Zurich – Day 3
My last day in Zurich was gray and I didn’t have too much I wanted to do, so I took it easy and relaxed down at Paradeplatz and had some coffee while watching the passers-by. I’m sorry, but 6.50CHF (like $6) is a ridiculous price for coffee – I don’t care if you throw in a peanut-sized piece of chocolate on the side… it’s still absurd! Not that that stopped me from indulging in coffee on a daily basis while in Switzerland. I took my sweet time lingering at my outdoor table, people-watching. Paradeplatz is a tram hub, making it full of people hustling to and fro, so I had plenty to look at.
For lack of anything better to do, I made my way to the Zurich Botanic Garden and had some fun with my macro lens. Not too much was in bloom in September, but there were some clusters of plants worth admiring (e.g. the sunflowers!).
By the time I left, it had begun to drizzle… which made it an awfully convenient time to make my way to the Kunsthaus Museum. It was a wee bit pricey, but it’s supposed to be one of the best art museums in Europe and looked promising, so I didn’t mind paying for it. I actually saw most of the museum, quickly glossing over the stuff that didn’t interest me and focusing more on the modern art. God I love modern art – all the shapes and patterns and colors almost hypnotize me. Even the way all the paintings were displayed – the framing, the layout of the works, the color and space within the gallery rooms – it just adds to how you experience them.
From the museum, I walked all the way back to Emi’s apartment, soaking in the city one last time before leaving for New York. And of course it began to rain near the end, so I was pretty wet by the time I got back.
I returned to find a sluggish Emi (recovering from last night). But he did come through with dinner – fondue! He made the cheese mixture and I cut the bread and I had my first fondue experience and it was awesome! You basically stick a small piece of bread on the end of a long stick, dip it in the hot cheese, pull it out and let it start to solidify and cool off, and eat it. God it was so heavy and filling, but delicious. It tasted a bit sour but still so good! I’d say it completed my Swiss experience here, for sure.
Then his sister called and said she was coming over and wanted to go see a movie with him, so I tagged along with them. I could totally see the resemblance between the two of them… they were quite goofy together. We went to a bar like 10 minutes down the road (of COURSE we took the tram for just 2 stops, since it was drizzling… god forbid we use umbrellas! haha). The movie was playing at an independent cinema inside this bar, so basically we walked in, bought our tickets at the bar, walked past a bunch of smoking people, and entered the theater from the back corner of the bar. It was a nice, old-fashioned theater, maybe 10 people were there to see the 11pm showing of “Happy-go-lucky”. I actually REALLY LIKED the movie! It was a British comedy with basically no plot, but it was hilarious. We laughed a lot. But they’re way more into movies than I am and I don’t think they loved it quite as much as I did.
Post-movie, we walked back toward the apartment and onwards to a bar that was still open at 2:30am (apparently most bars are closed by 1am in Zurich). I felt lame going back by myself on my last night, so I went and sat with them as they had their (exuberantly overpriced) drinks. They talked frantically in Swiss-German for much of the night so I had no idea what they were saying… but I let them carry on since they don’t see each other every day. Plus I was too tired to interject. I went to bed around 3:30 and had to be up at like 6:30 to catch the train to the airport. Oy vey.
