Zurich: Adventures Sprinkled with Chocolate

Beauuutiful Zurich

Somehow, I’m fortunate enough to say that I’ve found myself back in Zurich. After studying abroad here for a semester in 2010, it’s been so much fun to roam my old hangouts and show them off nostalgically to Alysa. She asked what we’d do here, and all I could promise was plenty of chocolate, wandering, and watches. We managed to hit all three in our first few hours in Zurich.

 

 

 

Chocolate is high on my list of priorities when I’m in Switzerland. If you’ve been following our food diaries, I’m sure this doesn’t come as a surprise. I just hope that you aren’t counting our calories because I know that we eat like sumo wrestlers. I don’t need to be reminded.






a chocoholic's dream





Today, the main indulgence was in Sprüngli hot chocolate. Sprüngli is the ritzy high-class sister to Lindt Chocolate. Walking into the Sprüngli store, I told Alysa to brace herself. This is the mecca of Swiss chocolate. It’s one delicate truffle and decadent dessert after another. We sat down in the cafe and helped ourselves to some fantastic hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream and Sprüngli chocolate shavings on top. Heaven.

Sprungli hot chocolate



On our way down the hill from our hotel to the city, I got to tour Alysa around ETH. This was the technical university where I studied two years ago and enjoyed European living to the fullest. I showed her the old main building where Einstein wandered the halls, as well as other buildings that I attended lectures and demos. We grabbed lunch in the Uni Mensa (cafeteria) and loaded our plates at the salad bar. Yes, after weeks of cheese and dumplings we’ve been wanting something green. It was also great to be with students again.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets of Old City. I love how many twisty turny streets Zurich has to offer. We visited a few that I've been to before, such as a cafe that famous writers frequented and a bar where the Dada art movement was born.

 

 



Grossmunster church



 

One of my main goals was to pay my respects to the shop where I bought my Swiss watch two years ago. We found the store, admired their new collections, and I had my watch band resized. That little store means a lot to me.

 



my fave watch store



 

In our wanderings, we happened across a shop that roasts their own coffee beans and was chock full of locals stocking up. We also found a store that specialized in top-of-the-line liquors and made quick friends with the staff, who outwardly cringed at what American college students imbibe themselves with. Our favorite treasure shop was a four-story instrument store. They had grand pianos, harps, violins, every instrument imaginable. We had a great time gawking at these elegant pieces that cost more than our future salaries combined.

local coffee roaster



Musikhug



 

The evening continued at another local spot where we met up with a friend of mine from ETH. We had initially bonded as two Midwestern kids thrown into a German-for-beginners class, trying to make those lovely German gutteral sounds. Anyway, he just finished his Masters at ETH and invited us to celebrate at a university-sponsored end-of-exams event. It was held in a flashy, hip bar, which would never be the chosen location for a university event in the US. It was a great fit for Alysa and me because the place was crawling with engineering students. We had no trouble making friends. I especially enjoyed talking with my friend about engineering, business and entrepreneurship in Switzerland. He, Alysa and I have a lot of common interests.



ETH main building, where Einstein and I went to school



We moved to another bar, one of my favorite hangouts, and had an interesting America versus Europe conversation with a German and a Scot. The topic of counting calories came up, because the Scottish guy brought it up as a goofy American diet fad. As someone interested in health, I find it fascinating to learn how non-Americans eat and stay fit. Anyway, this guy thought it was ridiculous that caloric content of meals will be required to be posted at chain restaurants in the US. We explained to him that meal sizes at restaurants are often four times as big as they should be for a regular meal, unlike in Europe. And Americans eat whatever is put in front of them (Alysa and I are leaders of this trend). We also learned that lunch is the big family meal of the day in Europe. These guys were blown away to hear that lunch essentially doesn't exist as a mealtime in the US - everyone eats it on the run or in front of a computer, if at all. By contrast, lunch in Europe is savored and enjoyed among families and friends. I'm going to do my best to forget that reality when I start work in two weeks. Another day in Zurich!!

Schönen Wochenende!

Love,
Melissa and Alysa