Day 3 We discovered a situation of missing skis on walking tracks and how to meet the locals.
Overnight I discovered the Alpine Horns are not just located in the
highlands of Switzerland. One had found its way into the hotel room and played
continually all night. Miraculously, it stopped playing when my ‘roomie’ awoke.
A little revenged, the alarm on my phone is set to play Group Yodelling. Maybe
not a little revenge, just minuscule revenge.
Craig at the wheel of the Zurich Trolley
A sizable breakfast in the breakfast room as no life-jacket fitting fears for the next 9 days.
To maximise our day in Zurich I had reorganised our half day Zurich Tour for a 9:30 am departure. Being unsure where the start point was from the Helmhaus, we caught a taxi. SFR 27.0 Ouch!! The location is easy to find from Zurich HB (the main railway station) as the Sihlquai Bus Terminal is signposted near platform 1. The Sihlquai Bus Terminal is more like a parking area than what one would describe as a Bus Terminal in Australia or the US. The Tour Ticket Booth was located across the road from the Starbuck’s near Zurich HB. As we were early, I tried some Americana in Switzerland. Craig doesn't drink coffee.
Zurich trolley and David
Our City Tour of Zurich offered a Zurich Trolley Experience City Tour and independent train ride to the Top of Zurich.
Once we removed Craig from his seat of choice, Fred took his place behind the wheel and we started our informative City Tour of Zurich aboard the unique ‘Classic Trolley’. In 2 hours we were shown Zurich’s varied and interesting parts. The Trolley Bus commentary was provided by headsets with 8 language options being available. These were; English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Our other travellers on the day were from Hong Kong, South America and India. We left our companions at Zurich HB which cause a bit of confusion for them, as they thought it was the final stop. We were the only ones doing the train section of the tour which was our companions’ loss. We caught the train to Uetliberg. Uetliberg is 871 metres above sea level and referred to as the Top of Zurich. The rail trip is very scenic and the sound of a train whistle just added to the experience.
From the railhead at Uetliberg we walked (climbed) to the top of the peak. We then climbed (scaled) the summit’s 30
Who stole my skis?
metre high viewing tower which gave us views extending over Zurich and
across the lake all the way to the Alps we were now at 900 metres and the wind
was blowing a gale. This is where I first encountered people walking with just
stocks. I thought someone had stolen their skis and they were trying to continue
enjoying cross country skiing without their skis.
I have since found out this is a common way the walk and exercise. As if I would know about exercising!
We were to live the gypsy life of having a different hotel each night. So we returning to the Hotel Helmhaus to collected our luggage and walked to the Hotel Ambassador, our hotel for the night. This took about 10 minutes. The hotel is located across the road from its sister, the Opera Hotel and both are behind the Opera House.
With memories of the Alp Horn recital clearly in my memory, we took 2 single rooms when checking in. Fred, the Trolley Bus Tour driver had told us of the Best Bratwurst Place in Zurich. It overlooks the park and Lake Zurich near the shops near Zurich Stadelhofen. We had to try it to take our first steps to becoming Swiss. All part of our Swiss Education which I hoped to further later with Fondue.
We returned to the Hotel Ambassador and I was again reminded of guest-houses as the lift was small. The room was well appointed with pillow menu and a very comfortable mattress.
The Three piece band in the Aepli Bar, Zurich.
For dinner we went in search of local cuisine (fondue maybe!) though we took a friend’s advice and went to ‘The Aepli Bar’ in the Old Town Centre. We had the Alp milk as he suggested though two litres may have been a bit too much and I still suspect no part of it had never been anywhere near a cow. We ate an interesting interpretation of a traditional Swiss dish, Rösti with apple puree. Having eaten and drunk traditional Swiss fare, we then tried to infuse with the locals by yodelling to the three piece band (2 accordions and a double bass) music with some new found Swiss friends.
After hours of fun, we decided we had best return to our hotel whilst still capable. Of course I mean, we were almost breathless from our yodelling and singing.
Arriving at the hotel and finding my room, my last memories were of savouring the pillow of choice from the menu.
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