Zurich Recap: Friday*

We had planned to leave Friday morning around 9am... knowing it would most likely be later. We managed to get out of the house around 10am, I think, not too bad. We drove to the airport and parked there, then hopped on a train and off we were to Zurich. After 2-3 hours of travel time we got to the Zurich station, walked to the hotel and checked in, and then went off to explore Bahnhoffstrasse, the pedestrian shopping street, and try to find a bite to eat. The street seemed to be lined mostly with shops and few cafes so we wound up eating at a Manora restaurant, which was good enough. I was shocked and amused to see some of the window displays at chain stores like H&M, the styles were so different from what you see in Geneva... which is something that would NEVER happen in the states (where chains sell sweaters even in Hawaii b/c it's December and therefore "sweater season"). I also saw some really adorable and not-outrageously-priced (or perhaps I'm getting used to the prices here?) Christmas decorations in Manor that I was tempted to buy... I really hope they have the same or similar things at the store here.

We walked by some of the local churches, like the Fraumünster which is supposed to have incredible stained glass windows. Unfortunately it was closed to the public when we walked by, and Zach and I tried a couple other times to go by and see the windows in the daytime, but alas it was not to be. We also walked across the river and got to go into the Grossmünster church, where we got to be flies on the wall for a few minutes during choir practice. That was really cool, actually-- got a "behind the scenes" look, and it also reminded me of watching Mom practice with the choir and Mixed Blessings singing group at church. The music was gorgeous, and the acoustics incredible. Mom would've really gotten a kick out of experiencing that.

We walked on back up through the Old Town towards the hotel, passing the various bars and restaurants on that side of the river, and then had a bit of a rest at the hotel before heading out for dinner. Unfortunately Susan was completely tuckered out by then so she stayed in while Hank, Zach and I went in search of a bite to eat. We wound up at Santa Lucia, an italian restaurant that we'd noticed earlier as looking interesting. The restaurant was broiling hot inside, but the food was fabulous. After dinner we basically walked right back to the hotel, we were tired and it was cold and we wanted to get an early(ish) start to our Saturday.

PS- Zurich Photos Here.

* In order not to write one hugely long post, I'll break up our weekend recap into 3 posts that y'all can choose to read or skim over, or ignore completely.