A Little Visit to Zurich

Stylogs,

I always find this an eye opening experience. Travelling to another country is testing your acceptance and perceptions of other cultures. I didn’t go far, both geographically and culturally, and yet the differences are obvious.

Zurich in the summer - Cafe on Limmatquai by the
Limmat River

I visited Zurich for work. Although the flight left Heathrow at an unsocial hour (6am, just think about what time the taxi picked me up…painful), I arrived early enough into town.

The first impression was how clean and quiet the train from the airport was. I never thought a train could be, well, quiet. When you travel on the London underground (or overground) you can’t hear anything. You can’t have a conversation (unless you shout your lungs out), you can’t listen to music (unless you stuff those little plugs down the ear canals where they almost press your brain in), and you can’t really relax. In Zurich you hear other people have a chat three rows away. And they chat in whispers. It’s serene.

The dress code is classy continental. Women make an effort with their dresses in quiet matt colours and the men don’t try to outdo each other with their Jermyn Street shirts. The weather was very hot so the cut was lower and deeper than typical London standard this time of year (mind this is London summer).  An informative stroll down Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich’s main shopping street is interesting, if not life changing. Some of the familiar brands where there (C and A) as well as some local favourites.

On the way back I indulged. Sprungly is famous for chocolates and multi-flavoured macaroons. There must be 20-30 varieties in pink, brown, purple and a gold-pinkish hue with an exquisite chocolate passion-fruit flavour. The filling is airy and the macaroon is not too sweet. Just perfect for a little treat or a different kind of present from the land of the watches.

I couldn’t resist a visit to the chocolate aisle at the local supermarket. There must have been about 50 SKUs there. I quickly hoarded half a dozen and ran for my train back to the airport. On a carefuly (if not yet complete) test, the cranberry dark chocolate is the winner, though the competition is still neck and neck.



Chocolate aisle in a Zurich supermarket, a place to avoid if
you're looking after your waiste line

I know you’re not going to believe it, but my train was 2 minutes late. Travesty. I know.