Zurich

WILDERSWILL TO ZURICH 26 JULY 2014

Packed up after breakfast.  Said goodbye to the lovely and talented Gabi, and Fritz drove us to the Station at Interlaken.  Caught the train that was going through Bern to Berlin.  Had 10 minutes there to change trains for one to Zurich.  Took some time to find the platform but got there just in time to board the dining room car.  This was a small section of the lower part of a two storey carriage.  It had a couple of chairs and a serving station, which meant that Brian had to take our cases upstairs and then down again when we got to Zurich.  He says he is definitely going to get a much smaller case for any future travelling.  I guess that means that he won't be bringing the lap top next time, and that we will have to be travelling to somewhere where only light weight clothing is required.

It rained the whole day, and when we got to Zurich, we started looking for the Hotel in the rain.  Brian eventually  left me looking after the cases in a street which we later discovered is in the red light area and went to see if he could find it.  But he got lost and had difficulty in eventually finding me.  I couldn't believe that after about 45 minutes he still had not found the hotel.  He had asked several people, but none of them knew where it was.  I sent him into a hotel opposite where I had been waiting with the bags, and would you believe, it was next door!  It is on at the point of a triangle where two streets running in the same direction meet, and the name of the hotel is covered by a tree.

After checking in, we donned rain coats and walked for about three hours.  We went back to the station to check out about checking the cases in for the flight home on Tuesday night, only to find that we can't do it in advance.  However, we can leave the cases at the hotel, which is good because the flight doesn't leave until 9.30 pm.

Zurich is a very nice city.  The old town is a network of narrow streets and lane ways where you come upon lots of bars, cafés etc.  The shops are interesting, and the shoe shops of which there appear to be hundreds are to die for. 

  I told Brian I was going to buy these for Diane, but he said that they would cost more than the limit on our credit cards!

 Took photos of the Churches.  It seems as though all of them have a clock on their towers.  As Brian keeps telling me what else could you expect from the people who invented time pieces.

 

We walked down both sides of the river and had coffee at the Rathaus Coffee Bar. 

Back to the Hotel for a rest and then out to a Spanish Restaurant for tapas for dinner.

ANOTHER WET DAY IN ZURICH - SUNDAY 27 JULY

Had breakfast at the hotel.  Went for a walk in the opposite direction to yesterday, then got back into the old town where I took the photos of the shoes.  Found ourselves in another red light area - I told Brian that he seems to have a penchant for these areas.  After getting back to the old town we went into the Fraumunster Church and the Grossemunster Cathedral as well.   Both have some very impressive stained glass windows and impressive organ pipes.  The music they produce must be pretty impressive as well because both churches have summer programs of organ music, thankfully for Brian not until August.

We are staying in the  Hotel du Theatre which was originally known as the Theater am Central.  According to the booklet in our room it was the dream of the current owners' father an architect named Giovanni Zamboni. 

"His idea was to build a hotel which integrated art  in its very construction, with sculptures at the entrance and on the facade - a hotel with tales in its own theatre.  In 1951 he built the Hotel with a theatre hall...In the late 1950s cinema became more and more successful and threatened the existence of many a small theatre.  A  screen was erected in the theatre hall of the Theater am Central in 1959, giving birth to the cinema alba, today the art house alba where tales have continued to be spun in the form of serious studio films."

The plays that were performed included works by French, German, and English authors.  the English authors I recognised are two by Noel Coward, Private Lives and Quadrille,  Candida by George Bernard Shaw, A woman of no Importance by Oscar Wilde, Victoria by Somerset Maugham.

The building was thoroughly renovated around 2009 and the aim was to "reanimate with tales to be heard and pictures to be seen".  According to the current owner, Livia Brotschi-Zamboni, the result is a modern hotel in a building steeped in history.  A video artist, Ruth Baettig used props and pictures from the theatre archives and the ones in our room 403, are all from Coward's play, Quadrille.  I don't know that play but am very familiar with Private Lives, so if you ever come to Zurich Robert, you will have to reserve one of the rooms ending in 10.  I.e. 110, 210, 310, or 410.

Had dinner late this afternoon in a very nice Italian Restaurant.  The weather has improved over the day, it is still grey, but has not rained since about lunch time.  We are planning to go to Lucern tomorrow so hope it continues to improve.  Everyone says Lucern is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.