I had pretty much shopped my brains out in Barcelona and was not about to peruse H&M for a $50 top.  I headed towards some of the recommended quick sites to see on my cute hand drawn map that the airport provided me.

The few sites I decided to quickly see were The St. Peter Church, The Fraumunster, and The Grossmunster.  The St. Peter's Church can be seen peeking out from every direction.  It boasts the biggest clock face in Europe. The Fraumunster is the pretty church with the clock and green spire.  The Grossmunster, a large Romanesque prodestant church, is probably the most visited attraction in Zurich.

I'm somewhat of a language enthusiast and something I love about visiting other countries is hearing the languages. I also love to notice when language blending is going on. The language in Switzerland (Swiss-Germany to me sounded like a blending of German and French. Definitely not something that sounded familiar or only German. 

We hurridly spent our time walking through the little alleyways.  Zurich is pretty hilly.  We eventually made it out to the river and saw some very pretty views.  But once we reached the river it was time to turn back around and head to the airport.

St. Peter's Church

The Fraumunster

The Grossmunster

Switzerland is beautiful.  Though I only spent a few hours there I don't think I will need to return for another day trip.  I don't think there is much else to do there besides explore the Alps or forrest and do outdoor activities.  Anyone have anything else they absolutely loved seeing in Zurich? Zurich is quite expensive (even more in my opinion than London) so I'm glad I didn't need to stay for longer than my time. I know that Switzerland is a beautiful country and I'd love to see other posts of cities in Switzerland!  Share in the comments.

What was the most expensive city you've been to?

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