Two days in Zurich

Yesterday was ridiculously hot. Thirty-six degrees with the Sun beating down. Locals were throwing themselves in the river in a desperate attempt to escape, the swimming decks on the Lake looked like refugee boats.

It was very hard to summon the energy to do much. We did walk about noticing that Zurich does a nice line in very needle-like spires. It isn’t as pleasing a place as Luzern, but has its own charm.

We sat and had a long lunch and then visited the Swiss museum which was air conditioned but disappointing. It would have been cheaper, but achieved the same end, if we’d stayed in our hotel and read the Wikipedia entry on Swiss democracy.

A visit to a Swiss confiserie helped restore our spirits, but we were still beaten back to the hotel air conditioning for a while. By evening the temperature hadn’t dropped in the slightest but we ventured out for a walk down the lake and some people watching.

The day ended with lightning sheeting through the sky – which boded well for tomorrow. We’ve spent the last week walking desperately hoping that the forecast rain wouldn’t eventuate and now we’re looking forward to a rainy day.

The bode-ing was good because we awoke, with a sigh of relief, to a much milder 23 degrees and showers.

We broke character at that point and went shopping – which is pretty much unheard of. Jennifer bought a Swiss Army knife on the basis she was constantly borrowing mine. Then we hit the chocolate shops, which, disappointingly, turn out not to offer samples.

Reverting to character, it was then on to the Zurich art gallery which was brilliant. Zurich has been rich for a long time and, the cynic in me says, there were rich Swiss in a position to buy cheap during the Second World War – so the gallery has benefited from bequests of some amazing collections. There is a wide range of fantastic art, but it’s not so big you get tired exploring. And, looking at you Louvre, no crowds. All-in-all a great way to spend the afternoon.