Eurotrip Part 4 – “So I suppose that means you have a Swiss bank account”

After a long, five hour train ride, I finally arrive in Zurich, my last stop on my trip. At every hostel I visit, the usual conversation starter is a standard series of questions: What’s your name? Where are you from? What do you do? Where have you been? Where are you going? When I mentioned Zurich as part of my answer to the last question, I got the same response from everyone: “It’s clean, it’s beautiful, you’ll love it, but it’s really expensive.”

Switzerland is part of the EU, but not in the Eurozone. They have their own currency, the Swiss Franc, which is roughly the same value as a USD. While some things are on par with American prices (like cheese and beer from a grocery store) and some things are even cheaper (The local bicycles can be rented from 9am-9:30pm every day for nothing but your license information and 20 Franc note which you get back when you return the bike) most things cost noticeably more. You can’t find a restaurant meal for anything less than 20 franc, and that’s the vegetarian noodle option. Mangos cost the equivalent of $6 in the grocery store and the famed Swiss chocolates can go for about $4/100grams. Want a refrigerator magnet as a souvenir? That’s $6.

Prices aside, the other three parts of commentary on Zurich were also accurate. Streets were clear of both trash and vagrants. The Swiss Alps loomed in the distance and a large lake pierced the center of the city. I took advantage of the free bikes and explored. The Bahnhofstrasse is to Zurich as the Chans Alysses is to Paris, luxury stores and layered shopping malls lining both sides of the street. Local trams zig zagged every street, making getting around convenient (if you can read/speak Swiss German).

As ever, one of my first stops was a grocery store. I had the legendary Swiss cheese and chocolate in mind, and was not disappointed on either count. For chocolate, most stores had an entire aisle dedicated to bars, truffles, candies, of all sizes, shapes, and levels of cocoa. Lindt made a frequent appearance. No surprise, one of their factories is located just outside the city. In contrast to Belgium, the Swiss seem to focus more on the bars of chocolate rather than pralines and chocolate covered goodies. I found Swiss chocolate to be darker, firmer, and more complex in flavor, and the Belgian chocolate to be smoother, creamier, and of a more luxurious texture. I say this with full knowledge that I sampled only a small sliver of what each country had to offer.

As to the cheese, of course gruyere, emmentaller, what we know as “swiss” made appearances.  Fondue restaurants were a frequent site, most touting a blend of cheeses in which bread could be submerged. Another cheese, raclette, was both a cheese and the dish which uses it. The cheese, raclette, is melted to the point of brown bubbliness, and poured over vegetables, potatoes, and the like to create a dish, also named raclette. The cheeses here were of a medium body and funk, offering nuttiness and herbaceous notes, most likely because Swiss cows roam the Alps freely.

On Sundays, almost everything in Switzerland is closed. The government keeps a pretty tight leash on business and enforces a reasonable work/life balance. I decided to hike the Uetelberge, a small mountain just outside the city. I met an American couple from Denver on the way up. They had been living in Zurich for a year, so they shared local tips throughout our accent. We ate grilled sausages and drank beers at the top, overlooking the city to one side, and the Swiss Apls to the other. The vendor had both red and white sausages (beef and pork respectively) the pork having a smoother texture, yet slightly gamier flavor. Both were served with sliced bread and senf (the German, spiced Dijon mustard).

At the suggestion of my new friends, I rode my bike to the other side of the lake, the “gold coast.” Because of the closure of stores, the series of parks and green spaces was full of people grilling, drinking, playing, and relaxing. I found a group playing volleyball and asked to join. I soon found that I stumbled upon an internationals Facebook group, young professionals from all over the world who moved to Zurich for work. I spent the afternoon with 25-35yr olds from Argentina to New Zealand, all in the early stages of their career, all with Swiss Bank accounts (a running joke among them).

After hours of volleyball, jumping in the lake, drinking, and talking, for the first time in my trip, I forgot I was traveling. The enjoyment of the sunlight, the drink, and the company of others was a common thread that transcended the myriad backgrounds, ethnicities, and languages. I felt at home.

Travel changes you. It expands your perspective (and hopefully your pallet too). It is the only other passion that matches mine of gastronomy. I made new friends, had new experiences, ate new things, and got to see a little slice more of what this world has to offer.