Zurich

Europe: Zurich

Our first "long weekend" was that of ascension, on which we decided to take a look at Zurich in Switzerland. We stayed at the Movenpick hotel in Regensdorf (yes from the icecream), nearby Zurich - the weather was pretty good.

Zurich currently ranks as the city with the best quality of life (#1 in 2006 and 2007), and is actually the biggest city in Switzerland with a city population of 360,000 and a metropolitan size of 1,680,000. The city has the river Limmat running through it, which starts from the north-western end of Lake Zurich. The city is surrounded by wooded hills. Here's some views of the city centre:

The Lindenhof is a historical site of where a Roman castle used to be, and later housed Carolingian Kaiserpfalz. It is situated on a hill, providing nice views over the river and city:

In the evening we went up to the Uetliberg, which provides 360 degree views over the region surrounding Zurich. The mountains are not as closeby as in Vancouver:

The second day we went to Stein am Rhein which has a well-preserved medieval centre. The site of the city wall, and the city gates are preserved, though the former city wall now consists of houses. Many of the medieval buildings are painted with socalled frescoes. We also saw some nice Citroen SMs:

Up on the hill you can see the Castle Hohenklingen, which offers great views of the town:

In the afternoon we went on to visit the Rhine Falls, which is the largest fall in Europe:

An interesting feat in Zurich itself we discovered after a stroll in the park, was the gardens constructed on top of apartment/townhouse buildings (although there's plenty room as you can see on the surrounding mountains):

Colorful Swiss money bills - Francs (95cts of a CA$):

The third day we went up to Titlis where they have the first rotating cable car. Titlis is located in the Urner Alps in Obwalden and has a maximum elevation of 3238m:

On the way back we visited Lucerne, which is a popular tourist destination as it has a lake (Vierwaldstättersee) surrounded by mount Pilatus & Rigli (closeby this time), and a chapel bridge running across the Reuss river:

It was interesting to see that almost everyone sticks to the posted speed limits however often it changes !