So as to not confuse me (and you maybe) I think I'll jump right into my re-cap of the week containing April the 9th.
I finished working that week with a Monday and a Tuesday of overtime and two days of vacation. In the usual ironic twist at the end of my jobs I had more to do in these last two days then I would usually have any other time previously. It is nice to feel needed though. I had spent the week before building a 3D model of a wind tunnel and building in AutoCAD that Jacobs was proposing to have built in Sweden. I had to but the finishing touches on that and make somewhere around 50 images showing the building at different angles and, in some cases, cut through. At the end of it all they offered to take me back later if I wanted during this summer or if they needed help with the model I built. Kinda cool I guess.
Bye Jacobs!
I left work that day with the sun setting on the first part of my time here and the recently arrived spring breeze and orange light filled me, as I walked south through the industrial park, with a satisfying sense of the unique promise in the months to come.
So work was done, horray! But there was no time to celebrate and relax for the likes of me and Sam because the very next morning, at 7:12, we left the Munich Hauptbahnhof carried southwest to Zurich in ever-neutral Switzerland. Our train took us over rivers and really beautiful alpine lakes as it drove towards the snow-capped peaks looming in the distance. Zurich itself sits on a lake (Lake Zurich) in the foothills of the alps. Overall a very nice sight to see.
We arrived in Zurich at around 11:30 and set off semi-immediately to our hostel on the outside of town. Zurich public transport in only trams and buses, which offers a really good way to see the city while traveling places. The tram we took to the hostel was Tram No. 7, which made me chuckle as I thought about the Jens Lekman song of the same title. No connection otherwise.
The hostel was pretty nice. I had never been to a hostel before and didn't really know what to expect, but this was nicer than the hostels in stories I hear. We stayed in a 4 person dorm in a very new looking and clean hallway with spotless bathrooms and showers. Breakfast was provided too. The fact that we were about 10 min outside of the city center probably contributed to this cleanliness.
We shared our little 4 bed room with a Buddhist guy from Brazil; he was certainly an interesting fellow. On the first morning, as we were getting ready in the other room, we heard him doing his morning chant/prayer/meditation thingy. Wacky.
By now, I'm sure, you'd like to see pictures. I really like having the chance to view cities from high; I feel like it's a really important part of feeling a city and I like to think about similar places in Ann Arbor and Cleveland. Anyway, Sam an I climbed into the tower of the Grossmünster (which means Great Minister) in the center of town. That's this one:
Zurich sits on the banks of the river Limmat and Lake Zurich, with the lake feeding the river. The city sits on both sides of the river and there were several bridges connecting the banks. It all has a really nice European feel to it.
What a fine town indeed.
Another thing we liked a lot was all the decorative/drinkable water fountains everywhere:
We were really skeptical at first but after seeing lots of people drink directly from these fountains we were fairly well convinced it was ok. I am now a huge fan of having drinking fountains everywhere; it's awesome!
The next morning we hit the town again. First we found James Joyce. He was dead:
He was also a statue:
We went to their art museum too. I liked it. They had a Rothko and a van Gogh and some other single tokens from important painters, which is nice to see. I do, however, want to see some of the big Rothkos in London. Soon.
As we walked around town we saw what looked to me like the inclines in Pittsburgh. We decided to ride one and see if we could take us to another fine scenic overlook. Instead it took us to the Doder Grand Hotel, a fancy-schmancy place indeed. I just looked at the room rates, the cheapest room you can get is a single for 350 euro! Goodness.
To get in you walk down a long underground hallway lined with display boxes full of fancy suits, watches, and jewelry. The place was really nice inside. Being under-dressed for such an establishment Sam and I pretended to work for Google, thinking that internet businessmen might dress like us. I don't think it really mattered that we were there; we just felt like being goofy.
After all that Sam went off to see Tolstoy’s SOMETHING in one of the Zurich theaters. Normally I would have gone along but I really was not up to trying to sit through a play I know nothing about in a language in which I am not yet competent as last time that resulted in pure frustration, exhaustion, and grumpiness on my part. I instead opted to walk around the city and the lake as the sun set and nighttime crept in. Here’s some Zurich by dusk and by night:
I took a stroll down the lake for a bit then worked my way northwest into town once more. At one point I stumbled across a big party going on in what looked to me like a schoolyard playground. Other than that, nothing too exciting.
The next day, Good Friday, we awoke reasonably early to prepare for our trip back. We had both intended to by some chocolates and the like on our way out but soon found everything closed and thus could not. Before leaving we walked along the river one last time. Then we were off.
What a nice a town. Zurich is definitely not very touristy. Instead I see it as the kind of place best suited for hanging out with friends and just living.
Our journey back that day took a different route than our train on Wednesday had taken because, while searching for tickets, we had found some very exciting possibilities, namely a boat ride. Instead of a direct train home we rode instead to the shores of the Bodensee, crossed by boat, and then worked our way back to Munich. The trip took no more than half an hour more than the direct route would have, so we figured it would definitely be worthwhile.
We only spent about 45 minutes on the boat but that was plenty of time for me to feel like I was riding a ferry on Lake Erie again, though Sandusky does not have any old church steeples visible away from shore.
All in all, a very good trip and a great way to spend my hard earned vacations days!
More to come, more to come.
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