Sitting on a train looking outside of the window when a young woman sits down across from me. She reaches for her bag and pulls out a spoon followed by yogurt. At that precise moment I looked outside the window again and began to notice the different kind of vegetation, different architecture, different scenery. It finally dawned on me, I was no longer in Australia.
A massive smile appeared on my face, I was literally grinning like a maniac looking outside of the window, noticing all the differences between Australia and Switzerland where my travels begin.
This is a country I never visited before and I was already getting blown away by how beautiful it is. The luscious greens, the superbly clean rivers, the trams and the incredible architecture were getting hugged by the low hanging clouds which were just about to release a small downpour.
Zurich is Super Chilled
As I got of the train I began walking towards the old city in Zurich. Expecting it to be packed being one of the main cities in Switzerland I was superbly surprised by seeing the streets almost completely empty. A few bike riders here and there, a few others walking towards the coffee shops but no one rushing. Zurich on first inspection seems to be super chilled.
I continued my walk along the river and in the distance I noticed a great big opening. For a moment I began to smile even more as I realized I was nearing a lake. But as I sped up my walk towards the lakes opening I kept on getting distracted by all the small churches and little nooks and crannies which I just had to explore. “The streets are so clean” was one of the first thoughts I had and venturing into all the alleyways always ended up with a pleasant surprise. Small cafe’s, restaurants tucked away in small opening between buildings. It reminded me a bit of Melbourne in Australia but Switzerland is on a whole other scale.
After wandering around aimlessly for what seemed like hours I finally made it to the lake and my jaw dropped. A huge lake with white swans everywhere, surrounded by green hills with white houses scattered all over them.
Now this is what I call beautiful, I have been to many countries around the world in the past and seen many beautiful places but Zurich takes the cake for the moment.
I decided it was time to go to the hostel, I needed a shower (being on a plane for the past 24 hours made me smell very refreshing). I also felt like I would do well with a snooze and then probably go check out the city at night. Instead I arrived at the hostel which was a cheap CHF60 which after converting meant I spent almost $100 AUD. In the dorm I met a Brazilian Fella by the name of Pedro. After chatting for about 5 min it as decided that we were going to explore the city together.
Free Bikes
I had a quick shower, got changed into some fresh clothes and before I knew it we were getting bikes and riding around the lake. The bikes were free which is nice considering that Zurich is super expensive.
As we rode around the lake we realized that spending the next 3 hours trying to make our way around it was a little bit ridiculous, so after about 40 min we headed back into town to grab some food and beer.
One of the more memorable places that we visited was a Museum that got converted into a night time club. It was made up of a huge outdoor area and a circular tent filled with lights speakers and probably the greatest dance floor ever. We spent quite some time in there but afterwards decided to leave and head back to the hostel. There we met up with some other travelers who tagged along with us to another night club. I eventually made it back to my hostel at 3 in the morning and was dreading the next day thinking I was going to have the biggest hang over ever.
Find out in the next episode of Konrad’s Travels if he was actually hungover. How will he manage day 2 in Zurich…
Travelling - Zurich - Day 1 - I love Zurich
