While waiting for a table to open up at World Famous last night, we experienced the most incredible sunset. It started out ordinary and transformed into something amazing.

Today we spent the day in the desert, hiking past wildflowers and a small stream on our way to a palm oasis. We were a bit worried when we woke up this morning because it was raining and chilly in Julian, CA. Thankfully, the rain stayed on that side of the mountain and we remained (mostly) dry during our day hike in the desert. Tonight we will be back in San Diego!

Considering we have only four years of high school German between the two of us, it was a good thing the transportation system in Zurich was so easy to follow. Even though we were only there for two days, we each bought a 72 hour ZurichCard that allowed us unlimited transportation on all the city trams, travel to and from the airport, a 90 minute cruise on Lake Zurich, and a train ride west to Uteliburg to fantastic views of the surrounding countryside.

The ZurichCard was 34CHF or about $30 and we used it constantly, taking advantage of many of the benefits in the short time we had. For example, while we don’t typically mind a lot of walking, it was February, windy, we only had two days and frankly, didn’t want to spend them getting from site to site, even in a small city. The ease of tram travel in Zurich was incredible. We never had to wait more than a few minutes and maps were posted everywhere. Interestingly, the trams and trains work on an honor system and I kept ours handy even though we were never once asked to show a ticket.

The ZurichCard also gets you free entrance into a whole slew of museums, but we only had time for one, the Kunsthaus.

Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Dali, Monet, DaVinci… the collections in this place were stunning. Additionally, the special exhibit of fashion photography by Steichen was an unexpected highlight. You simply have to go here if you find yourself in Zurich.

We also took a ferry trip to several points along Lake Zurich and while it was nice to sit and watch the scenery go by, this trip would be much nicer in warmer weather. We froze.

Also a chilly trek, but stunning nonetheless, was the train ride to Uteliburg and subsequent hike to see the city from above.

Those aren’t clouds in the distance, folks, those are the Swiss Alps with Lake Zurich winding south in the foreground.

In short, we probably would have done a number of these things without the ZurichCard, but we eliminated the need to constantly buy and validate tram and train passes. If you add up the cost of all these activities, the card more than paid for itself in just two days, which made it completely worth it for us.

Two things high on our list of things to do while in Zurich for 46 hours was to get ourselves some swiss fondue and taste some swiss chocolate.

First up, the chocolate…

Sprungli’s flagship store on the Bahnhofstrasse is a sight to behold. We visited on a Saturday and it was wall-to-wall people. Thankfully, we gathered our wits enough to get two pieces of luxemburgerli, their signature treat, two flavored meringue cookies with a chocolate center. We tried to go back for more on Sunday, but the place was closed… so, while significantly less glamorous, we bought more at the airport shop instead.

We also popped into Coop, a huge department store, to score some chocolate bars for gifts. Considering these were also closed on Sunday (it turned out), I’m thankful we made the time!

We saved the fondue experience for our last night and we picked the most well-known fondue place in town, Adler’s Swiss Chuchi. As soon as we entered the place the smell accosted us. I can’t say it was bad, necessarily, but I love cheese… but, it was, well, definitely overwhelming. Thankfully, we got used to the strong fragrance of the place and quickly found ourselves wedged between two other couples surrounded by hot implements. (I quickly wondered how I would look stripping down to a tank top in the middle of February.)

Eric ordered the traditional fondue and I went for the raclette, a do-it-yourself project with melted swiss cheese, a sack of boiled potatoes, and tiny mushrooms that squeaked on the hot grill. After sneaking peeks at the couple next to us, I finally got the hang of seasoning and putting all the ingredients together. Meanwhile Eric was in a delighted cheese fog with a huge smile on his face.

Needless to say, we were very impressed with the quality of the swiss cheese and chocolate.

I feel like we’ve been on the go since we got back from Zurich, and in fact, I am writing this entry from a Tampa hotel. I just finished a huge website redesign project and after we get back from Tampa we are heading to San Diego for a long weekend. I finally got all the Zurich photos up on Flickr and I will be posting about different aspects of our trip over the next few days, namely the beautiful views, food (chocolate and cheese!), our hotel, and the super transportation options. Stay tuned.

Leandra and I are in Tampa - me for an interview, Leandra to see her family. It’s 80 degrees and we’re sipping margaritas at a tapas place… happiness!

We had nothing to do with this. honest. ;)

We are back from our weekend trip to Zürich and definitely glad to be off the plane! It was a great weekend and we’re really glad we went. We were lucky to have sunny weather both Saturday and Sunday, so we walked all over the city and took lots of photos (naturally), visited the art museum, sampled Swiss chocolates, etc. I’ve posted two photos below with more to follow over the next few days…

above: a side street in Zürich below: the famous Grossmünster church towers

We are smiling but we had to stop at JFK due to mechanical trouble. Our scant 50 hours in Zurich is taking a hit. Foo.

We are nearing the halfway point of our 3 hour layover in Atlanta… tomorrow morning we will be enjoying the Swiss view. :)