We were going to take it easy today, to relax after Egypt, but we ended doing quite a lot. We're staying in a town called Thalwil, which is a suburb of Zurich located on the west bank of Lake Zurich. Zurich downtown is located at the northern tip of the lake. The house we are in has a great view.
I seem to have lost my ability to sleep in because I woke up early as usual even though I was very tired from the previous day of travel. First we went to a nearby grocery store to get a few supplies. The morning weather was lovely, clear, cool fresh air and sunny.
After breakfast we decided to take the ferry to Zurich. The ferry was scheduled for 9:50am and we planned to leave the house at 9:20am, but somehow ended up leaving at 9:30am. This resulted in us running a good portion of the way to the dock, luckily it was all downhill. We made it with about 30 seconds to spare, and fortunately you buy your ticket on board.
When we got to Zurich we headed a few blocks in to where there was a free city walking tour at 11am. There ended up being a large crowd of people for the tour. I guess that is what happens when you are one of the top ranked things to do in Zurich on tripadvisor.com and free.
The tour was pretty informative. I like this more than just wandering around ourselves because you get little tidbits and anecdotes about the locations that otherwise you wouldn't necessarily know about. One thing that surprised me was our guide said women only got the right to vote in Switzerland in 1971. Seems a little late for a country that is supposed to be a human rights advocate.
Zurich was actually governed by women in the 11th to 14th centuries when the abbess of Fraumünster abbey was the ruler. She was overthrown by an alliance of trade guilds when they became powerful. The 13 guilds and their guild houses remain today, and although they no longer have monopolies the guild families remain wealthy and influential.
After the tour we went to a restaurant called Hiltl for lunch. It was recommended by our Bnb host as well as the tour guide. It is a vegetarian restaurant that has been in business since 1898. They have a buffet or a la carte, and we decided on the buffet, which was quite extensive. The food was very good.
After lunch we decided to go up Uetliberg mountain, which is a small mountain overlooking Zurich. It was about a 20 minute train ride and then a 15 minute hike to the top. The view was pretty spectacular.
Finally we took the train back to Thalwil.
-David
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