You have to love the Swiss! They are clean. They are neat. They are efficient. They are on time! And did I mention neat and clean? My hotel was spotless – this is the German part of Switzerland so they had that minimalist, straight line, spotlessy clean air about them. Oh, it was such a joy after India!
The wedding was lovely. I went on my own and got a little tired after the fifth person I met exclaimed – You came alone??? To Switzlerand? To a wedding? You must be sooo lonely. No – I’m not. I’m a New Yorker. This is what we do….
I stayed in the town of Winterthur, just outside Zurich. I had hoped to have lunch on an Alp, but just couldn’t do it. (The Alps proper are a couple hours from Zurich.) Winterthur is nice but is on the suburban side and doesn’t have much vibe. Cute place – don’t know if I’d go back there though.
My last day there, I went into Zurich. After a few days in Winterthur, Zurich was electric! I was there a couple years ago for Dalai Lama lectures so I was a little familiar with it – but had forgotten how beautiful it was. And I found out later it was the first warm sunny day this year – and it looked like the entire population of Switzerland came out to Lake Zurich. Zurich sits on a lake – the buildings there are beautiful; it’s very cosmopolitan, and the lake is gorgeous. At the far end are Alp-like mountains, which you can’t always see because of cloud cover, but they were out (I didn’t get to see them before) – so it was a perfect day.
I went to the Modern Art Museum there (best in Switzerland) and saw a couple Salvador Dali paintings I hadn’t seen before. (I love Dali also.)
Anyway, it was a wonderful trip; I ate too much chocolate; the wedding was lovely, and I’m so glad I went.
