The day was a little drizzly & overcast. We did our usual "who's on 1st" routine, typical of people on severe jet lag but eventually we had enough coffee to be semi-coherent and headed to the Zurich's historic Niederdorf and it's dominent landmark, the Grossmunster. The Niederdorf is a hillside of cobblestones about a mile long and less than a mile wide. It's full of small shops, eateries, and apartments & hotels. It's sometimes hard to walk the cobblestones & at the same time be looking up at the marvelous buildings. There are times when the only choice is to pause, lean against the building and take a look around.
The tall twin towers of the Grossmunster dominate the Zurich skyline. According to legend, Charlemagne founded a church in the late 8th century, on the graves of Felix & Regula. From the tower is a fantastic view of Zurich - Philip had no intention of climbing the tower, my reaction was "been there; done that" but Laurrie and Jim were game. They did it! Only later we heard a story of how a man fell on the stairs, a stretcher couldn't get to him & a helicopter had to lift him out of the tower in a basket.
With the calfs of their legs still protesting, we climbed down more stairs to the banks of the River Limmat, crossed the bridge and went to visit the Fraumunster - my personal favorite. Not only do I love the Chagall windows but even more the fresco's on the foundation which tell the story of the convent's creation & illustrate the lives of Felix & Regula, the patron saints of Zurich.
A stop for coffees before strolling in the Old Town (Alstadt), now the city's commercial center. We stopped at the Lindenhof, It has giant chessboards for open-air games. Then it was off to the famous Bahnhofstrasse, where the only person who shopped was Philip - who bought a new wrist watch band for his Swatch.
The afternoon was spent at Schweizerisches Landesmusem - giving a quick overview of the How, When and Why. Then more coffees before heading back to the hotel and off to meet cousin Chris.
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