Castles in the sand

Playing tour guide @ merlion

Shot of F1 circuit

day 1 Zurich

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day 1 Zurich
reached Zurich ard 730am-company booked Ascot hotel as 5 mins away
from office & 15mins from airport. Ascot Hotel is just in front of
train station "Bahnhof Enge". the hotel reminded me of London's hotel-
a bit old, a bit quaint)

After unpacking & a shower, I took a 20 walk down to waterfront of
Zurich lake - partly cos unfamiliar with the roads. a bit confusing
which is pedestrian & which is for cars & trams. whilst walking,
stumbled across this little garden in between building in the middle
of the courtyard. it was a nice breathing space from all the
architecture around - found out later that the location is
"Paradeplatz" (heart of Bahnofstrasse (main shopping street that's
comparable to London's Bond Street) . I managed to make my way down to
Fraubmunster (originally Benedictine abbey church now Reformist/
Protestant). Couldn't go in cos Sunday mass was underway. Took some
photos before walking across to Grossmunster/Great church whose twin
towers are the most recognized landmark in Zurich. Nearby is a
touristy shop where you can get souvenirs starting from chf 2 (bath
soap on offer) to as much as chf 400-500 for hand crafted coo-coo
clocks.

I backtracked down to see some parts of the Old Town/oberdorf where
cobbled streets line from 16th century onwards.

tip- don't expect to see any of the shops open on Sunday. they close
the entire day so it's best for window shopping at best. I Like this
idea cos you see kids out cycling, boating, swimming, sightseeing with
their parents instead of hitting the shops all weekend. the shops that
are open are the restaurants & eateries so you see many people just
doing people watching or listening to the band while taking in the
Sunday. as it was a lovely day out today, girls in bikinis lined the
shores as well as part of their recreational activity.

after some shopping walked down to the main bridge called
Quaibru~cke. from there, you can feed the swans, ducks & fish while
taking in the sights. the weather was excellent -25c without the
humidity. that means you can actually escape from the heat of the sun
by simply going to the shade. had a hot dog chf5 & bratwurst chf7 for
a bite. get from the stall next to the Bellevueplatz & you get a hard
bread as part of the meal. As the bread was too hard for me I fed it
to the birds instead :) talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone!

after a satisfying leisurely lunch, I made my way down to get a ride
up the ferris wheel nearby. I know it's touristy but it really gives
one a birds eye view of the place - quite reasonable for chf8 (4
rounds of spinning).

tip: get coins ready if you want to use the public toilets (near main
bus station at Bellevue) cos it costs chf1 & they only take chf1 or 2
chf50c. the toilets are clean & well stocked with essentials so no
complaints spending around s$1.40 to use it.

after swan feeding, I bought the daily ticket that covers the bus,
tram & see-thru boats that runs down Zu lake. quite a good deal for
boat trip cos u can hop on & off as many times & wherever you want (as
long as it's within that 24hr period stated in the ticket) this is
definitely a good way to see the city. you can either get it at the
main bus/tram station or from the conductor when you board the boat).
they also have a 1hr ticket for chf3 I think but I would get the daily
ticket if you intend to travel around Zurich for the day).

the boat ride was fantabulous! it goes down all the way to
schiffla~nde Casino before coming back all the way to Schweiz
Landesmuseum (Swiss national museum). so I dropped off at one of the
in-between stops to take a breather of 30mins before hopping back on
to continue my day trip to see the museum. the museum was fairly
interesting -it has quite some items dedicated to religious artefacts
& also showcased the skill of Swiss (clock making, glass blowing,
religious stained art etc). oh! another tip-Sunday is free museum so
do take advantage of that!!

I took a slow walk down the lake side & found myself in quaint little
streets with lovely shop displays. there was this lovely chocolate
shop called "teascher confise" near main shopping area. I got the most
excellent tiramisu ice cream for chf5.50.

ended the walking day by walking along Bahnhofstrass before taking a
tram back to the hotel.

decided to get Macs which was next to hotel before a final hot choc
from Starbucks. I know I should be taking Swiss food but I was too
tired to find / walk around. think the jet lag is finally hitting.

Macs here suits me fine as they got cheeseburger with salad &
instead of usual fries & coke. wonder why they don't have similar
options back home. costs a bomb though - chf 11 for a meal.

the sun just set down at 8pm. hitting the sack now cos hopefully will
be able to wake up fresh tomorrow.

Magdalene

day 2 (mon), 3 (tues) & 4 (wed) in Zurich

day 2 (mon), 3 (tues) & 4 (wed)
after work, Susann was kind enough to take me on an excursion to
"Uetliberg", a mountain about 20mins by train from Zurich town centre.
it offered a spectacular view of town, lake , mountains & region. not
exactly easy to go but should be ok if you depart from the main
station at Bahnhofstrass.

at the end of the 2nd day, the legal team went down to the river to
have a drink. it's an interesting scene as we are the ones in suits &
the others already there are in their bathing suits. it's actually
open during lunchtime for people to have a swim or bath. women area
are separated from men but the men's area are now mixed. took some
salad for dinner before hitting back to the hotel.

on the afternonn of the 3rd day , went down to Schann office
(Liechtenstein) before meeting the authorities. the place was a drive
by at best but understand that it was pretty rural in any event. it
took about 1.5-2hrs from Zurich to Schann.

was at the majnstation early so had time to purchase some dinner at
the market (right inside the station). reminded me so much of London
markets which I so dearly missed).

had a bit of difficulty finding the place at the Bahnhofstras (main
station) to stamp my Swiss pass. but actually on reflection, just
follow the tourist "I" sign & it's done. the Swiss pass is a very
important document as it can make the difference between ypu staying
ob the train, bus or cruise & you bejng kicked out as it covers mainly
every mode of public transport throughout Switzerland. recommend 1st
class as less crowded & more seat choices (proved useful when you
want to be touristy & take pictures)

took the 6pm train to Interlarken - reached there around 730pm. the
backpackers hotel at interlarken was a pleasent surprise. clean,
modern & extremely friendly. all for around chf200 for 2 nights (paid
for 2pax even though stayed by myself). I chickened out of the 6
bedded room & opted to stay by myself instead with shower included.
thankfully they had rooms available as I couldn't get the room booked
over Internet. they gave out clean sheets & towel & 2 tokens/day (each
chf 3.50) for hot drinks. the bus stopped just outside the hostel & as
usual worked like clockwork according to the schedule displayed at
each bus stop. one thing I will surely miss is the efficiency of the
public transport. basically all the timings are displayed & when it
states 0832 departure, the bus or train will depart from that station
at that exact same time!!! amazing! definately addictive cos I found
myself checking my watch whenever i need to take public transport -
which I will be doing for the next few days of self-travel.

Magdalene

On way to Montreal from interlarken

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View from hostel at interlarken switzerland

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