Zurich: the Banking City of the World

There are banks everywhere in Zurich. Banks and high end shopping (which doesn’t interest me). Since I was only going to be in Zurich for a few hours I had planned on simply wandering around the city but my friend picked me up from the airport so we could explore together. I met Eberhardt and his wife, Ana, when I was a pinch hit support vehicle driver for a group of motorcyclists who did a tour around CA and NV in the summer of 2023. I absolutely adored them during the trip and promised them I would come out to Germany to visit - and here I am!

It was a little drizzly and rainy when I landed in Zurich but I had my winter jacket with me (more on that another time) so I was fine. I had a couple churches on my list I wanted to see. The Grossmünster is a Romanesque-style Protestant church and we were able to slip inside to look at the stained glass windows and Roman architecture. I also wanted to see inside the Fraumünster as it holds some Chagall stained glass windows…but there was a line and they wanted money...so we passed. 

We ate a little lunch and had a beer and continued walking around the city, to Lake Zurich and then made a trip up to the famous Dolder Grand hotel because Eberhardt had helped with the round additions to this hotel  back in the early 2000’s and it has quite a fabulous view. It is accessible by car but you can also take the tram that makes frequent trips up and down the hill to the hotel. I love walking cities but that would’ve been more like a hike and I was really hot because the sun came out (and I still had a winter jacket). And the tram reminded me of Hong Kong. It’s a luxury hotel for sure and has a golf course, spa, 5 tennis courts, limo service, a 2-star Michelin restaurant, an open air ice rink in the winter, and lots of beautiful art. It is a prominent fixture in the landscape of downtown Zurich.

I thought downtown/old town Zurich was very beautiful, but maybe a little too sophisticated for me. More to this day but it pushes into Germany so stay tuned!