Weekend in Zurich

Zurich

I left Zurich without any of those famous Swiss chocolates and I am a little pissed off if you must know. It started out with Hub attending an executive course at IMD in Lausanne. He called me one evening to say that he knew where to buy "the best chocolates in Switzerland". I therefore ticked them off my list.

View from this church

On Friday CB kindly drove the kids and myself to the train station in Modena where we begun a 7-hour journey to Zurich HB, changing trains at Milan (beautiful train station, by the way). We've been a few times to the Rheinfalls when we were living in Stuttgart, but somehow never made it into the city itself. Told Hub that I would like to visit Switzerland before we leave Europe and last weekend was a chance to do so.

Hub drove to Zurich from Lausanne and picked us up at the HB. We headed straight to our hotel (NH Zurich Airport**** - very modern and comfortable, good value for money) about 10 minutes away, checked in and then walked out to look for dinner. Just a few minutes away was a Japanese restaurant Edo Garden.

Mixed Bento

Asian salad

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and probably one of the finest in the world. And boy is it expensive. Once we've gotten over the initial shock however, we were set for a good time food-wise as it has many interesting restaurants and cafés all over. And the Japanese cuisine at Edo Garden was very fine, we loved everything we were served, from the foie gras on marinated red cabbage to the Asian salad with shrimps and mung bean vermicelli, chicken curry and mixed bento (sushi, sashimi, tempura...). I would recommend this restaurant.

Kunsthaus Zurich

An idea of the city's richesse is the Kunstmuseum (or Art Museum). They were having an exhibition on Picasso - who first exhibited there in 1932. We really enjoyed the museum, they have an interesting collection of some very famous works including a beautiful large tableau of Monet's. I discovered Segantini that Sunday and found that I like his work very much. The weekend brunch in the restaurant linked to the museum seemed to be very popular, do think of making reservations beforehand, it would provide an excellent start to the few hours required to enjoy this museum.

A peaceful demonstration

We walked around the lovely city all through Saturday. The sun was out and the weather really lovely. I love the way the Swiss love their own products, you can see so many quality boutiques all over the place selling the most beautiful things. I nearly got myself a diamond and emerald ring in a 2nd hand jewellery shop selling some really nice pieces. But the kids were being painful so we didn't feel up to entering the tiny shop.

St Peter's (most churches in Zurich are reformist)

Hub insisted that we visit St Peter's Church. I thought that it was some magnificent building but it was really very simple. OK, it is the oldest church in Zurich and boasts the largest clock face in Europe. And it's actually very old - not that you'll know it at first glance - most of the old buildings in Zurich are so well-restored and painted over that you wouldn't know they are old.

A park in Zurich

View from the park

Anyway he had a thing for this church because it was featured in one of Irving's latest books. And I had the right to hear him tell me the story again...

Chiang Mai Thai Shop

Lunch on Saturday was at this Thai mini-mart and takeaway Chiang Mai Thai Shop near the HB run by a few Thais. They offered a limited choice of dishes, but whatever they had was really good. We loved the food so much we wanted to eat there again the next day but it was closed (on Sunday). Meanwhile, in case you should wonder, I ordered my food in German. I may have forgotten almost everything that I've learnt of the language, but when it comes to ordering food, I still have it in me.

For dinner we went to Brasserie Lipp. Hub has been having this craving for oysters and cold seafood. To satisfy it properly, you need to find a French brasserie - thus Lipp. The food was good and they even had a child's menu. However, Hub wondered, as we were leaving, if we had been shown to the room (nice one with frescoes) at the back of the restaurant because we had 3 kids with us, or because we were not dressed very nicely (probably both). Told Hub not to worry about the way we look(ed), important thing was that we had the money to pay for the meal.

Some time late in the afternoon that Saturday, I thought to ask Hub if he had bought my chocolates. He replied that he hadn't had the time...Aarrgh. Shops were closing then and on Sunday they were definitely closed. No Swiss chocolates as such.

Edo Garden

Oberhauserstrasse 30
Glattbrugg
Tel: +41 (0) 44 809 4748

Chiang Mai Thai Shop

Josefstrasse 13

Zürich
Tel : +41 (0) 44 271 8252

Brasserie Lipp

Uraniastrasse 9
Zürich

Tel : +41 (0) 43 888 6666