A Long Layover at Zurich

On our way back from a technical conference in Tampa, Florida, we found ourselves with an 8-hour layover in Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland. Rather than spending the entire time at the airport, my young colleague Ian and I decided to make the most of it by visiting Zurich's old town for a few hours. Prior to our trip, we did our homework: 1) Switzerland didn't require a visa for us to visit, which was convenient; 2) We discovered that there was a train connecting Zurich airport to the old town, with a quick 15-minute journey between the airport and Zurich HB station, where the old town is located; 3) Sunset wasn't until 9 PM, and our flight had landed at 3:30 PM, so we had plenty of daylight hours to explore Zurich's charming old town.

During our sightseeing adventure, I was pleasantly surprised when Ian noticed me frequently setting aside my carry-on to take pictures and kindly offered to help me carry it.

Our time in Zurich's old town was delightful, and I share with you a photo journal of our short but memorable excursion.

train station at Zurich Airport

Zurich HB - major train station. The security check was surprisingly loose but we did see police carrying machine guns around

light rails are the main public transportation at Zurich Oldtown

River Sihl which merges with River Limmat at Zurich, the water is crystal clear 

River Limmat originates from Zurichsee (Lake Zurich) - the river is clean and crystal clear. Major business district and several churches lined along the downtown portion of the river bank

Lake Zurich - which is considered to be an inland see - it has an extreme length of 30km, and max width 4km, an habitat for many water fowls

Narrow side streets 

Unique tables at a café

A couple enjoying the afternoon with wine and cigarettes at a boat pier by River Limmat. Smoking is very common here, like many other places in Europe, and there is no outdoor designated smoking area. The city is clean except the litter of cigarette butts 

St. Peters Cathedral is one of the three churches along River Limmat at old town

Kirche Fraumünster - Church Fraumunster. Elegant church with a delicate, copper-topped spire, 

a crypt museum & stained glass by Marc Chagall

Grossmünster - A protestant Church

View of the old town from a bridge over Limmat

We could not resist to feel the water 

An outdoor dinning area of a restaurant

On the way back to train station we encountered a quiet march by Ukrainians

We walked back to the train station along the streets

downstream side of the River Limmat

Another view of the upstream of River Limmat

Find the train station was easy

Find the terminal for the train back to Airport required a bit effort. There is no English signs, all in Swiss German. But the locals were very help and speak good English. A young woman saw us befuddled by all the sign in German, volunteered to help and told us Flughhafen is airport - of course there is airplane figure by it  :)

Note:

This is the 7th European country I visited:

1)  Luxenberg and Belgium ( a business trip, prior the start of my blog) 

2) Paris France https://explore-nature-have-fun.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-first-visit-to-paris.html

3) Barcelona, Spain https://explore-nature-have-fun.blogspot.com/2011/05/sagrada-familia.html

4) UK - London, Oxford 

https://explore-nature-have-fun.blogspot.com/2022/10/our-second-visit-to-london-city.html

https://explore-nature-have-fun.blogspot.com/2022/10/royal-parks-at-london-st-james-park-and.html

5) Vienna, Austria 

https://explore-nature-have-fun.blogspot.com/2013/06/schonbrunn-palace-vienna.html

https://explore-nature-have-fun.blogspot.com/2013/06/vienna-stephansdom.html

https://explore-nature-have-fun.blogspot.com/2013/06/vienna-ice-cream-chocolate-and-beef.html

6) Zurich, Switzerland