Our plan for the day is to travel to Mittenwald, a small German city at the foot of the Alps. We checked out of our hotel and had breakfast at the train station.
We boarded our train for Mittenwald about 20 minutes early. As we were sitting on the train, we decided instead to travel to Zürich then possibly on to Interlaken that day. So, last minute, we switched to a Stuttgart train, which has a connection to Zürich. I love that we have the flexibility to do that. Rail passes are the way to go.
We took the train to Stuttgart, then waited for our train to Zürich. Our layover in Stuttgart was only supposed to be 10 minutes, but the Zürich train was about 45 minutes late.
On our way to Zürich, we traveled through the Black Forest region of Germany. The countryside was beautiful. Also, these German trains are the nicest we’ve ridden in so far. Even the partition in our compartment is automatic.
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Because of the train delay, we didn’t arrive in Zürich until around 4:00 pm. It is too bad we spent most of the day in the train. It is beautiful outside.
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In Zürich we found our hostel and had to walk up four flights of stairs to the reception area, then another two up to our room. We were in a six-person dorm room and it looked like two other people were already staying there. The hostel is located on a narrow pedestrian-only street filled with fancy restaurants.
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After settling into our room, we walked around a bit and had lunch/dinner at a Hollywood themed restaurant. I guess themed hotels and restaurants are big in Zürich. It was a little difficult deciding what to eat since the currency is in Swiss Francs and their value is about 75 – 80% of the US dollar. Also, everything tends to be more expensive in Switzerland, so a burger meal was about 30 Fr.
After dinner, we walked down by Lake Zürich. There were tons of people down there and it was very beautiful. I did notice a lot of girls and guys out there wearing skimpy beachwear and sort of strutting around. I guess it is a place to see and be seen.
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We walked back up through the pedestrian-only shopping area. It was Sunday, so everything was closed. I almost prefer it that way. The streets were very calm and peaceful.
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We also came across an ATM and obtained some Francs. We had been searching for one every since we had arrived in Zürich and I was surprised that it took us so long to find one in a country known for its banks. After we finally found one, we saw about five more in the next ten minutes. Go figure.
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We continued walking around the city center and by the river. This city is very beautiful.
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Next, we decided to search out some dinner and Internet service. We found a big Internet café that offered access for 10 Fr per hour. No way! We continued on and came across a pizza place offering free WiFi, so we stopped in for some food. It turns out that their WiFi was not working, but I was able to snatch WiFi from someone if we sat at a table outside. The only problem is that my battery only lasts for about a half hour. It was a mad rush to upload photos, make blog posts, and check email. We had just enough time. Right as I sent the last email, the low battery alert came up.
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We went back to our hostel and got ready for bed. As we were planning out the next day, our roommates entered the room. They were two engineers from Toronto, about the same age as me. They were really nice guys and gave us a tip about visiting the “Top of Zürich” before we leave. They also suggested a visit to Hamburg, Germany if we have time, and suggested we skip Berlin. They were traveling to Salzburg and Vienna next, so we gave them some tips since we had just come from both of those cities.
Tomorrow we will have to check out the “Top of Zürich”, then we will move on to Interlaken.
Click here to see all our Zurich photos.
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