Tom`s travels: Zurich (25/02/17)

Two days after our trip to Metz we decided to visit the Swiss city of Zurich. Leaving at around 6:30am we took a direct bus and reached the destination after nearly three hours. After getting off the bus we headed towards the city center and stopped to visit the Swiss National Museum first which was just a few hundred meters from the bus station. Entrance was 8 Swiss francs and the museum hold objects from the prehistoric times up to the renaissance including an exhibition on modern day immigrants at the end. Particularly nice was the collection of Gothic art including altarpieces and paintings. Exiting the museum we headed further in the city reaching the Lindenhof, the highest point in the old town. This used to be the location of the roman castle when the city was founded by the Romans, and now serves as a perfect panoramic point to observe the old town. The view from up there was very nice, and most of the eastern part of the old town across the Limmat river was visible. After descending back down the hill to the other side, we walked through some pretty narrow medieval streets lined by nice houses and reached the Church of St Peter. It was open and free of charge so we decided to take a look inside. Originally older, the current building dates to the 18th century in the Baroque style, being protestant it is mostly lacking in decoration but still has a fresco dating to the older period in the apse. The bell tower features a large clock on its north-facing side, considered to be Europe's largest clock face. Not far from there we reached the Munsterhof, the largest square in the Altstadt. Surrounded by tenement houses, on its southern part stands the Fraumunster. As the entrance to go in was paid we decided to skip and cross the bridge over the Limmat heading for the opposing church, the Grossmunster. The Cathedral, built during the 13th century features a Romanesque style and is topped by two twin towers. The interior though mostly unadorned, features classic Romanesque-styled architecture. Below ground level, there is the medieval crypt holding a medieval statue of Charlemagne, believed to be the one who initially commissioned the building of the cathedral. Exiting the building we headed south and reached the square where the Opera House is located. Despite being February, it was quite sunny, and many people were out in the square enjoying the warmer weather. We decided to continue on along the waterfront coasting the Zurichsee or Lake Zurich and enjoy the weather strolling around. We saw different duck species and several boats out on the lake as well as many other people enjoying the sun and lake as we were doing. We walked half an hour and then decided to start heading back towards the city. On the way, we took a detour and tried to see if the Botanical Garden was still open. Unfortunately closed, we were still able to see it from the outside and enjoy a different view of the city from a hillside. Heading back we traversed the old town once again, and took pictures and enjoyed the view from the Lindenhof again this time during night time as the sun had already set. Finally, we reached the bus station and took the next bus back to Strasbourg.