As expected, it rained all day! Fortunately we got out early enough that it hadn't really set into the constant stream falling from the sky. When we left this morning it was just misting and we got on the train and had morning coffee at the train station. Andy likes to order everything in German and most often, the merchants continue to speak to us in German (offering us pastries or any other additional options with our coffee) and we have to go through the embarrassing procedure of telling them we literally only knew how to say "two coffees please". Sometimes I wonder if they would prefer us to just order in English so they wouldn't have to say the same stuff to us twice.
We headed straight for Grossmunster - the large, Romanesque, Protestant church. The inside is pretty, but once you've seen these types of churches all over Europe, you're kind of numb to their grandeur. We did, however, pay CHF 4.00 each to climb the towers. Lots of stairs again today! Here are some views from the top.
Here I am with the other tower in the background, basically the railing that you see around it is what we're standing in.
I did a bit of railing climbing for this shot. I'm so short it was a little hard to see over!
So we did all that before we had anything to eat - as we wander around the narrow, cobble stone alleys looking for a restaurant that has an average price of 25 bucks instead of 35 per entree, we realize that we're fighting a losing battle. Switzerland is just so... expensive... and we're starting to get quite wet at this point, so we set out in search of a bratwurst stand with at least an awning. At least there we can get a sausage lunch for the price of a burger and fries at Chili's. On our way we encountered Zeughauskeller... and they serve beer fresh from the keg... and their entrees are averaging about CHF 20! Perfect. For the first time in Europe, we had to wait for a table. This place was huge!! The building is about 500 years old and used to serve as an armory or a garrison. In 1926, they converted it to a restaurant and brewery (I learned all this from the place mat, btw... which was in German! So I hope I have my facts straight!) and it seems to be a hub for both tourists and locals. It's so popular that they seat some tables picnic style and we were actually seated at a 6-person table with a group of four: two middle aged couples.
We think that the people here are either filthy rich or just budget a large percentage of their salary for eating out. We've eaten out twice in Zurich now and have observed groups ordering bottles of wine (CHF 40+), multiple bottles of that $5 water, expensive entrees like fondue, side salads (CHF 10+), coffee, dessert... the whole nine yards. Meanwhile Andy and I get one drink and one thing to eat, each. If I'm lucky, he lets me have dessert :) But since we had dessert yesterday, today I got one beer with my meal and that was it :P We speculate that most of the tables around us - lets say a party of four - rack up a $200+ tab... and these are just your average restaurants! Imagine just trying to go to Chili's or Ruby Tuesday with your family of four and the bill was $200+... welcome to Switzerland ;)
A lot of people here ARE rich though. The cost of living here is huge, and every car driving around this city is a luxury car or close. The cheapest cars we see around here are brand new Volkswagons - today I observed a woman stall her Mercedes SUV twice. Pathetic. But along these same lines... check THIS out
I was stunned when I saw this. For those of you who don't know... this is a Tesla Roadster... fully electric and starting price of $109,000 (as per wiki, of course, where else would I get my facts?). They run on lithium ion batteries and supposed get about 250 miles on a single charge. Andy says that the future models are supposed to be able to go from New York to LA on one charge. So why is one just chillin in the Zurich rain??!! That's what I want to know.
Anyway, I'm way off topic. Back to our lunch. Andy got a sausage combo on a skewer and I got a giant pork and beef sausage. Both came with potato salad. I really need to just give up on potato salad... I keep trying to like it and I never do :P This one would have been delicious if I liked mustard. The sausage was fantastic though! Oh, forgot to mention the beer... amazing! I had the Amber and Andy had the House Lager. Both super flavorful. A couple, about our age, at the table over from us ordered an entire pitcher of the amber (these are huge pitchers too... maybe four pints total?) AND the woman ordered a glass of a darker one to try. I wanted to become friends with this couple... "oh hi. I see you have a pitcher... and my glass is empty :)"
Sausage and beer! Delicious!
The old town portion of Zurich has a lot of really expensive boutiques, and unlike Barcelona, they're all actually open! I saw Dolce and Gabanna, Jimmy Choo, Tiffany and Co, Prada and Gucci to name a few. I almost lost Andy when I stalled at the Jimmy Choo window! It's really too bad the weather is so lousy, we tried to make the best of it and I still feel like I got to see a lot of the city :)
Just happy to be traveling :) Rain or shine!
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the train station for a McDonald's Toblerone McFlurry - yummy! Can't get those at home! In our defense... you can't get Oreo anything here! For all your curious minds... a big mac meal is CHF 11.50 here... in perspective, a meal for four at McDonalds will probably cost as much as a meal for four at Chili's or Applebees at home.
We leave on a 4.5 hour train ride to Munich tomorrow morning at 9:15. Andy wants more of those darn pretzel loaf hot dogs before we go, I sure hope they open their stands for breakfast! He also promised me I can have more than one beer in Germany ;)
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