2 weeks ago I visited Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland. It's a kind of fabulous place. First off, please observe this picture of the train station.
I got off my train (Zurich and St. Gallen are only an hour apart by rail, cha-ching!!!!), stepped into the sunlight, turned around, and nearly fainted at the sight. The rest of the world really needs to get its act together if this is what the train station looks like in Zurich. It basically felt like I had stumbled out of Versailles and into Disney World. Best. Ever.
Zurich is known as the financial capital of the country and this was evident by the hulking luxury stores (like Bally, Louis Vuitton, and Dior), the men in impeccably tailored suits, and the prices of everything I encountered. Basically the city is historic, beautiful, and wealthy. Paris is not the City of Love; in my opinion, it's Zurich :).
Being the Catholic boy that I am, I visited two of Zurich's most famous churches, both of which, I later figured out, were Protestant. One called Fraumunster featured original stained glass windows by Marc Chagall, one of my favorite artists. The other called Grossmunster has a Roman style crypt that dates back to the 13th century. It smelled funky but I'm relatively certain that it is the oldest building I've ever been in. Here is Grossmunster, right on the banks of the Limmat river.
I also visited the fabulous Swiss National Museum which had a VERY fabulous exhibit about Postmodernism. It felt nice and pretentious to tell people that I went to a postmodern exhibition but it happened and it was basically all about the 80s and Grace Jones. I spent the day walking up and down the river, visiting stores, observing the opera house, using a public bathroom that was basically a jacked up port-a-john, and eating wiener-schnitzel at the famous Cafe Odeon. Apparently famous people like Lenin and Einstein were patrons back in the day so I thought it would be the only place that would be appropriate for me to deign to have dinner.
Also, there are randomly swans all over the river and it just solidifies Zurich's fabulousness. I literally spent a good collective 45 minutes watching the Zurich swans bob down in the water for food and interact with each other. And at one of the train stations I passed, there was a little mart called Panetarium. For me, the name implies that it is like a whole planetarium of bread or it's like a sanitarium of bread where I could go and recover from a mental illness by surrounding myself with it.
That weekend, my host parents took me to a city called Rorschach which is a beach city on the banks of Lake Constance. I was kind of hoping the whole time I was there that people on the street would assault me with ink-blot tests but Rorschach is more than just a psychological test. We were there to view some sand sculptures that were part of an annual contest. Unfortunately, many had suffered some rain damage but they were all extremely impressive in their size and execution.
Something to consider: there was a beach volleyball tournament while we were there and the cheerleaders all wore bellydancing scarves like it was a Moroccan restaurant or Zumba. It was better than pom-poms but none of the players could have stood a chance to Misty May or Kerri Walsh.
I've also been enjoying St. Gallen. I had lunch at the famous Dome which is a giant Catholic cathedral in the old part of the city. It's definitely the most beautiful building I've ever been inside. I happened to be eating lunch a the same time a wedding was exiting the church. During the white dove release, all of the wedding guests had a lovely view of me eating salami as they watched the birds flock to the cloudy sky.
Kate and I also ate lunch here last Thursday which is where the cat picture came from. Most disturbing. Also, I ate this.
I got a Swiss ID card! Kate thinks I look very Pittsburgh in my picture and I agree. Between the baseball shirt and the almost-beard and the facial expression, I may as well have just suggested that we all "go dahn to the GianIggle for some huggies and chipped ham". Here it is compared with my 1/2 fare train card and below are Kate and my 1/2 fair cards in which we really look like partners in crime who got their mug shots taken. We're great.
On Sunday, my host parent's took us to a photography exhibit located at the base of a giant bridge. The pictures were all of famous Swiss bridges and other structures and how they integrate with nature. The photos and the surrounding area were all gorgeous. I loved being beneath the bridge and in the company of the mountains. We also walked past some fields and tried to get the attention of some cows.
Good times all around! I can't wait for fall to come so that I can see all the leaves changing and more importantly, so that I can show off all my sweaters. Thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!!!!
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