Beautiful Switzerland!

Hello everyone! I hope you've all been having a wonderful week. I just got back from Switzerland last night, and let me tell you...that is one beautiful country! I had an incredible time! On Sunday morning, I flew out of Birmingham and into Zurich. I highly recommend flying Swiss Air...the planes are nice, the flight attendants are very friendly, and they give you a big piece of Swiss chocolate! Tooley, Mary Virginia, and Dr. Corwin Senko met me at the airport. Corwin used to teach psychology at MSU, and since Tooley was a psychology major, he taught a few of her classes. He moved to Zurich this year to do research at a university. He and Tooley still keep in touch, so he agreed to be our tour guide around Zurich. It was wonderful! Guess who the three of them saw while they were waiting for me in the airport...Mohammad Ali! Yes, THE Mohammad Ali! I have no idea why he was in Zurich, but I'm sad that I missed seeing him! After they picked me up (by the way, they DON'T stamp your passport in Switzerland! We were very disappointed!), we headed to the hotel to drop off my bags, and then to lunch. We ate at a cute little bierhaus restaurant, where a polka band was the afternoon entertainment. It was so fun! We ate wienerschnitzel, which is actually fried veal. It was very good! After lunch, we roamed around Zurich and went to the Grossmunster Cathedral. Many of the churches that we visited in Switzerland were built during the Reformation, so they were made from stone and pretty bare on the inside, but they had beautiful stained glass windows! We climbed to the top of the church to see an aerial view of Zurich. Beautiful! Switzerland is just how I imagined it...cute towns, narrow streets with ornate buildings, and cold weather! The weather was a little bit colder than England, but luckily the wind wasn't as bad as it is in England. After the Grossmunster, we went to a restaurant to try some of the famous Swiss hot chocolate. The restaurant we went to was ADORABLE...it was completely decorated with flowers on the inside, from the ceilings to the floor. I felt like I was in a garden! It was definitely kitschy, but very cute. The hot chocolate was great, by the way! After hot chocolate, we walked along the river and saw more of the town, and then went to...the OPERA! Corwin got us tickets to see La Clemenza di Tito. The opera house in Zurich is really beautiful on the inside! The opera was sung in Italian, but German subtitles were flashed on a screen above the stage. Although some parts of it were a little hard to follow (due to the language barrier), I was very impressed and really enjoyed the opera! After the opera, we went to dinner at a fun, trendy restaurant. Although I didn't have wienerschnitzel again, I did have some great pasta. Then, Corwin showed us some beautiful parts of the city that overlook the river. Zurich is beautiful, and very fun! It a mix of old world, Swiss architecture (think The Sound of Music, even though that's filmed in Austria) and trendy restaurants and shopping. Everyone is Zurich was very friendly, and just about everyone can speak English, which was a relief! Our hotel was very nice...we got great rates since we're visiting "out of season." Our beds had down comforters on them! The next morning, Corwin met the three of us for lunch, and then Tools, Mary Virginia, and I went shopping! There's a really cool store in Switzerland called Globus (it's a chain store) that had EVERYTHING you could possibly want. If anyone ever visits Switzerland, check it out! (By the way, you should DEFINITELY visit Switzerland...it's wonderful!) We also went to H&M, Starbucks, Jemoli, and a really fun toy store. That afternoon, we met up with Corwin, did a little more shopping, and then headed to...SPRUNGLI! Sprungli is a famous Swiss chocolate shop that is a chocolate lover's paradise. Although I do love the English Cadbury chocolate, it just may have been knocked to the #2 spot by the chocolate at Sprungli. We perused through the store, made a few purchases, and then headed upstairs to the cafe for more hot chocolate. We walked around Zurich some more, and then went to the top of the Jules Verne Panoramabar, where you can have food and drink, and also a panoramic view of the city! We walked around trying to find a few places to have dinner, but ended up at...Outback! Yes, the same Outback Steakhouse that you'll find in the U.S.! Ok, it was a little different, but I guess they had to change it up a bit to cater to a Swiss market. It was great, though! I had a wonderful salad...good salads are hard to find in Europe! After dinner, we said good night and headed to bed. The next day, we headed to Lucerne, and I'll write about Lucerne tomorrow. Corwin, if you're reading this...thanks for being such a great host! You definitely went above and beyond, and the three of us had an amazing time! :)

The three Swiss Misses at the top of the Grossmunster Church, overlooking Zurich

Aerial view of Zurich


Cute restaurant with all of the flowers

Inside of the Opera House

Mary V, Tools, and Corwin enjoying the opera

Zurich



Buying chocolate at Sprungli! This random guy walked in front of the camera as I was taking the picture of Corwin, Tooley, and Mary V., and then one of the employees told me that I couldn't take pictures, so this is the only one I got

Mary Virginia enjoying some white chocolate

A popular way to get around Zurich - trolleys! They run on rails and cables