Zurich

I arrived in Zurich Thursday morning and met my friend and her cousin at the Hauptbahnhof. I had no idea just how big the railway station was, we had arranged to meet at Starbucks which was actually on the lower floor of the station. After we met up we walked to our hotel to drop our bags off, turns out the room was ready so we got an early check in! We stayed at X-Tra Hotel, a *** located on Limmastrasse. It was a great example of a budget hotel, especially for Switzerland. Everything was clean and tidy, our room was spacious and the staff were very friendly and helpful.

Having dropped our bags off, we headed out to explore Zurich. We visited St Peterskirche, the church with the largest clock face in Zurich. We admired the view of the town from the Lindenhof Citadel. We checked out Grossmunster cathedral. We had drinks at a kitschy little outdoor bar called Kleine Freiheit on Leonhardstrasse. Reasonably priced at around 5CHF for a coffee or a beer.

That evening we headed out to experience the nightlife Zurich is famous for. A 10 minute walk from the hotel brought us to the start of Langstrasse, the former red light district of Zurich. Though there are a few strip clubs and inappropriate shops, majority of the brothels have moved out of the city. There were still prostitutes on almost every corner however. We visited 3 bars; Bar 63, a classy little bar with an interesting cocktail menu, Franz Kaiser, named after the sports person, a friendly and inviting atmosphere with interesting beers, and finally Ole Ole, a popular hangout on the corner of Langstrasse and Lagerstrasse.

The next day we booked a sightseeing tour and lake cruise through Gray Line tours. It was pricey, at 39 CHF per person, but very informative and enjoyable. We bought a picnic lunch at Coop Central in the morning and ate it on the boat, we also BYO beers.

After the boat cruise returned we went to the Jules Verne Panoramabar on Uraniastrasse. This bar is just below a working telescope, providing panoramic views of Zurich.

We returned to the hotel around 6pm and noticed a sign had been put up on the adjoining club"Rollschuh Disco". We asked at the reception and as it turns out the 25CHF door charge was waived for guests of the hotel, so of course we went!

We also hit up Langstrasse again, returning to Ole Ole and also visiting the Stray Cat Bar across the street. The Stray Cat was playing American rap and hip hop which was random! It was also incredibly cheap by Swiss standards, 5CHF for a Jose Cuervo tequila shot. We returned home at 3:15am, probably the latest I have ever stayed out in Switzerland. I was so impressed with the cool nightlife and culture compared to Geneva. If only I had a few more weekends left, I would be back there in a heartbeat.

The next morning I fare-welled my friends as they headed off to Munich for Oktoberfest. I decided to go to the zoo, having heard good things about it from a friend in Geneva. I left my bag at left luggage at the Hauptbahnhof, costing 6CHF for the day. Then I took the tram number 6 direction Zoo from HB. The 1 hour public transport ticket costed 4.20CHF. It was a 20 minute tram ride up the hill, then a 300m walk to the zoo entrance. It costed 19CHF for me to get in because I'm under 24 (they didn't ask for ID either).

The first of the three main draw cards for the zoo is the penguin parade. This is only done when it's below 10 degrees celcius, so it was too hot when I was there. The emperor penguins are obviously well socialized with humans, when I was looking through the glass at them they came right up and looked at me.

The second draw card for the zoo is the Kaeng Krachan Asian elephant park. Opened in June 2014 the 11 000 square meter park is home to 7 elephants, soon to be 8 with the arrival of a new bull expected very soon. The youngest member of the elephant herd is baby Omysha, born in the new park on June 17 2014. The impressive elephant park has both indoor and outdoor areas and swimming holes for the elephants. One of these swimming holes has a glass wall and viewing area, where the keepers give daily talks while the elephants are swimming. 

The third and most spectacular draw card at the zoo is the Masoala Rainforest. This exhibit is an entire rainforest ecosystem in a large greenhouse type thing. Extraordinary rainforest wildlife grows inside with native birds, frogs and lizards roaming freely. There are also several giant tortoises on display. The lemurs and other monkeys are not so fond of the visitors, if you crane your neck all the way up you will probably see them hiding in the roof rafters. The treetop walk offers a phenomenal panorama of the rainforest. Afterwards a drink or lunch in the restaurant is a must, with an entirely glass wall you feel like you are dining in the forest.

All up the zoo took me about 4 1/2 hours. I could have stayed longer and watched the baby elephant all day! It is definitely a must if you have a free day in Zurich. After my visit to the zoo I returned to the city to catch my train back to Geneva.

Next up is Oktoberfest! I leave on Wednesday for London and go with Contiki to Oktoberfest. I cannot wait!

Happy wandering x