This article is written by Cyrus Dadachanji, an avid food journalist, storyteller, non-fiction film and TV scriptwriter, researcher, advertising copywriter and poet, based in Mumbai
“Zurich is not only the banking centre of Switzerland, but it could also be called the geographic tourist centre.”
Imagine a city that’s the banking center of the world. A city where business hums quietly in glass fronted buildings. A city where transcations worth millions of dollars take place every day. And you’ll probably conjure up images of a mega-metropolis with skyscrapers, swank hotels and chaotic traffic. Well, it doesn’t work that way in Switzerland. Zurich, for all its importance on the international banking scene, has retained its small city charm. The skyscrapers are few and far between. The traffic hums about the city noiselessly as the citizens stroll by the lakeside, feeding swans. This is a city where immense wealth is generated, stored and spent on the good things it life. But the Swiss believe that the good things in life don’t necessarily need to be ostentatious or garish.
The best way to discover Zurich is to walk about the city. Discover its quaint squares, stop off at a sidewalk café or just go window-shopping at designer boutiques across the city. The city is small enough to walk about in a day or two, and allows you to set your own pace. This is definitely not one of those ‘must-see-this, must-do-that’ kind of places. But there are enough attractions to keep you occupied and enthralled for even a week, if you feel like lingering on.
“The church is best known for its clock tower, which boasts the largest clock face in Europe.”
The Bahnhofstrasse
Lace up your walking shoes and let’s take a stroll through one of the nicest big little cities in the world. The moment you arrive in Zurich, it’s very apparent that you’re in a wealthy, well-developed city. The airport is like a miny-city in itself. The airport complex has bus-stations, multi-level underground train stations, hotels, entertainment and business centres, multi-cuisine restaurants and public showers among other facilities that a traveller may require. Our walking trail begins at the city’s busiest street- the trendy Bahnhofstrasse. Although it’s the banking centre of the city, the street is lined with shops and sidewalk cafés, giving it a rather bohemiam feel. From the Bahnhofstrasse, it’s a short walk, though medeival lanes to the Lindenhof square, where one can still see traces of Zurich’s origins as a Roman trading centre. The fountain at the square commemorates the bravery of the women of Zurich, who tricked the Hapsburgs of Austria, by marching around the city walls in full military armour. The Hapsburgs thought that the city was heavily fortified and beat a hasty retreat. Seven hundred years later, the fountain is still treated with the respect a war memorial deserves. Just off the Lindenhof square lies another famous memorial that dates back to the middle ages. St. Peter’s Church or Peterskirsche, built in the 13th Century, is Zurich’s oldest parish church. The church is best known for its clock tower, which boasts the largest clock face in Europe.
The Peterskirsche Clock Tower
Zurich is a city of surprises. A few steps this way or that can take you from the medeival to the modern and back. Just a short distance from St. Peter’ s Church lies the Fraumunster church , which has modern stained glass windows painted by Chagall, in a modern style. Next to the Fraumunster, you’ll find a pair of graceful guild buildings belonging to the linen weavers and the wine merchants. Walk back towards the Bhnhofstrasse and give your sweet tooth free rein at Zurich’s most famous confectioneries and sweets shop, Sprungli at Paradeplatz. If you’re a chocolate fan, don’t miss the Chocolate Truffle – it’s positively sinful.