Adventures in Europe: Zurich, Switzerland

It took me two buses and a train in Edmonton, three planes (YEG-YYC-CDG-ZRH), and two trains in Zurich, but late yesterday afternoon I reached my hotel in Switzerland. Although I was desperate to shower and hit the bed, I just freshened up a little and headed out for a walk.

I worked my way from my hotel over to the lake, and around to the opera house. 

I found a gorgeous spot to enjoy the sunset, a beer, and a kalbsbrawt.

This morning, after indulging at my hotel's breakfast buffet, I "rented" a free bike from Zuri Rollt near the train station (literally just a 20 CHF deposit and a small form to fill out and you can have the bike until 21:30!).  

I rode south along the east side of the lake (I am staying on the west side) to the Zurich suburb of Kusnacht where I was able to see Carl Jung's house (but only from the outside down a long driveway; it is now a museum, but open rarely). 

Anyway, I got in thirty-five kilometres of biking all told, and it was a gorgeous morning for it. Zurich has excellent cycling infrastructure which makes it a real pleasure to be out on a bike!  In the afternoon, I made use of the bike to explore more of Zurich, and especially the old town.  Honestly I was pretty lazy about touring in the sense that I did little stopping to actually appreciate anything specific, so I have almost no information to share, just some photos!

I went to a restaurant called Zeughausekeller, apparently housed in an old armoury, for an early dinner.  They claim to have a crossbow on the wall from William Tell.

I ate what is apparently a Zurich signature dish, Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, which is veal and mushrooms in a creamy white wine sauce. The server ladled it onto my plate, and then put the serving dish above a candle for me to reload the plate as needed (proved to be a LOT of food!). It is serve with rosti, basically a pan-friend cake of shredded potatoes. 

I saw this sign as I left the restaurant, which does have weapons all over the place; I assume this is a joke, but I am not confident.