Return to Zurich

Monday 8th December

The morning was spent reading - what a lovely way to start a week! 

In the afternoon Richard met up with some Swiss colleagues and Rosie went Christmas shopping. The city was so busy I didn't stay there too long - I thought Mondays were a quiet retail day!

Sunday 7th December

Another grey cold day started with a walk to get an English Sunday paper. After lunch we went to see the film "Anywhere but home" (This may be called "4 Christmases" in the U.K.) light hearted and funny. 

Saturday 6th December

Shopping day today, so out early to avoid the crowds. It gets much busier here late morning by which time we were home. It was a cold grey day so we spent time reading and relaxing.

Friday 5th December

Another "recovery day" started with a walk to the local market near the lake, later we had lunch with one of Richard's former colleagues from Guernsey. 

Thursday 4th December

We caught a train to Basel as we had tickets to a concert by 70's band Focus. We had only ever driven through Basel and you do not get to see the city that way. The old part of the city has very attractive buildings and is quite compact. Again there was a Christmas market which added to the ambience. In the evening we headed out to the suburb where the concert was to be held, this was different to any other concert we had been to! It was held in an old warehouse kitted out for concerts but which was situated on the edge of an industrial site. The old music was really good to hear but neither of us really appreciated their new tracks (maybe our age!). The concert did not end until well after 11:00pm so this was a long day and we did not get back to Zurich until after 1:30am.

Wednesday 3rd December

This was a "rest day" - we had a quiet day in and around Zurich.

Tuesday 2nd December

We bought a travel card today and experienced the Austrian underground and trams, this enabled us to get out to the Schonnenbrun Palace although time did not permit us to go inside, but what a magnificent building, where Mozart played his first concert at the age of 6. Here like in a lot of areas of Vienna there was a Christmas market.

From here we headed back into the city and continued sightseeing including St Stefans Kirche and tasting the Austrian Gluewein - a must for

 any visitor at this time of year. 

Monday 1st December

An early start today as we are off to Vienna. On arrival we caught a bus (it is cheaper and you get to see more) into the city and found our hotel where we dropped our bag off and headed off to explore the city on foot.  We found the museum quarter which has some beautiful 

buildings. 

We were lucky enough to purchase tickets for a chamber orchestra concert in the evening of music by Mozart & Strauss. Needless to say going to a concert in Vienna was truly memorable. 

Sunday 30th November

A bright sunny and frosty morning and we went for a drive to the Greifen See where we went for a lovely crisp walk. After lunch we headed for a pub to watch the Man Utd and Man City match and then onto the Christmas parade.

Saturday 29th November

A grey day today so we didn't venture too far, in the afternoon we went to see the film "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". Having read the book it was a very meaningful film, so sad and showed the naivety of children and the consequences of a lack of truth and communication. 

Friday 28th November

We headed down to the local market near the lake after breakfast only to find it really was freezing cold, it was unusually breezy in the city increasing the wind chill factor. The view across the lake was lovely with lots of snow having fallen on the mountains. 

We are brave or mad and ventured out after lunch for a walk on the Uetliberg. Arriving by train near the to

p we realised how much snow there was, but undeterred we started walking down the hill. 

To begin with this was not too much of a problem with only a few icy patches encountered. Then we reached the steep part! Rosie had fortunately found a sturdy stick to assist her on the very icy parts - mainly on the bends. We passed a few walkers going up the hill who all told us it was worse further down, but being adventurous we continued until we realised it really was too dangerous even with walking boots on. We needed spiked boots. We turned back up the hill and took an easier route back to a train stop as by now the light was beginning to fade.

 

Thursday 27th November

We arrived in Zurich to find that quite a lot of snow had fallen whilst we had been away. In the city there were patches of snow still lying but quite a lot on the roof tops. It was obviously much colder!