The second leg of our October 2018 Europe Trip with my sister, Erica, was Switzerland.  On October 7th, we had a delicious breakfast in Munich and began the drive to Zurich.  Strangely, we were waved over by some semi-official looking traffic officers and were charged 120 euros for not having a road pass.  We Googled this phenomenon shortly after to be sure we weren’t being scammed and to this day, we still aren’t 100% sure.  Once we arrived in Zurich, we had to drive tiny, cobblestone streets to get close to our hotel and were reprimanded by some locals about idling our vehicle.  Switzerland is very strict about environmental protection!  Eventually, we were able to check in to the Marketgasse Hotel in the heart of Zurich.

We took the afternoon to rest and then Erica and Scott went to the hotel gym while I went to check out Atha Yoga.  My experience here was fascinating.  The teacher, Ben, appeared to be British though he had previously taught in New York.  The room was full and there was no music.  We did an abnormal amount of breath work for a Vinyasa class, but the most interesting part was Ben’s adjustments.  At certain points it felt like he was literally moving my bones around and he managed to adjust every student several times.  Overall, it was different from what I’m used to, but in a good way.

That evening we ate dinner at a French style restaurant called Louis Brasserie.  We weren’t particularly hungry so we decided to share some different French wines, scallops, goat cheese and Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (a Zurich favorite: veal in a creamy mushroom sauce served over a hash brown patty called a Rösti).  This dinner turned out to be incredibly memorable for a couple of reasons.  First, it was outdoor dining on a cobblestone street, what could be more European than that?  Second, the Zurich veal dish turned out to be one of our favorite things we’ve ever eaten and this was our first opportunity to sample it.  We have since tried recreating it at home and we will definitely be looking for it at European restaurants in the future.

The next day was one of the greatest and most exciting days of our travels (and, probably, our entire lives).  Why? Because we went SKYDIVING over the Swiss Alps!  Skydive Switzerland is located in Interlaken (the name of this town means between the lakes and it’s located in the Bernese region of the Alps).  As the name implies, the drive from Zurich to Interlaken was stunning.  We had to be ready for skydiving early so we drove during sunrise amongst the lakes and mountains and tried to remain calm.  The weather was definitely brisk, but the skies were clear.  Once we arrived at the airplane hanger we were outfitted with gear and shown how to position ourselves when jumping out of the plane and landing.  We were then assigned our tandem partners (I was with the only female being the smallest person there to jump), and put into groups for the plane.  We were grouped with a young Australian man who, like Scott, had jumped once before.  Erica and I were first-timers.

I can’t really put into words the anticipation and anxiety of arriving at the airplane hanger and riding the plane up.  Similarly, I wouldn’t know how to begin to describe the exhilaration and beauty of the jump itself.  Hopefully, these photos illustrate our experience to some degree.

After skydiving, we decided to head into a mountain town called Grindelwald.  First, we needed to take a pitstop to absorb the craziness that was skydiving and get some refreshments.  We found a Ristorante Pizzeria called Lido da Elío that was right on the lake and enjoyed some hot apple cider with some incredible views.

When we first arrived in Grindelwald, we were starving after an exciting morning.  We went to the Derby Hotel and got a classic dish for Switzerland: fondue!  We ordered some spicy fondue with all the normal accoutrements along with some other mountain food and some wine.

After lunch we went through some exceedingly overpriced ski shops at which I got “Pretty-Womaned” (some snooty workers asked me not to touch the fur hats because they’re very expensive) and we caught a train up the mountain to Jungfraujoch.  Jungfraujoch is known as the “Top of Europe” though it is not the highest peak on the continent.  When we reached the top we found stunning views and ice palaces.

The next morning, Erica took us to a café called Conditorei Schober.  We liked it so much that we returned a few more times during our short stay in Zurich.  The café was spread over several different floors with several different intimate dining rooms.  Each was decorated in it’s own unique way.  We all got cappuccinos and Peclard z’Morge for breakfast which consisted of several different breads/croissants, a variety of spreads, a hard boiled egg and muesli (a Swiss overnight oatmeal with fruit).  This was my first real experience with muesli and it became one of my absolute favorite things.  I’ve since made it at home and am slowly perfecting my own version.

Our next stop was Grossmünster Church.  What I found interesting about this church was that it had very modern designs in the stained glass.  Unfortunately, they didn’t allow us to take photos of the interior.  We decided to climb one of the towers (not Erica’s favorite part of the trip) and were rewarded with stunning 360 degree views of the city.  Afterwards, we did some shopping and sight seeing throughout the city.

The rest of the day was spent eating and drinking our way through town.  For lunch we had Raclette which is another famous dish in Switzerland (basically, it’s more melted cheese just not as runny as fondue) then we barhopped and finished the night with an Italian restaurant (Erica got a porcini mushroom salad here that she couldn’t stop talking about).

The next day was our final full day in Zurich and it consisted mainly of three things: food, shopping and walking.  We started on Bahnhofstrasse, the luxury shopping street, and Scott got a Swiss watch while I got my dream Burberry trench coat.  Then we visited the famous Sprungli chocolate shop which is famous for luxemburgerli (similar to macaroons) and Teuscher chocolate shop which is famous for champagne truffles.  The best part, however, was the Viaduct Markthalle.  We walked through the city to a market located under a viaduct structure.  There were bakeries, butchers, cheese shops, etc.  We collected bits of everything and walked to a local park to have a picnic in the grass and taste all of the delicacies that piqued our interest.  While enjoying our picnic we watch families play and were interviewed by a local camera crew (we still have no idea why).

After a ton of walking, we took a brief rest at our hotel.  Then Scott and I went out in downtown Zurich to try and find a piece of art as a souvenir and enjoyed viewing the carousel.  The three of us ended our last full day with a traditional Swiss dinner at Zeughauskeller and started to prepare for our drive into France the following day.