Zurich, Second Time Around

We were here in 2017.  We both were amazed that we did not remember much about that visit.  I looked at my post on my former blogsite, OffExploring.com, and found that some of the photos I took this week are much the same as ones I took six years ago.  The weather then was much as it is today – cold and rainy.  Clumps of old, dingy snow lie along streets and sidewalks from last week’s first snowfall of the season. 

I love this part of the world.  It is mature, yet young at heart and very sophisticated.   But its penetrating cold weather is something my bones cannot be happy about. 

We returned to Switzerland this time intending to see the Christmas markets and we have indeed!  Festive markets are all over town.  Each vendor is housed in a natural wood “gingerbread house” with bright red trim.  Each market village is decorated with fir trees and evergreen boughs.  The happy crowds milling through the stalls add to the exciting atmosphere.  To see the expression on a child’s face when they first see the tall, decorated Christmas tree at each market is heartfelt and thrilling.  The sight brings back memories of our children at that age and even our own childhood. It truly feels like Christmas!   

We visited two markets near the Opera House, and as if the wind, dampness, and cold could not be felt, throngs of people milled about shopping, eating, and having fun.  We joined right in.    

The Opera House and the market were just off Lake Zurich. The lake is on the south side of the city and is frigid this time of year.  To get there we took a bus to the downtown area.  Using the GPSMyCIty app, Stan acted as our tour guide.  We headed to the lake as our first stop.  On the way, we wandered onto Bahnhofstrasse, the richest, most expensive shopping street in the city at Paradeplatz.  The store windows, decorated in high style for Christmas, were an unexpected thrill – regardless of my age, Christmas is always magical for me.  We oohed and ahhhed like children.  

At Burkliplatz we saw the fountain monument of the man taming a bull and recalled seeing it years ago.  Just across the street are the banks of Lake Zurich.  Things began to look familiar in this part of town especially the five low-slung bridges crossing the Limmat River and the twin clocks on church towers hardly two blocks from each other. Probably the most famous clock tower is on the slim blue spire on the gothic Kirche Fraumünster built in 1732; the other clock tower is part of the historic St. Peter’s Church, the oldest parish church in Zurich from the ninth century.  Until 1911, St. Peter’s Tower was used as a fire watch post.  We don’t see this very often but both broad-faced shining black and gold clocks showed the precise time.  

The icon of the city is the twin-towered protestant church, the Grossmünster. Once a monastery, the church was inaugurated in 1220. At that time the two towers were wooden. Towers of sandstone replaced them 500 years later.  

I often write about churches, palaces, and castles that have life spans of hundreds of years but this kind of history still puts me in awe. 

Up the hill from the first bridge on the River Limmet, and just around the corner, we found another Christmas market and wandered its stalls.  This small market featured foods!  Sausages, cheeses, hot mulled wines, fine baked stuffs. and things familiar and unfamiliar to us.  We tried grilled brats and a roll – that’s the thing here.  Everyone eats one.  The skin of the delicious sausage almost snaps when you take a bite.  

Eating is the thing to do at Zurich’s Christmas Markets!! The largest Christmas market here is at the main train station, Zurich Hauptbahnhof.  Over 150 stalls are strung out the entire length of the main concourse.  On the day we visited, huge crowds of families and tourists were there taking photos, enjoying the treats, and shopping under the cover of the train station and out of the weather.  We did not buy anything, no hat, no basil- or lavender-flavored cheese, no Italian sausage, and no jewelry but we did try a cup of mulled white wine and a plate of Raclette – a traditional Swiss dish of boiled potatoes slathered in melted Raclette cheese served with pearled onions and gherkins.  It is made to keep a person warm . . . and chubby.  A long slab of Raclette cheese is heated in a narrow tray over a fire, then scraped, all oooey-gooey, onto smashed, warm boiled potatoes.  To do it the right way, the serving must be sprinkled with black pepper.  Talk about delicious, get me outta here!   

Other Christmas market food offerings were dumplings and great masses of crispy French fries, plain or flavored with truffle oil, and sweets . . . oh the sweets . . . detectible cheesecakes, waffles topped with an unimaginable selection of deliciousness, and chocolate-coated airy marshmallow domes, called Kokos.  I got a sugar high from just looking at them.  These must be what “sugar plums” are all about. Again, get me outta here! 

The Swiss do love their chocolate!  Exclusive chocolate shops are on every corner in downtown Zurich and people seem to think nothing about spending 25 CHF ($25) for a single small Swiss chocolate Christmas tree or $80 for a tiny, decorated box of Swiss chocolate yummies.  We visited Confiserie Sprungli, Zurich’s most well-known shop for Swiss chocolates.  This shop has been making and selling fine chocolatiers in the same location since 1836 and is still going strong.  The large, dark, rich wooden paneled shop was so crowded with shoppers that one might think they were giving away samples.  It is the premier place in Zurich to buy a gift of chocolates. 

We ran across a story about Confiserie Sprungli from its more puritanical times.  This place for expensive chocolates was once also a café where elderly ladies from Zurich’s upper class often gathered.  The story says that young men who attended this café alone could signal their availability by turning over their coffee spoons in their cups.  Quite a subtle come-on.

There is little better than a visit to Switzerland at Christmastime. The markets are charming, the store windows are grand, and traditional Christmas trees are on every corner! The very best and most thrilling experience was the Singing Christmas Tree. I had read and heard about it but still did not know exactly what to expect. The day was damp and a soft mist was falling, but I was determined to see this spectacle. We arrived at Werdmuhleplatz just as members of the choir from the Zurich International Baptist Church were taking their places on the tiered platform covered in greenery. They wore bright green sweaters and Christmas red hats and scarves. How can that be that we just happened to catch a choir from an English-speaking church? And how they could they sing! They sang all the good Christmas gospel carols that moved me with joy and tears. But when they belted out the old gospel song, “Mary was the First One to Carry the Gospel,” I could not help from swaying and clapping to the music. What a blessed time!

Just as we planned on Saturday, we met Barry and Reto for drinks at the very chic Widder Bar. The place was packed with people. The four of us spent a wonderful hour or so, laughing, power chatting, and making plans to see each other again on our next trip to Europe. Until then . . .