Zurich quickly became my favourite place in our Euro adventure. After arriving and catching a tram to our AirBnB we were greeted with a small apartment with everything we needed; especially a bath. There were orchids and a little gift. Secretly hoping for wine it was a lovely smelling candle. But for anyone who has ever backpacked before, carrying a candle isn’t the easiest or safest item to transport. Ignoring the practicalities we were so touched by the thought.
After we gathered our thoughts and enjoyed having our own space we explored the neighbourhood. We found it novel to have our own kitchen so went to the super market, bought a meal and wine and cooked up a little feast. We had a bath and enjoyed the wifi. It was our own little slice of heaven.
The following day we set out to explore. Not having any agenda we strolled down along the lake watching people swimming and playing games on the grass. We walked past many ice-cream vendors which caught our eyes after the non-satisfying dessert from yesterday. Around half hour and we were in the city. Everywhere you looked it was pretty – buildings, streets and clock towers, bridges and crystal clear water. It was the most divine city. Maybe because it wasn’t crowded with hoards of tourists like other cities we had visited in the past few weeks.
Grabbing some sushi and heading to a garden to sit on the grass and just be. On our journey down the hill we discovered another river/creek – completely clear; a few cans/bottles but just the fact you could see the bottom made our jaws drop. We walked the shopping mile and saw a bride and groom having their pictures on some old stairs on our climb back up to the top of a hill. From the top we stumbled upon the ‘lookout’ where the most tourist of the whole day flocked. It was nice but didn’t really capture the city’s charm I had fallen for.
After realising we had accidentally completely a loop of the main hub we walked back along the lake; grabbing that ice-cream, which was the best ice-cream I’ve ever eaten. Watching more people swimming and stopped into the supermarket. It was a dreamy day, but it wasn’t over yet. We cooked and ate dinner then took our own togs down to the lake and joined the locals for a dip. Maybe because we didn’t have an agenda, maybe because the city is just awesome, who knows. But it was exactly what my little soul needed.
One of the things I was most excited about with the prospect of going back to Europe was my 30 under 30 goal. For those playing along at home. I am 32 but before I turned 30 I wanted to visit 30 countries before I did. After my European adventures concluded in 2018 my total of countries visited tallied 27. Thinking it would be an easy goal, 3 countries in 3 years, I came home content. Well… we all know how well that went. It didn’t happen and as disappointed as I was I felt like a global pandemic was a fair reason to miss this milestone.
Fast forward to planning this trip. I didn’t really care where we went but I wanted two things. 1) I wanted to revisit London with Declan and share that part of my life. 2) I wanted three new counties, pretty simple right. Well… living in London meant I had visited most of the easily accessible countries. Greece (spoiler) was a no brainer, Declan knew this as it was even one of the destinations on the famous quarantine round the world trip he made me. So that needed to become a reality.
Switzerland didn’t seem too challenging. Sometime between planning and being in Europe I panicked because I was only going to reach 29 countries. That was when I remembered we planned to do a day trip to Liechtenstein, the tiniest of German speaking countries. So it all seemed to work out nicely. You can see why I was very excited about this little country, right? I hadn’t planned anything and to be honest didn’t even know what there was to do. So a little research and this wonderful blog https://www.tosomeplacenew.com/zurich-to-liechtenstein-day-trip-itinerary/ helped get my bearings so I knew what I wanted to achieve in a few hours in this little county.
Using our Eurorail passes we caught the train to Sargans which was an hour trip past the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen – shame we were on the wrong side of the train. From there a very expensive bus at 12 euros each took us across the boarder to Vados, the country’s capital. We jumped off a few stops early to experience a bridge because that’s just who we are. After the last bridge mishap I was nervous but behold it was as the pictures resembled. However, as we were walking across the bride we saw a sign that marked a boarder crossing and we had just reentered Switzerland. This was such a novel concept; still, so there was a bit of country hopping. We sat in Switzerland to eat our fruit and then came back to Liechtenstein.
Along the roaring river and past a sports stadium we had hit the centre of Vados (where we could have caught the bus to). We stopped at the town hall and ate our sandwiches then found a sign to a castle walk, so we followed it. Past an architecturally interesting house and many signs we found the lookout. The castle itself we under renovations and was covered in scaffolding (like everything in Europe apparently).
After the descent we went to the information centre then the postal museum. We posted postcards back home which were bought in Scotland but sent with love nonetheless. We’d sort of seen everything we wanted to on the list and had more time so walked towards a winery. Taking the long way we chanced upon a cute archway and path towards the place we were heading. Turns out it was the winery of the Prince of Liechtenstein. Which was a great tasting experience but we are so spoilt for good wine in Adelaide it was nothing to write home about.
Happy, full and with just one country left. We decided we were content on our wee day trip and headed for the bus home around 3pm. Because it was still rather early I wanted to see a building I saw when we arrived with vines growing on it. Not actually knowing what it was I just wanted a picture of it. When we appeared out of the train station we noticed there were lots of people coming and going from this building. Even so, we walked forward, waiting to be asked for an entrance fee or told we did not belong. Alas, this didn’t happen. Curious to where we were, a question to a uniformed lass informed us that it was the Swiss National Museum’s 125th birthday and to celebrate the occasion the museum had free entrance.
Slightly bewildered we took the opportunity to explore just a few of the exhibitions. On the way we found a time capsule (in one of the most beautiful rooms ever) which local school students had collated items which represented the world they currently live in. This was an interesting concept and insight to Swiss culture, but especially the schools listening to teenagers and allowing them to add things like dildos and porn hub alongside maccas and masks. I don’t think Australian schools would let students bring those to a time capsule. At the end of the exhibition there was a public contribution to the capsule and we added our mark of the Harps Honeymoon. On reflection it would be 3 more generations before this capsule is even open. If the planet survives. Big topics.
The next room which caught our interest was another public participation model of things which have built Switzerland. Touching the screens and watching short films, learning interesting facts like that Duck toilet cleaner originated here, and learning about their sewer system in 2 short minutes. I was fascinated in all the items but I had lost Declan to a big room with projections on all sides. It was a 3D scan of the train station and we were on a journey in and out, up and down. It’s scale was magnificent and we didn’t even know there was a second let alone a 4th story underground.
Running out of opening hours and after being on our feet all day we walked home – a different route. Stopping at the supermarkets again, this time for pizza, beers and train snacks for tomorrow. Another bath and and early night ready for the biggest day of travel yet. Italy to come soon.
Love the Harps
Tune in to the Harps 