Zurich

I’d love to say Zurich was everything I imagined and more, but clearly my dreams of visiting Switzerland for the first time held some high expectations. That’s not to say it wasn’t beautiful, because it was, but the Austrian charm that had just blessed my soul set the bar pretty high.

We stayed in Ibis budget, which was most likely mistake number one. After a panic that we had no plug sockets and the surprise of having a shower right next to the bed, it became apparent that the 45 minute walk into the city centre was just that little bit too long.

Day one was rainy and miserable and my heart longed for Austria once more, with it being Sunday everything was closed and we resorted to paying the equivalent of £4 for a small bottle of water. Feeling depleted and robbed, we called it a day and headed in from the cold.

But oh what a difference a day makes, the sun came out and the rain gave up and went home. The supermarkets were open, meaning a bottle of water was no longer a luxury and I could taste my first mouthful of Swiss chocolate – no words can describe the bliss. We headed into town, or rather hiked into town, and explored everything Zurich had to offer. The city is full of cute, quaint shops and I treated myself to various items, mostly chocolate that was demolished before the day was through.

We enjoyed dinner in the Spaghetti House, paying 50 Swiss francs for two bowls of pasta made it the most affordable place in the city. Damn the locals must earn a lot, because Zurich sure is expensive. We spent a large amount of our time by the river, watching the boats pass and enjoying the tiny moments of sunshine that broke through the clouds. Sadly we didn’t have enough time to travel up to the Üetliberg (the iconic mountain offering a panoramic view of the city, which has been high on my bucket list for a while now) as my travel buddy came down poorly on our final day.

Despite the lack of time, poor choice of hotels and miserable weather – Zurich is darn pretty. The brief moments of sunshine gleaming on the tram lines made me think of San Francisco, and nothing beat the chocolate! I left thinking three days was nowhere near enough time to really see the city and knowing there to be much more of Switzerland I need to explore. A road trip would be ideal as I bet driving through the mountains is dreamy – until then a long weekend in Geneva next month will have to satisfy my appetite for more.