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Zurich

A September 2013 weekend in Zurich: the Grossmunster towers, the Fraumunster clock, sailboats on the lake and a first cheese fondue done properly.

Zurich in September 2013 was a weekend of church towers, lake air and molten cheese. The city has a reputation for being all banks and business; nobody told the old town or the swans.

Inga leaning on the stone parapet of a bridge over the Limmat, the gabled houses of Zurich old town behind
On the Limmat, with the old town lined up behind and a Swiss flag making sure we knew where we were.

Towers and clock faces

The twin domed towers of the Grossmunster in Zurich against a grey sky
The Grossmunster's twin towers. Look closely at the right one: those dots on the gallery are people who climbed the stairs.
Gilded church clock face in Zurich with sun and moon hands and copper dragon gargoyles either side
A clock with a sun, a moon and two dragons on gargoyle duty. Swiss timekeeping does not do plain.

Down at the lake

Lake Zurich runs straight out of the city centre, and the shoreline path was made for wasting an afternoon.

Inga and Dileep selfie on the shore of Lake Zurich with a lakeside lido and hills behind
Lakeside, September 2013. The clouds threatened all weekend and never followed through.
Inga at the lakeside marina with sailboat masts and the hillside houses of Zurich blurred behind
Among the masts at the marina, the whole hillside of Zurich stacking up behind.
Sailboats and a small ferry on Lake Zurich with the Alps rising in the distance
The lake's better party trick: sailboats in the foreground, Alps on the skyline.

The fondue initiation

Inga dipping bread on a long fork into a red pot of cheese fondue in a wood-panelled Zurich restaurant
First proper cheese fondue, in a wood-panelled place with white wine and long forks. Inga took the job seriously.

Zurich makes a dangerously good base: from here the Swiss rails run everywhere, including up into the mountains towards St. Moritz.