Switzerland 2012: Auf Wiedersehen or "Its time to go home"

Winter, Spring, Summer...what happened to Fall?

When I started my journey 10 days ago, lemons and olives were on the trees and cool sea breezes eased the humid heat of the afternoons on the Amalfi Coast. Rain finally fell once I reached Milan in northern Italy, but it still felt like spring weather rather than autumn. I woke up this morning to a blanket of snow covering the geraniums in the quaint Swiss window boxes. Quite a shock to my system still not ready for winter.

Window in Zurich.

But a little snow never stopped my exploring - I lived in Finland, Russia and Utah, after all. I stared early and went down to the Zurich harbor to catch a boat for a river cruise, which was included in the price of my 24 Zurich Card. Along with about 20 others, I cruised up and down the snowy shoreline for a hour and a half. Once again, I found myself straining to see the shore of the lake, this time through the snow falling softly and steadily instead of just fog like on Lake Como.



House on Lake Zurich.



Colorful burgher houses in Zurich.

After a bit of wandering the almost empty streets, I headed to the Swiss National Museum to explore a fascinating exhibit called Kapital: history of commerce from Venice and Amsterdam in the 1100's to the modern dynamics of the USA and China. It was very well presented and even had a globe, minus Australia (before it had been discovered.) With a few minutes left on my 24 hour card, I went to the Helmshaus to see some modern Swiss paintings and get a view of the gray city from above.

View of Zurich from the Helmshaus.

I try to spend my Sundays when I travel in museums and local churches. Fraumunster Cathedral is a beautiful building in its own right, but the real highlights are the stained glass windows by Marc Chagall. Filled with biblical images and bold, bright colors, it was easy to get lost in them, trying to identify familiar stories. I just wish I was allowed to take photos inside. A very active (for lack of a better word) church Nazi was wandering around making sure no one broke the rules. She almost pounced on a man with a crying baby, who stopped crying before she could usher them outside into the snow.

Fraumunster Cathedral

The only photo I could take in the entry way of Fraumunster Cathedral.

Speaking of snow, it snowed continually all day long. Wet and cold, I went to find some lunch/dinner in the train station - the only place open on Sunday. All of Zurich and tourists from every country on the globe were there as well. With a dose of CNN and BBC News, I am now up to speed on the events of the day. Hopefully, "Sandy" wont interfere with my return flight and I will be sleeping in my own bed by Monday night.