Zurich was added to our itinerary on my
insistence. Had it been otherwise, we would have reached Italy a day earlier.
Later we realized how the decision was a lucky one. Zurich is the largest city
of Switzerland, and also its financial capital. Switzerland is known to have
three lingual cultures. People speak French, German and Italian, depending on
the region's proximity to the respective countries. In Zurich, German is used.
We were not able to travel in Germany due to time shortage, and I believed that
Zurich will, to some extent, make for our loss. Often mistaken as political
capital (which is Berne), the grandeur associated with the very name of Zurich
was enough to bring others on board too, as no one wanted to leave Switzerland,
without touching Zurich.
Our experience in Zurich was actually a
touch and go like. We were greeted by a great hustle bustle at the Zurich
railway station, which was larger and more spectacular than some of the major
Indian airports given that Zurich is central node of the extensive railway
network of Europe. The Christmas celebration mood was of course apparent
everywhere the main central hall was lit with colorful lights and floating
decorative chandeliers and balloon structures.
We didn't have a lot of time to spend here,
may be some 6-7 hours. We quickly grabbed a copy of free city map from a nearby
information centre and set out. The temperature had grown uncomfortably cold
since we set out from Toulouse, and a wave of cold breeze hit us as soon as we
stepped out of the railway station. It was all white due to snow, but still
pleasant and inviting. Due to paucity of time, we chalked out a circular path
through the streets of Zurich covering as much as possible, and visiting the
important churches and cathedrals and parks along our way, taking a turn from
the banks of Lake Zurich and returning through the market along the river
Limmat that connects the lake.
Zurich is the financial capital of
Switzerland and one of the favorite places for all big shots of India to have
bank accounts, given the tax haven nature of the country. Anyways the riches
people here held were immediately visible all around. Right from the
fashionable dresses people were donning, to the classy bikes and occasional
Bentleys and Porsches, everything talked about the high standards of living of
this city. No doubt Zurich is one of the costliest in world. We happened to see
the posh brand hotels and the banks like UBS, Credit Swiss etc. after every few
furlongs. We would take some time to stand, observe and absorb the glamour
around only to be distracted by the passing by high frequency trams. The overall energy of the city and its people
was immense.
We caught the sight of an Apple store
across the road and decided to adore the latest in the series of crisp gadgets.
Here we also got access to free internet on the laptops on display and we
checked our mails to match our plans with those of others we were to meet in
Rome. Here I got to put my hands on Apple's Mac Book Air, a Wow thingy!
We took short breaks to pay our obeisance
to Christ at Grossmünster, an Old Romanesque church; Fraumünster, an Old Gothic
church; and St. Peter's Church. We also passed through a couple of snow covered
parks, which being built on rather small raised hillock called Lindenhof
provided a semi-panoramic view of the city below. Here we found oldies playing
chess on large life-size chess boards made of concrete slabs. It reminded me of
the chess Harry Potter and friends played during their quest for Sorcerer's Stone.
After a long walk we reached the lake
Zurich, a calm and serene lake with flocks of birds flying over it. The lake is
known for its clean water which is fed in the water supply after being duly
purified. It was here another interesting event happened. I had wanted to buy
some Swiss chocolates, and had come to know that they were sold cheap here at a
factory outlet of Lindt, that was some 15 km away. I had almost accepted the
inability to go there due to lack of time when I got to know that a bus flew up
to the place from right where we stood. I talked about it with others. Isha had
already bought her stock of chocolates, Rohit wanted to rather go around in the
city. At that point of time we had around 2 hours more and a round journey up
to Lindt outlet would take 30 min. I checked my watch, and in a split second
decided to give it a try. A walk through the market would have been good, but a
chocolaty relic from Switzerland for half the price was better. Pinak decided
to accompany me and Telang, Rohit and Isha chose to stay back and meet us at
the station.
With a constant stare on the watch, we ran
towards the bus-stop. The bus flew every 15 min. As we sighted the bus
arriving, we realized that unlike in France, where tickets could be purchased
inside the bus, here we needed to take ticket from the vending machine at stop
itself. But now, stopping to purchase the tickets meant missing this bus and
wasting 15 minutes. We ventured to get inside with 5 Euros (fare) ready instead
and behave innocent if asked for a ticket and produce the note. Luckily there
was no checking and we enjoyed the 12 min ride for free. We literally ran on
our heels from the “Lindt & Sprüngli" stop to the outlet, did our
shopping in stipulated 10 min, indifferently picking the chocolate packets,
paid the dues and ran back. The whole trip was hence completed in record 1 hour
back to Lake Zurich with delicious chocolates and 1 hour to spare, enough to
enjoy the marketplace along Limmat too. Chocolates were indeed so good, that
they were praised by everyone who got to taste them back in India.
Darkness was taking over, so without
venturing anything else, Pinak and I took the straightest path on our map back.
The evening market was a great sight. We just glanced through the display
windows of the showrooms in our way, displaying costly Swiss watches from
Mondaine, Swatch and the all in one Swiss Army Knives from Vicotorinox and
Wenger. We reached railway station well before time. Feeling hungry, I and
Rohit decided to go to the Mc Donald's across the road and get some burgers,
our feast for the day and also our evening meals.
At the station, there was a perceivable
increase in rush, with thick jacketed people running all around. The electronic
time table display was all in red showing that most of the trains we delayed
and many cancelled. We knew something was wrong. But our train was on time, and
we boarded it, taking our cozy seats and opening our packed meal with a sense
of pride.
No comments:
Post a Comment