CITIES
Gorgeous Zürich and only two days to explore it
Medieval churches, wild nature, foggy mountains, and the Independence Day of Ukraine
We didn’t plan to visit Switzerland. But since the Front Conference kindly invited me to speak, my wife and I decided to extend our stay in Zurich for a couple of days. We had zero expectations (apart from the high Swiss prices) and hadn’t read anything about this city ahead of the trip, but it felt like an unforgettable mini vacation.
Morning tranquility
The Zurich I love might not be the Zurich you are likely to see as a casual tourist. As my blog title suggests, I got up at 5 a.m. to capture the calmness and emptiness of the otherwise busy city.
Zurich is two millennia old. It was founded by Romans who called it Turicum. The city hasn’t suffered any destruction in wars due to famous Switzerland’s neutrality. That’s why at first, I couldn’t believe all the perfectly preserved old buildings were actual Renaissance and Gothic, not neo-Renaissance or neo-Gothic of the 19th century.
The only missing historical object is a castle on the hill — first a Roman fort, later a Carolingian imperial palace. Zurich citizens demolished the latter in the 14th century and never rebuilt it again. Now it’s a lime tree park, Lindenhof. Locals are proud of its political symbolism: what used to be a center of power is now a meeting place where one can read a book, play giant street chess, or gaze at passing boats.
Our trip to Zurich coincided with the Day of Restoration of Ukrainian Independence, 24 August. We were surprised to see blue-and-yellow flags here and there as a symbol of support from always neutral Switzerland. 60 thousand Ukrainian refugees found shelter in this gorgeous mountain country, not to mention financial aid.
On Independence Day, the Ukrainians of Zurich installed a tent near the town hall to raise awareness about Ukrainian culture and the Russian eight-year-long war of aggression against Ukraine.
Police station: Blüemlihalle
For the first time, I’m writing about police in this blog. Waisenhaus is the city police headquarters and the only remaining building of the former orphanage. City authorities started its conversion into a municipal building in the 1900s. First, they turned the cellar into a vaulted entrance hall and, in 1922, launched a competition to paint it.
Prominent Art Nouveau painter Augusto Giacometti easily won the competition and completed frescoes by 1925.
Giacometti’s Flower Hall (Blüemlihalle) combines floral and geometric patterns and depicts different crafts and sciences — carpenters and stone carvers alongside astronomers.
Like historical architecture? Then follow my Instagram with architecture photos every day — from 🏰 Gothic to 🏢 Modernism.
Cathedrals, frescoes, and Chagall
Whenever I travel around Europe, medieval churches fascinate me as if I’ve seen them for the first time. One of those is the Grossmünster (Great Minster), the most recognizable building in Zurich. It was constructed between 1100 and 1220 on the site of an even earlier church and combines the Romanesque and Gothic styles.
We climbed the tower during a swimming competition on the Limmat and observed it for a few minutes from above. It was interesting to recognize places we had already visited a day before; otherwise, it would’ve been just another European city panorama.
Then we went to the Fraumünster (Women’s Minster), the oldest of Zurich’s four old town churches. King Louis the German built it in 853 for his daughter Hildegard on the remains of an abbey for aristocratic women, hence the name. In the 11th century, the convent gained a lot of power, including the right to mint coins, so the abbess was actually ruling the city until the rise of guilds in the 14th century.
Since 2016, you can enter the crypt, which dates back to the church’s foundation time, and see an exhibition on how this originally Romanesque church turned into its present Gothic form. Another wonderful place is a chapel under the southern tower. The tower was removed long ago, but the chapel features several fairly recognizable frescoes.
In 1970, artist Marc Chagall designed five large stained glass windows. Each window has a dominant color and tells a particular biblical story. The green color of the central window symbolizes Christ, blue stands for Jacob, and yellow represents the heavenly city of Zion.
Night lights and lake cruises
In the evening, city lights turn on, and all ancient buildings look golden: guild houses, churches, and the town hall. I love the so-called golden hour and always try to take as many long-exposure shots as possible — with sharp buildings and blurred people and cars.
After the working day, the city bustle changes to overall laziness and relaxation; only boats and trams rush back and forth. People are merrily chatting and laughing. The best way to enjoy nights in Zurich is to buy a bottle of wine, grab a pizza, and go to the river bank; if all benches are occupied, no worries — you can sit right on the dock stairs or lean on the bridge railing.
By the way, the evening is also the best time for lake cruises. It’s getting a bit chillier, and there are not so many people there. The ship stops at the cute stations of nearby towns, and misty peaks of the Alps on the horizon catch the last sun rays before darkness.
Wildpark Langenberg
Yeah, Zurich lake is fantastic… On working days, locals, including many men in strict business suits, come here for lunch. They buy something at nearby bistros or bring lunch boxes with homemade meals. Ducks, swans, and seagulls crowd at the bank asking for food and almost try to snatch a sandwich from your hands.
But if you want to see bears, horses, bison, boar, wolves, and foxes, simply take a train to a local wild nature park. Unlike a classic zoo with enclosures, animals in Langenberg reside in large forest areas. Standing on one of the viewing platforms, you never know whether a beast will come out of the wilderness (and offering your lunch won’t help).
The most amusing place in the park is Müsli-Hüsli (Mouse House); it’s a wooden cabin with free-ranging mice in a simulated kitchen interior and rats in a cellar surrounding. Children and adults absolutely love it!
I didn’t take many pictures in the wild park because of the challenging sunlight that day and the pretty long distance from animals. This is where the human eye works better than any camera.
One can explore Langenberg the whole day, but unfortunately, we had other plans too. The only animals we weren’t lucky enough to see that day were lynxes, foxes, and beavers. And the only wolf we found curled up and slept in an earthen pit.
Sunny Felsenegg
Now, mountains. If we hadn’t gotten on top of any of them, you wouldn’t believe we were really in Switzerland. So, after visiting the wild park, we went one station back to Adliswil and took a cableway to the top. Two guys with mountain bikes entered the cableway car with us, and at that point, I was so jealous that we had left our bikes at home.
Just look at this awesome trail in the picture below. I can literally hear this photo: the crackling of pinecones and dry branches and the gentle rustle of sandy paths under the bike tires.
The views were so majestic that we forgot about hunger and walked until we heard our bellies gurgling. Fortunately, a great Swiss cuisine restaurant, “Felsenegg,” was about 5 minutes walk from us. Of course, we ordered cheese fondue there. The basic fondue consisted of bread and melted cheese, but we also added potatoes and pineapples, and the latter was surprisingly delicious.
While our fondue was being prepared, I ran to the nearby pasture to take a picture of Swiss cows enjoying the mild evening sun.
It was our last evening in Zurich before the return trip. We were drinking herbal tea with chocolate cake. The cake, by the way, was a surprise from the restaurant for the Zurich Card holders (we had such cards thanks to the fantastic Front Conference team).
Mysterious Uitleberg
The next day, just several hours before our flight back home, Oksanka and I decided to visit one more place where our friends had been a day before. So, we had a quick breakfast at the hotel and rushed to the station to catch the train to Uitleberg mountain, where you can see probably the best Zurich panorama.
But the closer we approached the end station, the more apparent it became that we wouldn’t see the city. Instead, we enjoyed the foggy forest with rocks sticking out of the blurred milky void.
To be honest, I was even glad to experience this thick fog instead of observing the city from above. This may be the second time I have seen such a fog in my life. So mysterious! Now when I look at these pictures again, I think the best soundtrack for them is one of the albums by Drudkh, a Ukrainian metal band.
When I published this article yesterday, Russian invaders fired 12 long-range missiles at the Ukrainian critical civilian infrastructure. They hit Kharkiv TEC-5, the country’s second-biggest heat and power plant, which caused blackouts in several regions on Sunday evening and night.
Please keep on supporting Ukraine. Below are the trusted local organizations for your donations. Thank you!
- Special account of the National Bank of Ukraine — accepts nine currencies, including Euro and U.S. dollar.
- Save Life Fund — works since 2014; accepts Euro, U.S. dollar, and Bitcoin.
- Medical Batallion Hospitallers.
