6 Hours in Zurich

by Aaron · August 29, 2012

Alleyway in Zurich

The short time I had in Zurich was fun and relaxing, but hot…like really hot…like 95 F and humid hot. After arriving in the city center I wandered around downtown aimlessly, and even got lost for a little bit. Downtown Zurich is clean, beautiful, and not what I expected architecture wise. When I think of Zurich I guess I thought of the big banks and big companies. So I expected the skyscrapers and modern buildings that usually come with those industries. However, it was the exact opposite of that. No tall buildings whatsoever, and every building seemed to be in a traditional style, and the city just felt old. Normally I research a place a lot before going there, but for this layover I figured I’d just go with the flow.

After almost an hour I realized the flow wasn’t taking me anywhere interesting, so I went to the STA Travel office I saw when I first got off the tram to ask what I should do. Since I didn’t have much time, and it was ridiculously hot and humid, they suggested I walk down and see the lake. I took her advice and started walking down the river towards the open water. Along the way I saw this really weird protest involving climbers shouting down from a church steeple. Apparently it was a protest to “Free Pussy Riot”, a music group that had been jailed for staging a protest in Russia.

Free Pussy Riot protest

Lake in Zurich

Unfortunately, a mile into my walk I was starting to regret visiting the lake. It was really hot, and my foot was starting to hurt again from my injury. I walked on a little bit further and sat by the lake for a while. I wish I had packed my bathing suit in my carry on, there were a ton of people swimming, but maybe another time.

Hooray for front facing cameras!

When I got hungry I started to walk back, and planned to find something to eat along the way, but every restaurant I passed was ridiculously expensive. Like $35-40 (USD) for lunch expensive. I knew that Zurich was an expensive city, but I wasn’t expecting that. Eventually I found a cafe near the train station and grabbed a snack of sausage and cheese and relaxed for a little bit. By this time I had walked over 3 miles with a 30 pound backpack and was drenched in sweat. So I just decided to head back to the station and catch the next train to the airport. In total I probably spent about 3 hours in the city.

Even though I left for the airport ahead of schedule, I had always intended to go to the airport early, to check out Swiss airline’s flagship lounges. In addition to the free food, drink, and wifi similar to Boston’s Lufthansa lounge, the Swiss lounge also had showers! I took a “quick” shower, and grabbed a little food. Despite 4 Cokes, and 2 shots of espresso I passed out for a quick nap. Unfortunately at this point jet lag was starting to get to me, and the 3 hours of walking wasn’t helping, so the pictures stopped for a little while.

The world’s longest bar in an airport lounge.

My flight was delayed a little bit, but I decided to walk over to my gate before I completely passed out. Fortunately I woke up when the lounge started getting busy. My fight to Budapest was on a smaller jet, so after they checked our boarding passes we were loaded on a bus and driven out to our plane. Once I was in my seat, I was out like a light. Apparently we were delayed on the ground for like 45 minutes, but I was almost in a coma. I remember being offered water and chocolate (this must have been after a half hour or so on the ground), and I vaguely remember take off. I woke up just long enough to eat lunch (dinner? who knows…), and take a few pics out the window before going back to dreamland.

Arrival in Budapest was smooth, and uneventful. Hungary is part of the Schengen Area which is a European zone without internal border controls. You are scrutinized entering the zone, but are free to move between countries within it. I had entered the zone in Switzerland and so when I arrived in Budapest there were no customs or passport control to go through. Just collect my bags and go. There was a nice, cheap shuttle to my hotel and getting to the city from the airport was fast and easy. Unfortunately things went a little downhill from there, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.