The Japanese Heidi cartoon was one of my favorite TV shows as a child. I traveled to my imaginary Switzerland (as portrayed by the Japanese anime industry) by asking my Mom for bread and cheese, and milk served in a wooden bowl. My father would travel to Switzerland frequently for work, but I never got the chance to go with him. His regular supply of Swiss chocolate, and photos of beautiful mountains kept Switzerland on the top of my list of places to visit. Now I wonder what took me so long.
Switzerland isn't one of the easier places to visit from Japan. There are no direct flights, and connections are generally through London, Frankfurt, and Istanbul. It may be a long trip, but it's worth it! The great thing about a small country, is the ease of traveling to different cities in a short amount of time. We only had a few days, so we wandered around Zurich, and took a short trip to Luzern.
I had heard that Zurich was expensive, but it was shockingly so - even for someone who spends most of her time in Tokyo, Moscow and London! I highly recommend getting a
Zurich Card. You can buy a card that is valid for 24 or 72 hours. We went with the 72 hour card for 40 EUR. The card covers unlimited second-class travel by tram, bus, rail, boat and cable car in Zurich and the surrounding area.
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| Zurich |
We used the card for the train to Uetliberg, the highest point in Zurich with a view over the city. We went early in the morning, so the sun was glaring over the mountains. I'm sure the afternoon would have been a better time to take photos. We also took advantage of a two our boat ride on Lake Zurich, although I miscalculated sunset, and ended up taking a nighttime cruise. We couldn't see the Alps at night, but the lights and moon were beautiful. The card also covers all city museums. When you purchase the card, you are given an updated list of stores and restaurants that offer discounts for card holders.
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| View from Uetliberg |
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| View from Uetliberg |
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| Sunset from the Pier, Lake Zurich |
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| Evening Cruise, Lake Zurich |
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| Reflections of the Moon, Lake Zurich |
Zurich is a very walkable city, and we spend hours wandering the hilly stree
ts of Niederdorf and Löwenstrasse, in the old town. The Christmas lights were magical. Particularly on
Bahnhofstrasse, the main shopping street, the lights looked like gems suspended in mid-air above the street.
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| Bahnhofstrasse |
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| Löwenstrasse |
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| View of Löwenstrasse from Niederdorf |
Since it was my first trip to Zurich, I really wanted to try both fondue and racelette. Racellete is a type of cheese, but also the name of a dish of the cheese is heated, and the melted part scrapped off and served with potatoes or meat, and pickled onions and gherkins. We had fondue at Zunfthaus-Zimmerleuten. Although the restaurant has beautiful historic dining rooms, we decided to try to Zunfthaus open air fondue to enjoy the view of Löwenstrasse. The restaurant offered warm blankets and hand warmers to keep us warm until the fondue arrived. Our raclette experience was at the Restaurant Swiss Chuchi in the Hotel Adler in Niederdorf. The restaurant offers free dessert with the Zurich card. Although I had read about the restaurant, we were mainly drawn in by the colorful paint and unique holiday decorations of the Hotel. In retrospect, two cheese based meals in three days was probably too much. . .
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| Zunfthaus Open Air Fondue |
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| Restaurant Swiss Chuchi in the Hotel Adler |
Luzern is only about 45 minutes by train from Zurich, and there are about two trains every hour. We made a last minute decision to visit and forgot our guidebook! Luckily the train station is in close proximity to the old town and the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower. As soon as we exited the train station, we crossed the street at took a 2 hour ferry trip. The view was incredible, even on a cloudy day. We also wandered around old town, although many restaurants and all stores are closed in Switzerland on Sunday.
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| View of Luzern from the Ferry |
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| View of the Alps from Lake Luzern |
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| Mt. Pilate from Lake Luzern |
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| Chapel Bridge, Water Tower, and Mt. Pilate |
