#boluineurope: Zurich

Ah part 1 of my recent quicky vacation to good ol' Europe. Who would've thought that I would be hitting Europe for the second time in 1 year. I would never imagine that in years.

The benefit of dating a working man that travels is milage points. The Pillow aka #TheTravelingPillow has racked up so many miles within this past year, he gladly let me use his points (aka I forced him too, hehe). We are both proud members of United's MileagePlus and Star Alliance, so we tend to stick with the group (plus a family member of mine is a steward for United Airlines). So while the Pillow was sent again for his 2nd Euro trip for work for another 2 weeks, I decided to tag along for about a week.

Free flight... Can't say no, eh? Well, it's not so free since I paid the differences in taxes, but I would still considered free since I only paid less than $250 for a round trip flight. Woo. PLUS, I only had to pay for accommodation for 2 nights (those were the nights were I was alone without him). Consider that a steal.

Anyways, I woke up every morning to a different city and I think that was pretty rad.

So for my first stop: ZÜRICH, Switzerland!

The weather was nice, the view of the WATER from Lake Zürich was amazing... (the only water view I see in SoCal is from the beach, which is like a 50 minute drive for me). Being surrounded by historical and old buildings was fascinating.

The night prior of my walk-around, I stayed in a living room at an apartment from Airbnb. As I arrived from the airport, getting lost for like 1 hour, getting confused because everything was in Germany, and almost getting on to the wrong train, I was relieved when I finally got to the Zürich HB train station and hopped on to the tram that took me to the apartment. I was seriously sweatin on a cold night. Nevertheless, just seeing the city thru the tram windows was awesome.

So anyways let's get back to awesome Zürich. Good thing about Zürich HB train station, they have lockers to drop off your luggages so you can roam around the city. I find that highly convenient. After locking up my luggage, I head out and admire the beautiful city.

I downloaded the PocketGuide app and used that as my audio guide and map for Zürich. It came in really handy.

Seeing the lake and rivers filled with swans was amazing. Rarely I've seen swans in the States, it really brought that European vibe thru out this day trip. The people were friendly, walking around, doing their own thing. Lots of people were just sitting by the water, either enjoying their lunch, reading, chit-chatting with their partner or just literally admiring the beauty of the city.

Despite being the biggest city in Switzerland, there was just some peacefulness to the place. I believe its due to being surround by clear blue water, just floating around town.

After my full admiration to beautiful Zürich, I had to catch a train and head on over to my next stop, Neuchâtel, another lake town where the Pillow has been residing for the week.

Til then,
Rima

PS: Please visit Gula&Garam for my food blog/recipes. New entry: Foods of Travel