Chocolate, Cheese and Cowbells: Our Trip to Switzerland

This past weekend we traveled to Switzerland. Our first stop was Zurich. Zurich was founded by the Romans as a customs post. Today, it's Switzerland's hub of international banking.

We checked into our hotel and were happily greeted by a swan towel and chocolates on our bed!

Our swan towel and Toblerone candy greeted us in our hotel room

Zurich's main train station handles 2,000 trains every day. It's so massive it holds a farmers market and a community hall for concerts and even beach volleyball.

The Swiss apparently love Oktoberfest as much as the Germans do...they even had a mini fest right in the train station, complete with rides, bratwurst and a beer tent!

A giant "Guardian Angel" hangs from the station's ceiling, protecting all travelers. It was placed here in 1997 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Swiss rail system.

Zurich's "Guardian Angel"

A chocolate company was doing a demonstration of how their chocolate is made. I got to "milk" a cow and see how many ounces I could get in 30 seconds. I didn't do very well (I guess I should keep my day job), but I got a consolation prize (Swiss chocolate) for my attempt.

Bahnhofstrasse is Zurich's famous mile-long shopping street. We were told that the least expensive stores were by the train station and increasingly became more expensive the closer they were to the lake.

We stumbled upon a quaint park with spectacular views of the river below us.

We couldn't resist the first chocolate shop we saw. We ended up each trying a dark chocolate truffle and a milk chocolate covered pretzel.

We then toured the Fraumunster, founded as an abbey church for a convent in 853. The current building was built in 1250. The church is famous for its windows by French artist Marc Chagall. We weren't able to take pictures inside, but I found a picture of the gorgeous stained-glass windows online.

The scenery around the river was beautiful. The colors of the Fall leaves just added to the ambiance.

Zurich has fountains throughout the city that provide free, fresh mountain water to its citizens.

Zurich Opera House

We walked down to the edge of Lake Zurich. Although it was much too cold to enjoy in October, during the summer visitors enjoy swimming here.

Swiss Army knives were displayed in the windows of almost every tourist shop.

Official Swiss Army knives

The other large church in Zurich is the Grossmunster, literally meaning the "big cathedral." We couldn't take pictures in this church either. We took the stairs down into the church's crypt to see a 15th-century statue of Charlemagne.

We made dinner reservations at Adler's Swiss Chuchi, a recommended restaurant in our guidebook.

Switzerland is known for their cheese fondue, so we ordered a classic fondue, 4 cheeses blended with white wine, garlic and cherry brandy.

The Swiss couple next to us asked if it was our first time eating fondue. We said that we've eaten at the Melting Pot a few times in the U.S. They were very surprised and impressed that America had a chain fondue restaurant. 

Another classic Swiss dish is raclette. Raclette is cheese slowly melted on a special dish; the cheese is eaten with potatoes, pickled onion, pickles and other items.

The raclette platter with pork, cheese and other assorted foods

 First you put a piece of cheese under the heater on your table.

Then, once it has melted, you cover your potatoes, pork and other food in delicious cheese and dig in!

Zurich at dusk

Outside of Zurich is Fortress Furigen. This fortress was built in 1941 as part of a new military strategy. It was first built in case of a Nazi invasion during WWII, then it transitioned in case of a nuclear war from the Soviet Union.

Entrance to the fortress

Chris "aiming" the machine gun

Chris operating one of the gun positions

Mannequins portraying soldiers manning the machine gun

We both tried on original Swiss Army coats. They were much too big but definitely warm!

The Swiss disguised their weapons by creating fake rock around where the machine gun was placed. Even up close it looked like real rock. Only knocking on it could you hear that it was hollow in certain places.

After the fortress, we traveled to the city of Lucerne, the tourism capital of Switzerland.

We ate lunch at Manora, a self-service eatery above the Manor department store. We heard there was a good view of the city from the rooftop terrace, and we happened to catch an airshow while we were up there.

The massive "cafeteria" above a department store

Town Hall

We noticed large crowds on the bridges of Lucerne and realized that a rowing competition was underway.

The Reuss River flows out of Lake Lucerne and eventually joins the Rhine River. Lucerne is responsible for controlling the flow of water and preventing the flooding of lakeside villages by maintaining the lake level (altered by snowmelt). In the mid-19th century, the city built an extendable dam to help manage the water level.

I couldn't go to Switzerland and not try their hot chocolate, especially on a cold, overcast day. It may have been the best hot chocolate I've ever had!

Then we toured the Jesuit Church. It was the first major Baroque church in Switzerland, built in 1677. Even though Lucerne was a small town when the church was built, the pope wanted to establish a strong Catholic presence in central Switzerland during the Protestant Reformation.

Below is the only Swiss saint, Brother Klaus, who lived in the nearby mountains in the 15th-century. He was a peacemaker and is considered the original Swiss isolationist.

Then we walked across the famous Chapel Bridge. It was unfortunately undergoing renovations, so we couldn't walk across the entire bridge.

A small fest was going on near the train station, so we wandered through to check out the rides and food stands.

Lake Lucerne

We stopped at an Irish pub for a beer and to people-watch along the river.

Our guidebook recommended the Rathaus Brauerei Restaurant, so we decided to eat there for dinner.

This microbrewery brews such small quantities of its Seidel Rathausbier that you can only get it at the restaurant. Chris ordered the dark beer and was quite pleased with the flavorful aftertaste of the beer.

Chris' meatloaf and potatoes

My crispy pork shoulder and kraut salad

Lucerne is famous for its Lion Monument. This huge rock sculpture is carved right into the side of a cliff. The lion rests his paws on a shield with tears streaming down his cheeks. He has a broken-off end of a spear in his side. This figure represents the Swiss mercenaries who were killed defending the French king during the French Revolution.

Mark Twain described the Lion of Lucerne as "the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world".

The swans in Lucerne apparently were a gift from French King Louis XIV in appreciation for the protection he got from the Swiss Guards.

We strolled throughout the various plazas of Lucerne to appreciate the beautiful artwork on the sides of the buildings.

Weinmarkt with a painting of the Wedding Feast at Cana

Like many countries, Switzerland celebrates Mardi Gras (called Fasnacht here). The owners of the restaurant are pictured wearing masks and throwing oranges to the crowd. Oranges symbolize the beginning of spring.

Sternenplatz with a Mardi Gras mural

Our guidebook recommended Laderach for chocolate, a local favorite, so we happily obliged.

On our way home, we stopped at the Rheinfall, Europe's biggest waterfall. The waterfall is 150 meters wide and 23 meters tall.

We stopped for a quick bite to eat before touring the falls. Not a bad view during lunch!

 We took a boat across the water below the falls to the other side.

The viewing platform is right under the falls. We didn't get soaked, but it sure was misty!

Then we took a glass elevator up to tour the Laufen Castle.

We then drove back home after a great weekend in Switzerland. This country is very expensive compared to Germany (and probably most other countries) but has so much to offer! We loved visiting the cities and hope to have the opportunity to visit the Swiss countryside.