2006-10-20 - 1:57 p.m.
Well, we spent this morning fleeing from Zurich the expensive and heading to Geneva the reasonable (for Switzerland).
So, yes, Zurich was unexpectedly expensive. The Swiss use Swiss Francs as a currency, and it is just about the same as the Canadian dollar. The dollar is slightly stronger, which means that the Euro is also stronger. This isn't weak currency like Hungary or Slovakia though, where weak currency goes hand in hand with cheap prices. Every thing here costs more than it does in the rest of Europe, and it takes some getting used to.
We got into Zurich in the late afternoon, after the train ride in the smoking section. We had not booked ahead, as we rarely do, and really, how difficult could it be to find accommodation in Zurich on a Tuesday? Well, we found a place, but we were lucky we did, for the next night they were all booked up.
We walked to a hostel, and then up about a thousand stairs, to find what turned out to be a fairly comfortable hostel, for about twenty euros a night, which is the high end of what we can afford to pay. Still within the budget though, so we went for it.
We got a couple beds in a six bed dorm. The beds were comfortable, and they had little lockers for the valuables (hooray for not having to sleep with your money belt on!!). We soon met one of our room mates, who turned out to be a Swiss man who had been living in Africa for thirty five years as a crisis manager (as in Engineering, not political). It got pretty bad though, so he came back to Europe to try to find work here. He only stayed one night, and said he was on his way to Germany.
We did the accounts for the day, and found that we still had a significant portion of the daily budget available. Much cheered by this, we went out to find supper. What happened over supper is fairly embarrassing, but not really surprising.
The facts of the matter are that I made a terrible rookie traveling mistake, and we paid for it. No, we didn't buy more rugs- but we did end up going to the first restaurant we saw, which was in the tourist district, and was a theme restaurant to boot. And it took all our money for evening for two meals with no drinks! It was a Mexican place just up the road from the hostel, and while it was pretty good, it was by no means worth the exorbitant prices that we paid. By this point on the trip I feel that I should really know better- I mean, after three and a half months, you would think that I could manage to at least get out of the tourist district before looking for a restaurant.
Anyway, much saddened by the premature loss of our daily capital, we retired to our hostel to read, which is about the only free activity in Zurich. We were sitting in the common room, which was fairly comfortable, when this middle aged German man sat down.
The thing about the hostel in Zurich is that it had a disproportionate number of older people (i.e. over 30). Normally you don't get too much of that, perhaps one or two in a hostel, but in Zurich they were running around everywhere. I think it was because the whole city is so expensive no one can afford a hotel.
Anyway, the German guy, who I dubbed Gunter, sat and talked to Jesse for hours and hours. I read. He kept thumbing through our Lonely Planet book and telling us about Greece and Italy, and when he used to go hitchhiking, and how great Italy was. It was pretty funny. He just went on and on and on. Half the things he said I knew, but he was so sure that he was imparting his wisdom to us that there was no point stopping him. He was nice, for all that, and we got some good hints for Italy out of him.
Our first full day in Zurich was spent in a fruitless search for cheap internet (nothing cheap in Zurich) and reading by the lake. This was pleasent, but somewhat chilly. Apparently it's October or something.
That night was passed having a really good dinner of Gnocchi pasta in Carbonara sauce from the local Co-op. This cost significantly less then the Mexican, and was better to boot. Jesse and I discovered that they had free tea in the lounge, and stayed up till five talking and drinking free tea.
Our last day in Zurich we went to go see some of the churches that dot the city. There were five within ten minutes of the hostel. Of these, three were open for tourists. The first was open, but there was no one there, so we had a quick look around and scurried out. The second was very beautiful, with some lovely carvings, and a crypt with a huge statue of Charlemagne that used to be outside. This church was supposedly founded by Charlemagne on the site of the graves of a couple Roman martyrs. The last church was formerly the church of a monastery, until the Reformation hit. It was much more austere, but still beautiful. They had a brilliant series of paintings displayed in the church. One set was of Noah building the ark, and the other was of the building of the Tower of Babel. I really liked them both.
After another stint reading by the lake, we had tortellini for supper, with more of the carbonara sauce. Man, was that good. I get hungry just remembering it! I met a couple Canadians and a guy from New Zealand in the lounge, which made for a diverting evening.
Up early this morning, and to Geneva, where we found what promises to be a very nice hostel, for a slightly better price. Actually, it looks like Geneva will be better than Zurich. For one thing, there is more to see than five churches, so that will be nice.
Apparently my brother is coming to Europe, or did come. I think his flight would have got in yesterday, but I've yet to hear from him. We're supposed to meet somewhere (to be determined exactly where) and I heard a rumour that mom sent along some books for me! Hooray for great mothers!
