Lucerne

on my second day in Zürich i met-up with a friend who offered to take me to Lucerne (or Luzern if you wanna be German about it).
Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and because of it's location on lake Lucerne it's one of those towns which gets loads of tourists. man, a lot of "Lucernes in that sentence!
i had actually had thought about going here as it's only an hour away from Zürich by train, but instead i got to ride in an audi with electric seat-warmers. mmmm

so off we zoomed passing through beautiful snow covered valleys and little townships with names like "Zug". on a fine day i would have been able to see the swiss alps, but thanks to the snow they were hiding.
i started to feel like the swiss alps didn't exist, as everyone kept saying "they're over there" or "just behind those clouds"... yeah right.

arriving in Lucerne i felt a little disappointed as it looked just like Zürich, only smaller.
i don't know what i was expecting, but i just thought Lucerne would be architecturally totally different.
the town was tiny but still had its charm, narrow cobble stoned streets lined with beautiful buildings flanking the river Reuss and all leading down to lake Lucerne.
when we got to the lake i couldn't even see it as it was snowing pretty heavily.
again, the alps where "just beyond the lake"...




ducked into a little cafe to "de-ice" ourselves.
the coffee in Switzerland has been great. strong and creamy (and expensive).
the actual cafes have all been amazingly old-fashioned reminding me of old coffee shops in Japan.
lots of crimson colored booth seating, well dressed elderly ladies, many many smokers, and these little containers of snacks on the table to hand-pick from.
just about all cafes advertise their "Apfelstrudel" (or apple strudel) served with vanilla ice cream or hot vanilla sauce. had to give it a go, bit sweet but very warming on a cold day.

while sipping coffee the weather cleared so we ventured out again to see the biggest attraction in Lucerne, kapellbrücke (chapel bridge) and its wasserturm (water tower).

this lovely bridge is actually the oldest wooden bridge in europe! now that's something. (built 1333).
it crosses the Ruess river, but why they built it at an angle i don't know. maybe back in the day they just wanted a "long" bridge...
saying that it's europe's oldest wooden bridge is a bit of a lie... some stupid guy dropped a cigarette a few years ago and boof, most of it was destroyed...
anyway, i imagined i was crossing the original bridge, makes it much more exciting.




we then went up the hill to see the old city wall.
me in my city-boy loafers found it a bit hard going slipping and sliding and finally had to grab hold of my friend's huge hand (he's german) otherwise i was never gonna make it to the wall.



to top off a great day sightseeing, i was made a yummy cheese fondue for dinner, this time washed down with swiss wine.


* ps: thanks a million to D&S for the great time!

Zürich Switzerland

i so wanna live in Zürich now!
ok, so it might be a little small (compared to where i live now; Hong Kong, and Tokyo before that), but hey, it's such a beautiful city, great food (but expensive...) stylish and friendly people, trendy shops (but expensive...) and 4 distinct seasons, something i really miss in Hong Kong (we have hot & humid. that's about it; oh and sometimes the odd cool spell)

so less than an hours flight from Nuremberg i was in Switzerland's largest city; Zürich.
from first glances i could so see why Zürich is stated as "the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe".
beautiful streets, well-dressed citizens, public transport running as precisely as a swiss-made watch, and to top it all off i felt save walking around the streets late at night trying to find my simple yet very expensive hotel.
nothing comes cheap in Zürich that's for sure.

when i woke up the following morning i was delighted to see the city covered in a white frosting of snow.
a bit of snow wasn't gonna stop me this time, so off i went to explore the city.
things run at a slower pace here and nothing opened until 10am so i was left standing outside the churches and shops playing in the snow and counting down the minutes.

the actual city itself is small and easy to walk around on foot. i could of easily jumped on one of the many trams but i preferred to brave the cold and explore on foot.

here's some of the many beautiful sights i saw:

most expensive real estate at Paradeplatz; home to the big swiss banks



Bahnhofstrasse; most expensive shopping street



Grossmünster church shrouded in snow



paying a 2 euro fee you can go to the top of Grossmünster for a great view of the city



Saint Peter; with the largest clock face in the world



beautiful shopping streets



beautiful shops!





Fraumünster church; home to the famous stained glass windows designed by artist Marc Chagall



and the sexy a** of Zürich; otherwise known as the ganymed statue at lake Zürich