Zürich, Day Two

On day two, I still had sticker shock.  Jason found us a relatively cheap lunch location in the Zürich train station.  We were able to eat at Brasserie Federal (the site is in German, but it has pretty pictures) for 10 CHF each!  The Brasserie Federal is a pretty brew house located within the train station.  The Federal Special consisted of a housemade veal* coiled sausage, roll, and a small "side salad."  Side salads here do not quite equate with a side salad in the US (no iceberg), but I enjoyed it.  Mustard comes in tubes, and three types were delivered to our table: mild, hot, and whole kernel.  I'm a hot mustard kind of girl (I know, I know, I hated mustard as a kid, but I can't get enough of the stuff now!), but it overpowered the delicate flavor of the veal, so I went with the mild.  I piled everything into my roll, but Jason opted to eat his with a knife and fork when his coiled sausage started uncoiling and became a mess.  For the price of the meal, we also got a beverage: water, cola, or beer.  Of course, we opted for beer.  It was a standard pils, but brewed in house, so it was pretty tasty for a pils.  We noticed that the guy at the table next to us was drinking a dark beer... so we asked about it.  He was kind enough to left Jason pour a little bit into his glass, and we both feel in love with it!  

After lunch, we wandered across the street to the Swiss National Museum (German: Landesmuseum).  I had done a little bit of research before coming to Zürich, so when I had arrived the night before, we purchased a 72 hour ZürichCARD for each of us.  This card granted us free access to most museums, free public transportation, and a free drink at over 20 restaurants in town.  

The Landesmuseum was quite extensive.  It definitely had a nationalistic feel to it... it even had an room devoted to the banks.  Here they had on display a large set of safety deposit boxes with a few that were open so you could pull them out and see the contents.  Additionally, the museum had a display of the Swiss currency (they've had a five "dollar" coin for quite some time... it makes the half dollar look tiny) and an electronic display of the value of the Swiss Franc through time.  Apparently it has been one of the most stable currencies ever.  At some parts of the museum, Jason and I looked at each other with faces that clearly said, "why on earth is this in this museum?" (eg. Star Wars Legos).  But overall, the museum was lovely.  I think we went through it backwards... it was maze-like.  But, no cameras allowed inside (we even had to leave our camera in the locker with our coats).  I was looking at a cute purse in the gift shop... Jason jokingly guessed the price at 85 CHF, but no, it was 185 CHF.  Either way, the museum was fine with a widely varied collection of items from clothing to reliquaries to paintings to legos.

From the Landesmuseum, we walked down by the lake to the Grossmünster.  This Romanesque-style church is well known in Zürich and entrance is free.  It is quite beautiful, though tiny compared to the beautiful church in Cologne.  Legend has it that Charlemagne founded this church on a Roman burial ground.  You can go up to the top of the church, but they do charge 4CHF for that.  We opted not to see it. 

Across the lake from Grossmünster is the Fraumünster.  It has beautiful stained glass windows by the artist Marc Chagall.  Entrance is also free, though you are not allowed to wander as freely through this building.  It's still quite pretty (any tiny) and worth a visit if you are in Zürich.  Both churches have small gift shops with postcards and the like.  Information on the churches, specifically the stained glass windows, are available in many languages.  If you want to keep the information, a donation is requested.  

We continued our wander down the lake, then up into the streets away from the lake to find a cafe.  It took a lot more effort than expected to find a cafe.  Jason had recently been in Vienna where cafes are a dime a dozen, so we were quite shocked that we had to wander for over 20 minutes to find one.  While we rested (Zürich is quite hilly), we decided to walk back to the hotel on the other side of the lake.  We found another brewery on the way, so we made a mental note to go back there for dinner.  We wandered down a street doing a little window shopping... except it was more like window-ogling.  (Prada, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Cartiers, Gucci, and Burberry just to name a few)  Surprisingly, I wasn't at all tempted to enter the store... I guess I'm just not interested in luxury right now.  But, we did find one store that tempted us greatly... so we went into the Swiss chocolate store: Sprüngli! Yummy chocolate.  I'm so lucky to have found a partner who likes chocolate as much as I do!  It makes my cravings so much easier to deal with... mainly because he gets them too!

We read for a while back in the hotel room (Jason was reading Bourne Supremacy, I was reading American Wife).  Part of Jason's book takes place in Zürich, so we made plans to explore that part of the city on Sunday.  We were both tired by the time dinner rolled around, so we decided to go back to Brasserie Federal rather than the other brew house we had found since the train station was closer.  I had fish from the lake, and Jason had pork chops.  We each had a Schwarzer Kristall, and then Jason noticed they also had a sampler... so that was next!

Samplers are always a happy end to the day!

*I still haven't figured out my thoughts on veal (ethics wise).  I know it's not my favorite taste for meat, but it's VERY popular in Switzerland, so I went with the whole "When in Rome" thought while there.