My hotel is only a couple miles from the Zurich airport, and when I arrived on the hotel shuttle I was pleased to find that the room was already available, despite it being only 9 am.
Different people have their different ideas about how to either avoid or overcome jet-lag. Mine is simply to try to adjust to the local time as soon as possible. So, after a quick clean up I boarded the train and went into the city. Just outside the train station
I ran into a city tour that was ready to begin, so off I went. The tour was woefully lacking in anything of substance (here are expensive homes...here is a big hotel...here is the lake, Zurichsee), but it did provide an overview that I like to get in a new place. And when it was over I wandered through the fascinating old city before heading back to the hotel for the night. Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland (300,000) but it is not the capital. It is famous for banking, insurance and brewing. It also has the largest clock-face on any church in Europe. But most interesting and important to me is the grossemunster (great church), which is rightly known as the site of the beginning of the Reformation. A Swiss by the name of Zwingli, in 1519, began a reform of the local church structure. He taught that if it were not in the Bible it was not to be followed, that the church was not to be an administrative hierarchy lording over the people, and that the simpler the better in church decor. These changes were put into effect in the church in Zurich, and the Reformation initiated.
While in the church I went into a small chapel below the main floor, a chapel set apart for prayer. Just then an organist began to practice for an upcoming concert. So, there I was in the solitude of my niche, in this important place, listening to great music echo all around me. Such is the stuff of travel that makes it so amazing...
The computer I am using will not upload photos. I will try to get some on later...
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