Tag Archives: switzerland

Notes on Switzerland

  • Switzerland has more graffiti than I’ve seen outside of the US. It completely contradicts my image of Switzerland as clean and orderly. In Zürich there’s a long wall where graffiti seems to be allowed, probably in an attempt to redirect some of that tagging impulse.


But I guess it’s not enough for some people.


  • I like currywurst better than döner kebabs.



* No, autocorrect, I don’t mean “dicks.”
** No, not “humped.”
*** Not “Thessaloniki”! Just stop!

Google Fi






Ah, but then the train passed into Liechtenstein. I immediately got a text message that had been queued up when I was back in Zürich. Google Fi welcomed me to Liechtenstein and told me I was offline.







Final Afternoon in Zürich

I dropped $200 at Sprüngli getting omiyage for everyone. They’d sure better appreciate it. Granted, I ate some of it myself, but still…



I mean, really, I had to. How often do you have the chance to walk down Bahnhofstrasse in the rain, eating macaroons? Not often, I’d wager.

Then a quick dinner of Döner im Teller while watching Turkish music videos and over to the Andorra bar for local Zurich beer. Andorra plays Frank Sinatra, Elton John and Kiki Dee, and what sounds like Rod Stewart singing a CCR song. Wait…now they’re playing nuevo flamenco. It also uses a propeller for a ceiling fan.

I asked the bartender if she was from Andorra. She said she was from “Espain,” but had only been there for two weeks and didn’t know why the bar was called Andorra.

Now back to the hotel to try to pack everything without crushing it.

Sonntag in Zürich

Things close here on Sunday, more than they would in the US. A fair amount of places were still open, but they were mostly restaurants and a few souvenir shops. Most of the stores on Bahnhofstrasse were closed.

But people were still out and about. Not as many as were out on Saturday afternoon and evening, but still quite a few. I think that’s part of what made me think of New York City in the 1920s. I’ve never really been to New York City, and I was very young in the 1920s, so I don’t remember what it was like, but in movies everyone is always out strolling around. They do that here. It’s a big city with a small-town feel.

I walked around for a while and looked at Lake Zürich in the fog.


Then I got on one of the commuter boats and rode a full loop down the river and into the lake and back again.


I got a Dönerbox* and sat by the river to eat it, then wandered around some more.

I saw quiet waterways.


And narrow alleys.


And dragons.


And fountains that look just like the ones in Paris.


I also stopped by Starbucks to make a necessary purchase.

* It’s important to note that box is feminine. You shouldn’t ask for ein Dönerbox; it’s eine Dönerbox.

Zu Zürich
















The Cellars of Bern

One of the more intriguing aspects of central Bern is that the streets are laid out for walking in the street as well as on the sidewalks. The sidewalks are covered, with one or more steps down to the street. The streets are cobblestone, and have wide areas where merchants used to sell their wares. Now these areas merely provide a safe place for tourists to wander around and take pictures without getting run over.

Along the edges of the sidewalks, facing the street, there are cellar doors. In centuries past, these were used as wine cellars or general storage, but now they house restaurants, bars, and all manner of stores. For example…

There’s a theater.


And a tango studio.


And a wat phoo.


And a bar that serves absinthe.


And the Einstein Kaffee und Rauchsalon, below the aforementioned Einstein Cafe.


This Flammen-Bar is beneath the Paraguayan embassy.


The Hardware Store, mentioned in the previous post, is the perfect fit for a cellar environment.


As you approach the river, the street drops off faster than the sidewalk, the cellar doors become regular doors, and the cellars become the ground floor.


Feel the Bern


















And Todd and Thelma together:












