Zurich, Switzerland. Day 6/9. 25 Aug to 2 Sep 2022.
30 Aug 2022. Tuesday. A sunny morning when we checked out of hotel in Ringgenberg.
We enjoyed every minute spent in Ringgenberg and were reluctant to leave. This place left a deep memory for our trip in Switzerland.
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| I was amazed by how clear and clean the water in the River Limmat of Zurich when I watched videos about Zurich posted by Youtubers. So I was looking forward to check it out when I reached Zurich. Was only able to see how clear the water was, after I checked my pictures. A zoom-in image, showing plants in the water - with natked eyes, I only saw reflection from the water as it was so hot and bright when we were there about 4pm. It felt like 33 degrees celsius though weather forecast was 27 degrees celsius. While walking on the streets, I saw people swimming in river Limmat, or sat by the stairs of riverbanks soaking their feet into the water. If people dare to swim in it, it meant they trusted the clean water in that river, cannot imagine the river in a city can be that clean. As for us, we walked fast to escape the heat, so was not able to enjoy the river view and walk. |
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| Interlaken. From Ringgenberg to Zurich, we need to transfer at Interlaken Ost station. Since there was a 30 minutes wait, we made use of this opportunity to do a quick walk near Interlaken Ost Station. Nothing much here, some old buildings and river view. Actually the riverview was quite pretty. Unfortunately we do not have time to explore here during our 3 nights stay in Ringgenberg. |
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| At Zurich HB station. Zurich HB station was huge. We cannot find any map in the station to direct us to the exit nearest to our hotel. The google map did not help either. It took us some time to get to the correct exit and some time to figure out how to get to our hotel. |
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| Hotel Felix. Room was warm when we checked in. We cannot find the aircon switch. Only a fan was provided to us. So, no aircon. Luckily, weather was cool in the evening. We have to leave the windows open when we return. Hotel is located next to restaurant and shops. Luckily, our rooms were not directly above a restaurant. Otherwise, it will be noisy and smelly when we open the windows. |
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| Lunch at Nordsee in Zurich HB building. We were hungry and not knowing where to eat near our hotel, we walked back to Zurich HB station for lunch. Wanted to eat fish, so we decided to try this out. The fish cost CHF17.50 I think, not sure about the sandwich and rice. Guessed about CHF10+-. The price point here were reasonable by Swiss standard. Taste? Treat it like fast food. |
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| UBS Polybahn at Zurich. https://g.page/ubs-polybahn?share Our 1st sightseeing trip at Zurich. Take the Polybahn. A short walk from our hotel and it is free as it is sponsored by UBS. No staff was spotted to mend the station when we were there. So we help ourselves when the funicular arrived. The ride was very short. When we reached the station at the higher ground (Top picture on the left) we saw a big building with a big courtyard(Bottom picture). A search told us that this is an university. |
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| ETH Zurich. I think the building was quite impressive. Very well maintained. We were allowed to walk into the building. |
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| Lindenhof. Following most tourist recommendations, we proceed to check out Lindenhof. A placed claimed to be best site to see city view. It was just a small park located at a higher ground. |
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| A view River Limmat and some buildings at Lindenhof. To be honest, we were not impress at all. Perhaps we have been to places with better views. To appreciate this place, we need to know all the buildings here and identify them when we see them, no wonder some youtubers cautioned us not to fall into this "tourist trap". Anyway, no extra cost involved. So no damages. LOL. |
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| Sihlcity. I had planned to take a walk at Lake Zurich after Lindenholf. It seemed like we were not able to handle the change of environment, from the quiet country side to the crowded city in Zurich especially the heat. We knew that sports / hiking shoes were cheaper in Switzerland but was not able to pin point where to get them in Zurich HB. We did not come across any shoe shops since we reached Zurich. After a search in google map, we found a shopping mall called Sihlcity with shoe shops there. Having bought the Swiss Travel Pass, downloaded SBB app and activated our mobile data passport was so convenient when we traveled to Switzerland. Checked the app, followed its recommended transportation to take, and we were on our way there without any extra cost. To our disappointment, aircondition at Sihlcity was not strong with not alot of shops too. In the end, we went Starbucks to chill as we cannot find anything we wanted to buy. Guess we spent less than 1.5 hours there window shopping and in Starbucks. Oh, the price point of Starbucks's drinks? Close to SG but priced in CHF. |
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| Maru, Zurich HB. We wanted to have Zurich Fried chicken, located behind our hotel for dinner. Came across this Japanese casual eating place after our trip to Migros supermarket at Zurich HB station. Can you imagine how happy was I. Though it cost an estimated CHF80 in total for this meal, all of us have a proper warm dinner today. We have accepted this as the reasonable dining cost in Switzerland after so many days here. |
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| Maru, Zurich HB. The menu. All around CHF20 each. For restaurant, it will definately cost more than this. |
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| Some great finds from Migros. Chia toast(gluten free bread 200g) CHF2.85, Guacamole (84% avocado) CHF3.70. Hotel in Zurich do not provide breadfast. So we need to get our own breakfast from supermarkets. Got these from Migros at Zurich HB. So cheap and taste good. I have not come across any of these stuff in Singapore with such cheap price and guacamole with 85% avocado. |
Zurich in summary.
- Zurich is only 10mins train ride away from Zurich HB, the reason why I used this place as our base for our last 3 nights because we need to reach airport by 9.15am on 2 Sep.
- Zurich is far more busy then we expected. For shopping, we prefer Bern or Lucern.
- If I have booked the night flight back to Singapore, Bern would be a better place for our last 3 nights stay. Somehow it was more easy to locate the place we wanted to reach in Bern.
- One thing we love about Zurich was the different kind of food available here so long as we are willing to pay.
- I watched a Korean youtuber whom visited Zurich in summer that remarked "it was so hot that we can melt". At that time, I do not understand why at 27 degrees celsius can be that hot. Now I understand.
Itinearary at at glance.
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