#badenerstrasse

[geostrip21]

Intro + Zurich 1.1

This is where every trip begins – at my house on Potrero Hill in San Francisco. This is looking west from my bedroom toward Mission district, Noe Valley and Twin Peaks in the distance. I am only carrying a backpack for a month trip to Zurich, Paris, Barcelona, Granada and Madrid.

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.

-- T. S. Eliot (Little Gidding)

This was an ever-present issue on this trip. Traveling during the pandemic was a risk, of course and there was a never-ending series of requests for tests, documents, apps and questions AND masks (which I truly hate) but looking back now, it actually wasn’t so bad. I had only a test to get in to Switzerland and one to get back in to the US.

Thanks Doc! Other countries had elaborate vaccine docs, with QR codes or apps to download and stuff to scan, but in the end, my plain old (easily-faked, it’s true!) USA CDC card was accepted everywhere. But I think they're going to get stricter and ask for online documentation.

Zurich 1.1

And so I found myself here -- on the lovely, tidy, friendly streets of Zurich, Switzerland.

This is about 2 blocks from where I stayed on the Badenerstrasse in Aussersihl district, outside the center but a short tram ride away (lines 2 or 3 to the Lockergut stop).

AND WHY was I in Zurich? OK, so I bought these tickets back in April when air fares were very low & TAP Portuguese airlines offered a round trip fare from SFO to either Munich or Zurich for $390. That was so cheap I just had to jump on it, so I did. Booked the return from Barcelona, and then entirely forgot I’d done it. A few weeks later I found a cheap round trip to Athens, which was where I really wanted to go, and where I did in fact go. (You probably saw my blog for that trip like 2 months ago. ) Then a month after I got home I to an email from TAP, 'You still going...?' And so...

This is the view from the top of the funicular railway from the Old Town (Altstadt) up to an area with several campuses of local universities. Zurich is a lovely city with beautiful old and new buildings, many transit options, an excellent bike network and friendly people. I could live there... I think... depends on the winter, of course... (the ice cream is very good...)

It's on a lake - Lake Zurich… or actually it’s where Lake Zurich flows out into the Limmat River. It’s interesting seeing a river flow OUT of a lake. Also flowing out of the lake is the Schanzengraben Canal, which flows into the Sihl River, which joins the Limmat after flowing UNDER the Hauptbahnhof, or main train station. All these waterways make for some lovely walks.

Lake Zurich is at the bottom, flowing north into the Limmat River. On either side of that is the center or the Old Town (Altstadt). On the left side is the Schanzengraben Canal (which was built as a defensive moat) and left of that is the Sihl River flowing north under the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) before joining the Limmat. I stayed at the red dot on the farther left (Badenerstrasse 251).

Here's a picture of the Badenerstrasse where I stayed, near the Lockergut tram station. Note the tram tracks, with grass growing among the paving. They use permeable paving stones quite often to prevent flooding. Also, it's all flat, so a car or bike can drive across easily.

[geostrip21]

Zurich 1.2

Didn't know I would like Zurich as much as I did. It's small but lively, clean but not neurotic, with good ice cream.

See? I'm smiling. I was especially fascinated by the waterways in & around the town. Lake Zurich is rather small (34 square miles) compared to the Great Lakes in the US (largest is Lake Superior - 37,000 sq. mi. and the smallest - Lake Ontario 7340 sq. mi.) but Lake Zurich seems large when you're at the lakefront.

As I said, the Limmat River flows OUT of Lake Zurich here (in the direction I'm facing). The banks of both the river and lake have charming walkways, with swans... and... my personal favorite -- ducks. I really do like ducks, and it seemed like every urban waterway and large fountain on this trip had ducks. Really, we need more ducks. You don't see them here in California.... maybe out in the country. But I lived in very rural Humboldt county and I don't remember seeing many. (Probably because the local gun yahoos shot them all... #armtheducks)

This walkway is along the Limmat in Old Town. The two steeples are attached to the Grossmunster cathedral. (More on that later - it's very central to Zurich history, and the founding of the Reformation.)

This bridge is across the Limmat in Altstadt (or Old Town). Note the locks attached to the railings. This is a strange new activity in Western Europe, that people do at bridges, rather like the tossing of coins into fountains. Visiting lovers will memorialize their romance by placing a lock on the railings of a bridge, as if to say, our love will lock us together forever, and throw the keys into the water.. This started in Paris, at the Pont Des Arts, but spread. Bridge maintenance workers frown on this habit. In fact they removed large sections of railings there back in 2015. The problem was not contained to Pont des Arts, however. According to one estimate, there were more than more than one million locks on at least 11 bridges and other landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower. Read more on this below.

Paris ends relationship with 'love locks'

Paris started removing padlocks from the Pont des Arts bridge on Monday in an attempt to end the tourist tradition of "love locks" on the pr

Farther upstream on the Limmat I came across a piece of the Middle Ages emerging from a time warp. It looked so perfect.

This is what it sounded like. (You need to turn on the audio at the lower right corner of the video.)

The two steeples belong to the Grossmünster church, famous for being the spot where the Swiss Reformed Church began, at the same time as the German Reformation, directed by Martin Luther in Germany. 1519, Huyldrych Zwingli became the Leutpriester (people's priest) of the Grossmünster, where he began to preach ideas on reform of the Catholic Church, including rejection of fasting during Lent, noting corruption in the Catholic hierarchy, promoting clerical marriage, and attacking the use of images in places of worship.

This is a street near trendy Zurich West. At this shop you can get your hair & nails done, as well as get piercing and tattoos. (Actually, I believe this is technically Aussersihl, and the tracks are behind me and the Sihl in front... I think, but it looks just like Zurich West - trendy and old/new.) I did a lot of wandering around Zurich. The variety in architecture was delightful. Lots of bridges and parks and pathways.

Zurich is a transportation hub with train tracks covering huge areas. This picture was taken from a long pedestrian/bicycle bridge which crosses the rail yard. On the right side of this yard is Zurich West, the new name for the Industriel Quartier. It's now the city’s trendy zone, near the Hardbrüke s-bahn rail station between the Limmat River (farther to the right) and these railroad tracks. The former factories and warehouses are turning into apartments, offices and loft space, as well as becoming a center of the city’s nightlife, with clubs, pubs, restaurants, and trendy retail.

Here's the Lyria train network, a subset of the French TGV (Trés Grande Vitesse or Very High Speed) system that reaches into Switzerland. I took it from Zurich though Basel to Paris. Very modern, reasonable, comfortable ... and FAST -- around 300 kmp/h. Next - Arriver au Gare de Lyon...

[eddylicious]