Kiwi Roaming

We had quite a shock when arriving in the UK to near 0 degree celsius temperatures, especially those tricky ones where the temperature is 3C but it “feels like” -2C. So you can imagine how much more of a shock it was arriving in Switzerland to really, really cold temperatures.

We flew over on Friday Nov 21st, and stayed in the Novotel near the airport. It was a lovely hotel to be honest, beautiful room, comfy bed, great bar and lobby, a really upmarket experience paid for, in part, by my Accor points which made it quite ok price wise. The best part was the hotel is right on the tramline, so we walked out of the airport into the frigid air, navigated the ticket machine for 2 minutes, straight onto the tram, then at the other end it was just 1 minute walk into the warm hotel lobby. Yay.

Welcome drinks consumed and Geoff met us so we could all tram / train / walk to meet Zarina for dinner. They chose an interesting food hall where we had pasta which is cooked to order in front of you while the chefs chat with you about the process. Zürich is expensive, really really really expensive. After Portugal we found the UK expensive but this is a whole other step up in price. Our plates of pasta cost over $40 each, we shared a juice which was $15! while yummy it was really all about hanging out with Geoff and Zarina for the evening.

From here we all walked to the first of two Christmas markets that evening. I can’t stress enough how decorated the city is, every building, street lamp, street is lit up with Christmas lights. Little squares have a tree and other decor in them and the main markets have extravagant large festive decor. The first market was a food one and it was heaving with predominantly young people (by young people in their 20’s – 40’s who were out on the town) drinking Glühwein or “glow wine” – cause it is warm in your hands and stomach. Christmas markets are made up of hundreds of little cabins where vendors sell things. At this one it was all food and drinks. There was masses of outdoor seating and people sitting everywhere in groups, sitting in the snow. Yes it snowed. Our first night of walking around while it was snowing which was lovely but our faces were completely frozen. It was reportedly -5C but with the wind chill and snow it felt much much colder.

From here we walked about 1km (in the snow) to the Railway station Christmas market. Geoff wanted to activate a credit card at a UBS ATM so we took shelter in one of those ATM bank rooms which was so warm. There were police all along the route and crowd protection barriers deployed as well in Zürich, and every other city we have visited since, but being Switzerland it felt totally safe.

The Railway station market was partially in the huge covered concourse where you normally wait to find out which platform your train will be departing from. There was an enormous Christmas tree as the main feature. The stalls here were a mixture of food and lovely things you could buy if you earned Swiss Francs. We kept losing Zarina who was busy filming everything, especially the wonderful decorations as it snowed on us. A really lovely night out on the town.

Geoff is off to NZ on the 5th of December and Zarina back to Malaysia, so we could only fit in a quick visit before his big trip. We have been to Zürich before and knew how expensive it was but being here again right after Spain and Portugal just reinforced it. We were only there 4 days (you can read about our alpine adventures here) but managed to fit in another completely different Christmas market on the Saturday night by ourselves, plus found a really great food market where we shared a pizza for dinner, enjoyed the vibe and people watched – it’s like a Time out market with up market vendors and great seating options.

We saw Geoff again on Sunday, he picked us up from the hotel in the morning and took us to his apartment for a quick tour (he has bought / moved since our last stay), took us for a wee drive around then the three of us went to the mall at the airport for a curry in the food court. His apartment complex is a collection of buildings with 6 apartments in each structure on grounds which have common areas including children’s playgrounds. His is on the top / 3rd floor and looks out to the hills nicely. There is a massive underground parking complex for all of the apartments and each one also has a store room which is massive, Geoff houses his bikes, dryer / drying rack and boxes of things there – like we store in our garage. The complex is new and close to the airport and like his previous building has an extensive focus on waste minimisation and renewable energy.

Fleeting visit but glad we made the trip. It was Imogen’s birthday on the Monday when we flew out so I had fun finding a cute pic of her when she was young. Also for Imogen, Zürich has the same cleaning crew as Singapore airport with no sense of personal space – but these ones don’t smile at you!