The Zürich Loop

Okay. There's no such thing, of course. I made it up for this post!

After FINALLY finishing my Zürich Album yesterday, I saw a repeating loop theme in my 3 days of walking around: from the hotel I would walk to the Swiss National Museum, the Hauptbahnhof (train station), then St. Peter's Kirche, the Fraumünster, cross the Limmat River to the Grossmünster, then the Predigerkirche and back to the hotel. A loop. On one day I walked to the Zürichsee (Lake Zürich) in between the Frau and the Gross.

So, here's the loop:

1. The Swiss National Museum
As a rule, I never go inside the museums I pass unless I have oodles of time...like weeks and weeks. But I sure do like to capture the outside architecture from every which angle. I was an architect in one of my past lives...I'm sure of it!

(One of the things you'll notice with almost all my photos in the Photo Album is that there's no sun...because there wasn't!)



2. The Hauptbahnhof (train station)
After crossing the street from the Swiss National Museum, you're at Zürich's main train station. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the big train stations of Europe and this one is no exception. For one thing, you may remember that one of my soulful passions is the art work of Niki de St. Phalle, which I first saw in Hannover, Germany. It so happens that her Guardian Angel is flying overhead inside the station, reminding one and all (who notice) that she is there to protect our comings and goings.



3. St. Peters Kirche
With the largest clock face in the world (on a tower), a diameter of 28 ft (8.7 m), how could you possibly miss it...or get to work late! It was built in the 8th or 9th century and since 1706 has been under Protestant rule. Interestingly, the steeple is owned by the city of Zürich and the nave by the parish of St. Peter.



4. The Fraumünster Abbey (our lady's minster)
I chose this image to show the proximity of the the abbey next to St. Peter's. CLOSE. Just a hop, skip and a jump away. She was founded in 853 and today is one of Zürich's 34 Reformed churches. The stained glass windows in the choir are by Marc Chagall (but no photos allowed).





5. Zürichsee (Lake Zürich)
Take a break now from the churches and go along the Limmat River on the St. Peter's and Fraumünster side to the end where the lake is. Actually, the Limmat River that you see in so many of the pictures in my Photo Album is an overflow through the city from the lake. One day I broke out of the loop and spent a couple of wonderful, gray hours there.



6. The Grossmünster ("great minster")
From Lake Zürich it's time to cross over the Limmat River to the opposite side from St. Peter's and Fraumünster to see the "twin towers." If you were at the Fraumünster, you would just cross the bridge from there, where this picture is taken. This church was built in 1100, vying for precedence with the Fraumünster across the river from it in plain view. It's one of the most recognized landmarks in Zürich.



7. Predigerkirche (preacher's church)
Last but not least, on our loop back to the hotel, is this lovely church built in 1230. It's one that you can see quite well from a distance, as in this image from the bridge over the Limmat River at our hotel. But once you come upon it up close and personal, it almost jumps out at you from in between the trees. It was one of my favorite stops before going back to the hotel each day. Sometimes the back towers of the churches are more soulful for me than the bigger front towers!



So, that's it. A slice of Zürich that probably no one else will show you exactly the same way. It's just the way I saw it, especially since the landmarks for me in Europe are almost always the churches.

OH, and I must give credit where credit is due! I did NOT take my tripod with me on this trip, so all the night photos are with Donica's assistance...things from her purse that had to be added to prop up the camera exactly right for the time-lapsed shots. So THANK YOU, Donica!

As a Gemini (whose reputation is to never finish things), I am glad to say I did indeed finish Zürich and can now start to finish the Sedona trip. :)

We Did!

Enjoy the weekend in Hannover, that is!

The train ride going was longer because we had to take 3 different trains to get from Amsterdam to Hannover, due to construction on the train tracks over the weekend. Coming back yesterday on Monday was a direct, faster ride.

How wonderful to be with Uschi and Wolfgang again (our previous landlords), like picking up from where we last left off!

Sunday evening we ate dinner at the nearby Biergarten that was always our favorite for a plate loaded with ribs. Uschi remembered that, so that's where we went.

Then back at their apartment (they live beneath the attic apartment that was ours for 2 years, remember?), we yakkity-yakked about Australia. They just recently spent 6 weeks there with a tour group. We'll be there next April for 2 weeks, so we wanted to get the low-down from them. And we did, including my chance to try on Wolfgang's hat for size! (I LOVE those Aussie hats!) :)

Then Donica went to her hotel while I stayed on with U&W, looking at more Australian pics on Uschi's computer monitor before spending the night.

In the morning, after a hearty breakfast, Uschi and I went for a walk. I told her I wanted to go to the cemetery to visit her mom and other relatives who have passed.

Uschi's mom, Mimmi, died in 2003. Her dad, Fritz, was killed in WWII, after which her mom never remarried.
Uschi explained the icons on the gravestone: the asterisk indicates birth; the cross indicates death. If the death happened in the war, there's a totally different icon, as you see above. Fritz died a couple months before I was born and 6 years after Uschi was born.

Just before I left U&W's, I noticed a new "toy" in one of her planters outside. That's one of Uschi's creative channels--adding little touches here and there around the apartments!

What a refreshing time to be with old friends!

And then I was on my way to meet up with Christina at the Hauptbahnhof (train station), "under the tail," where we were off for our obligatory latte macchiato and lunch. Another long session of yakkity-yakking, but this time without photos. Picking up from where we last left off. Even got to see her oldest son again!

Then Donica was there, meeting us at the hauptbahnhof before we were off to A'dam shortly after 2p. Home by 7p. In bed by 10:30p.

Yes, we did! We totally enjoyed our wonderful weekend!