Day 4: Paris to Zurich
It's a travel day and I thought we might be able to squeeze in some morning sightseeing but the kids are still not adjusted to the time so they aren't going to bed until 1am or so and sleeping in until after 10am. They're getting close to adjusted but still not enough to be up and at 'em in the mornings. So we decided to just let them sleep in today. They looked so cozy and peaceful in their beds. And we enjoyed a quiet, peaceful morning ourselves. ;)
The train to Zurich was crowded. I think almost every seat was full because France railway workers are on strike and they canceled the morning train to Zurich so they rebooked everyone onto our train at noon. But we had reserved seats so it was no biggie. At first I felt bad for Marie, the lady who sat in our grouping of 8 seats with the 7 of us. But she was such a good sport and she quickly became our friend. She was an artist and a grandma from Paris, heading to Switzerland to visit her grandkids. She brought out picture books for the kids to read (unfortunately none of us read French) and played speed with us. We shared our chocolate and cookies with her and by the end we were hugging and she invited us to visit her next time we are in Paris.
Zurich is awesome. It feels small and walkable and very tidy, clean and organized. We checked into our little Airbnb that was actually 4 hostel rooms with separate keys. Fortunately there were only four rooms on the floor so we had the place to ourselves and didn't have to share the bathroom or kitchen with other random people. The rooms were uncluttered and sparse but had everything we needed.
Zurich had a beautiful old town area, called Alstadt. I think that just means "old town" because I've seen it in other towns in Switzerland. We tried to get into a classic Swiss restaurant for some authentic sausages but it was Friday night and we have 7 so they just laughed. But lucky for us we wandered some more and found an orchestra playing a Jackson 5 medley and a square full of people eating sausages and bread and drinking beer at dozens of picnic tables surrounded by what looked like food trucks. We stood in line, prepared to buy some easy street food and when we asked how much, they said everything was FREE! It was Zurich's 125th birthday and they were having a celebration. Free bratwurst, brown bread, ice cream, sodas, meat pies and of course beer which we said "no thank you" and they gave us a very confused look. We felt pretty lucky to get a free meal in the most expensive country in Europe!
After wandering along the Limmat River at sunset, we headed home via the FIFA museum to watch the World Cup game. I love the World Cup! And it's so fun to be in Europe while it's happening since almost all of the teams left are European. There is a lot of excitement around the games!
The train to Zurich was crowded. I think almost every seat was full because France railway workers are on strike and they canceled the morning train to Zurich so they rebooked everyone onto our train at noon. But we had reserved seats so it was no biggie. At first I felt bad for Marie, the lady who sat in our grouping of 8 seats with the 7 of us. But she was such a good sport and she quickly became our friend. She was an artist and a grandma from Paris, heading to Switzerland to visit her grandkids. She brought out picture books for the kids to read (unfortunately none of us read French) and played speed with us. We shared our chocolate and cookies with her and by the end we were hugging and she invited us to visit her next time we are in Paris.
Zurich is awesome. It feels small and walkable and very tidy, clean and organized. We checked into our little Airbnb that was actually 4 hostel rooms with separate keys. Fortunately there were only four rooms on the floor so we had the place to ourselves and didn't have to share the bathroom or kitchen with other random people. The rooms were uncluttered and sparse but had everything we needed.
Zurich had a beautiful old town area, called Alstadt. I think that just means "old town" because I've seen it in other towns in Switzerland. We tried to get into a classic Swiss restaurant for some authentic sausages but it was Friday night and we have 7 so they just laughed. But lucky for us we wandered some more and found an orchestra playing a Jackson 5 medley and a square full of people eating sausages and bread and drinking beer at dozens of picnic tables surrounded by what looked like food trucks. We stood in line, prepared to buy some easy street food and when we asked how much, they said everything was FREE! It was Zurich's 125th birthday and they were having a celebration. Free bratwurst, brown bread, ice cream, sodas, meat pies and of course beer which we said "no thank you" and they gave us a very confused look. We felt pretty lucky to get a free meal in the most expensive country in Europe!
After wandering along the Limmat River at sunset, we headed home via the FIFA museum to watch the World Cup game. I love the World Cup! And it's so fun to be in Europe while it's happening since almost all of the teams left are European. There is a lot of excitement around the games!
They looked so peaceful, sleeping by the open window that I just couldn't wake them up.
All lined up for the metro to Paris Gare de Lyon to catch our train to Zurich.
Loading onto our high speed train to Zurich.
The settled into the train pretty quickly.
Marie giving Mikey a high-five to say good-bye.
Our new friend, Marie.
Navigating the trams in Zurich with all of our stuff. Grateful we only have backpacks and not big suitcases.
Our B & B/ hostel in Zurich.
Just a block away from our hostel was a school. Isaac immediately dropped his backpack and ran back to play soccer in the school yard. Within minutes, several local kids had joined him and Calvin and Mikey.
I read that there are over 1200 unique fountains all over Zurich, all flowing clean, pure, cold mountain drinking water.
"Big Fromage" (Cheese) ;)
Kate in Alstadt, Zurich.
Trying to get a table at Zeughauskeller for their famous Sausage sampler platter but no reservations on a Friday night and a party of 7 wasn't going to happen.
The celebration in the town square. "Free meal!"
Gorgeous sunset on the Limmat River.
Switzerland is the land of Chocolate. We likey!
Marie and Mikey playing speed on the train.
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