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Zurich, Switzerland Part 1

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Last spring Raymond had a bunch of vacation time to use up so we planned a train trip around Europe to places we hadn't been before. First stop was Zurich!

I loved Zurich. If it wasn't so darn expensive I would go back often. I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did since in my research before our trip people seemed to be meh on it. Like there wasn't anything fun there, it is just business stuff, don't spend a lot of time there. As it is I am glad we got an extra day there to explore. Because it was one of my favorite cities! I know part of that is because they have amazing vegan food there, but part of it is the city itself. So much fun. 

We got in later in the day, got checked into our hotel, then off for dinner. It wasn't very nice outside, rainy, so we went closeby - Restaurant Bona Dea in the main train station. It is a vegetarian Indian buffet where you can pay by plate or as much as you want. We did one plate and oh, this was delicious! Really everything we had in Zurich was amazing! If we had more time there we would have gone back again. 

After dinner we went for a short walk, though Raymond twisted his ankle coming out of the restaurant so we didn't stay out long. 

Our first day there we did the self-guided walking tour. You can find it on any of the maps there and it is not that long (really the main downtown area isn't that big)

First a wander down a main shopping street




It was gorgeous out - the perfect day for wandering


I do see a person!






Views from Lindenhof - a hill in downtown that used to have a castle on it back in the day



Lots of narrow streets to wander through





We happened to be in town for this horn festival - the Eidgenössischen Jagdhornbläserfest which means hunting horn festival. All over town we would come across people playing songs which was fun




Fraumünster church




You couldn't see all the mountains in the distance because of the clouds, but it was still beautiful

A large flea market at Bürkliplatz every Saturday in the warm months

The ferry docks

The public transport tickets in Zurich were nice - the day passes were for 24 hours from the time you purchased them, not until 3am the next morning like they are here. So we got a day ticket to go to lunch and then we could use the trams more since Raymond's ankle was still sore. 

We went to Elle'n'Belle for lunch in a nice neighborhood to the north of the main train station. We had nachos

Pakoras

And a döner wrap with pommes. This was all so tasty! Really we wanted to try everything, but we can only eat so much...

Raymond can't hide from  my photos!



After lunch we headed back to the ferry docks to continue our tour






The opera house



Grossmunster




One great thing about Switzerland? They have fountains everywhere with water you can drink. You just get a bottle and re-fill it as needed while you are wandering. It was wonderful!



After our wanderings we rode the train to Vegelateria for eis! Only it was just so so....but it was out by where we were going to have dinner so it was on our way

Afterwards we wandered around Park Bäckeranlage and had some tea and relaxed while we waited for dinnertime




For dinner we went to Marktkuche which was amazing! It was fancy, really expensive (though in Zurich terms only like twice as much as normal dinner), but oh my goodness the food was amazing. Some bread and spread to start

I chose three courses for my meal while Raymond got the set 5 course menu. I had the aubergine salad with artichokes - oh this was so tasty

Raymond had the tomato salad with basil and nuts and was also delicious

Then Raymond had wurzel creme soup which oh, I know I said the food was amazing, but this soup was so good! We shared it, and we had so much food it is good I didn't get my own, but wow. I need to make this myself. 

And I had the spring carpaccio - spargel, kohlrahbi and zucchini slices, and a foam that was amazing

Raymond also had the mille-feuille with mushrooms and leek. This was good, but since I am not a fan of mushrooms it was not really for me

My main was spinach broccoli roll with rhubarb and potatoes - yum!

While Raymond had celery, rosemary, pinenut capeletti


Then they brought us these small bites on a stick - strawberry, chocolate and I forget what the other one was. Oh man - so tasty!

And Raymond's dessert - Strawberry party with sorbet, chutney, weird jell, everything strawberry. Oh, this was amazing. Everything was amazing and we left so stuffed. It is good I didn't go for the 5-course meal as well as that would have been way too much food! If you are ever in Zurich and have mney to spend then this is the place to go. 

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