Europe trip: Day 1 (Zurich)

Sep 10th Friday.   The plan was long and elaborate: a trip to Switzerland (Zurich and Bernese Oberland) and Italy (Rome and Venice).   We were flying in from Seattle, while my parents were flying in from Bombay.   Our flight to Zurich via JFK was early in the morning at 7:45.  We woke up really early and stayed groggy through the flight until we landed in Zurich on Saturday morning.

Sep 11th, Saturday.   The passage through immigration was quick and we met up with parents at the baggage claim.   We were supposed to be staying at the Movenpick hotel at the airport that night.   It would have been really convenient to check into the hotel in the morning and take a shower, unfortunately the hotel did not have the rooms ready yet and so we just decided to pick up our rental car and go into town.   With the rental car, we rented a GPS as well which was in hindsight an excellent decision.   Zurich downtown was unexpectedly near to the airport.   Instead of wandering around too far, we parked the car at a garage and walked out.  The first place  we went to was Bahnhofstrasse which is the main downtown shopping district.   Bahnhofstrasse is closed to motor traffic except for trams and it was a pretty street lined with expensive boutiques and the fabled swiss banks.  Many banks only advertised their private banking: this is probably where the rich and famous keep their shadowy numbered accounts.   After window shopping a few boutiques  we walked over to the Limmat river which runs parallel to the Bahnhofstrasse.   The quays along Limmat river were full of people enjoying the bright fall day.  There are two famous old churches (11th-12th century) next to the river: Fraumunster and Grossmunster.   Fraumunster was closed for a wedding, so we walked over the Limmat river bridge to Grossmunster.  While my parents sat inside Grossmunster, we climbed up the church spire for a bird's eye view of the city.   By now it was getting late and so we went back to the hotel and checked in.

After lunch at the hotel we had a long sleep to catch up on our jet lag.   In the evening we went back to downtown to have dinner.   We had a great pamphlet: Switzerland for Movie Stars, which listed Indian restaurants in Switzerland.   Apart from listing Indian restaurants, it had some nuggets of advice for Indians such as:

(i) Porters are a rarity in Switzerland. One is expected to carry his/her own bags in hotels, stations, cabs, coaches etc. In the same vein, no hostesses will guide you to your table in Switzerland.

(ii) Like the British, to the Swiss his home is his castle. This includes his well-tended garden with flower beds and fruit trees. Plucking of these is not welcome.

So we ended up in Taj palace, had dinner and called it a night.

Eating Out in Seattle

While I am talking about food, I thought, I should write about some of my  favorite eating places in Seattle. Now, where do I start ... 

Brunch :

Portage Bay (Image from Yelp.com)

For this, the first on my list is Portage Bay.   They have three locations : South Lake Union, Ballard and near UW (Roosevelt way NE). I like the one at South Lake Union , which I think is the most crowded one.  Wait time is never less than half an hour on weekends. Few other places we like include: 5 Spot (Queen Anne), Endolyne Joe's (West Seattle), Hi-life (Ballard). All three belong to the chow food group.  5 spot holds a special place being a near to home :) They feature food of a particular region of America  at a time. I however  like the hash  brown of Endolyne Joe's the most. Another place you might like is Coastal Kitchen at Capitol Hill (This is the first place I went to have brunch, and was amazed at the amount of food you get in one plate!). By the way, if you are looking for bigger plates for relatively cheaper price 'The Dish' at Ballard might be the place you want to try. 

Lunch : 

Dim Sum at Jade Garden (Image from Yelp.com)

When it comes to lunch the truth is  I have tried very few places  for lunch. I used to join Chiranjeeb for lunch on weekdays, when his office was in  the international district. But almost always we had Pho or Dim sum at the nearby places. That takes the least amount time. For Dim sum, I like Jade Garden, but not because of the their Dim sums , but for their egg rolls. Dim sums are good in all these places, but in many places I don't like the smell of the oil , they fry the egg rolls in. Only in Jade garden , I have seen that the smell is missing.  By the way , I think Dim Sums with pork stuffing is tastier. We also went to Pyramid Alehouse  couple of times.  They have really good garlic fries . 

(to be continued ...)