Zurich

 11/12/2025

On our way to our lake cruise this morning we get a brief bus tour along the way passing a few landmarks. The one below is the Gessnerallee Theatre, the performing arts theatre of Zurich formerly an army barracks.

 



Zurich Enge Railway Station

We are soon at the lake in daylight, just, even though it is now around 9 am. We have a short wait for our cruise vessel which will take all four bus loads of us for a 1.5 hr tour of Lake Zurich.


Our vessel approaching the jetty


We can see the snow covered the Alps across the lake

Each time we have arrived in a new city, we have always been told of the famous people that originated there. Zurich was no exception with our guide advising us that Roger Federer was a native of this area, so we expected to hear a lot more about this during the guided tours. This was not the case because he had been upstaged by Tina Turner who bought a property on the wealthy side of the lake and there was more interest from the guide about her residency than anything to do with Federer.


Anyway, we were told that lower Eastern  side of the lake is occupied by rich people and it is known as the Gold Coast. Apparently it gets more sun than the Western shore of the Lake. Of course this was where Tina Turner had lived. Unlike our Gold Coast, by some bazaar twist of fate the taxes in this area are lower than in the less desirable Western shore area.

A few shots of the Gold Coast are below





There is very little industry on the Gold Coast. This is an old textile factory




The lake tour finished, we disembarked and the walking tour followed. We were taken through the old town.


Like everywhere we have been, the Christmas spirit is visible everywhere


Opera House



Zurich Town Hall


Fraumunster Church


The main church in Zurich is the Grossmunster with its imposing towers that are visible from most of the town. After the reformation it became a Protestant which it remains as today. It dates back to the time of Charlemagne.


Grossmunster Church

Another significant Church in Zurich is the Church of St Peter that boasts the largest church clock face in Europe.


St Peters Church


Wandering through some of the small side streets also came up with a few surprises like this structure attached to the outside of a multilevel residential block. when we all failed to guess its purpose correctly, our guide advised us it was a cat ladder.



Some of the back streets are steep and pedestrian only

Another surprise find in one of the backstreets was an operating bookbinder, clearly e books have not completely taken over in Zurich.


Our walk also took us along the edge of the Limmat River which runs through Zurich.


We came upon this interesting building, a bath house for women only. Back in time apparently men washed in the river, but women needed a more secluded option, so this bathhouse was built over the river to provide the necessary privacy.




Originally built in the 10th century, The Church of the Water, so named because the site it is built on was an island in the middle of the Limmat river.The island was later connected to the riverbank with landfill in the 19th century.



Wasserkirche

At the highest part of the old town was an excellent viewing terrace, Lindenhof Hill, where we could look back over the river and the city.



Viewing terrace high above the city





The town tour completed, we now have free time to explore the Christmas markets and catch a tram back to our hotel at our leisure. Our US friends, Tom and Judy, and ourselves teamed up to have a look around and find a suitable place for lunch.

The largest market was near the Opera house, and that was where we settled in for a few gluhweins and a last taste of German food. The chilliwurst I had was excellent and Carole decided to try the flame grilled salmon which also looked excellent. 

This was the biggest of all of the Christmas markets we have been to and also had the largest variety of wares and food and beverage outlets.



Opera House market



It is still pretty cool here




A smaller market we visited earlier, often near a church

After quite a long walk from the Opera House market to the one in the picture above, where we had to cash in a gluhwein mug. It was near the tram that takes us to the hotel, so all we had to do was purchase our ticket and enjoy the ride. All went well since we remembered our instructions from yesterday.

It is an early start for us tomorrow to catch our flight to Singapore, so we had a meal of mussels and fries at a nearby restaurant and had an early night.

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