Trixie Traveler in Alsace-Black Forest: Exploring Zurich, Day #2

It is overcast today and supposed to rain so we take the tram to the Landesmuseum right next to the train station. I remember going to this museum 30 some years ago with our kids, but it has been completely redone and work continues on renovation with a planned finish in 2016. I remember kind of a musty, dark, disorganized atmosphere with rooms depicting Swiss life and homes. Now it is a modern interactive museum with good lighting and beautiful displays. We fool around for an inordinate amount of time trying to download an app about the museum that includes an audio guide. We try and try and are about to give up when suddenly it downloads.

The museum is organized in chronological order and tells about Swiss history. It also has a Swiss Collections section which has collections of everything from clothing, shoes, glassware, ceramics, photography to sleds and a bunch of other stuff. There is also a Swiss Homes and Furnishings section. We spend several hours and cover just about everything. I'd venture to say we might have won the prize for the Americans spending the most time in the Swiss national museum! We enjoy lunch in the little cafe. I'll bet when the renovation is finished, there will be a big, restaurant with really good food as most modern museums do these days; also a nice store.

We had planned to also go to the big art museum here in Zurich, the Kuntshaus, but we are all "museumed out," backs hurting, etc. so we take the tram back to the room. We are still a little jet lagged so appreciate a nap as well. So glad we have the apartment to come back to. The sun is out and it is quite warm. There is a combination washer and dryer in our apartment and we spend quite a bit of time trying to see how it works. I've never seen a combination like that before.

We use the last minutes of our tram day passes to go almost to the end of the line just to see some new territory. We get off and take the tram back to the Rennweg stop. We walk to the Lindenhof Park which is on a hill and affords nice views of the city. Unfortunately, it is cloudy and overcast so the pictures don't do the view justice. This is a very upscale neighborhood with lots of upscale shopping. We walk around looking for a place to eat and come upon a very lively pedestrian street with many outdoor food stands, bars, and entertainers. We don't know if this happens every Friday night or if it is something special. We choose another Italian restaurant, Ristorante Tre Cucine, (¾ of the restaurants seem to be Italian) and choose to eat inside for the quiet. Good thing cse it started to rain. It has a nice ambience and we enjoy our meal. We walk back through the busy street and all the way home. I have walked about 4.5 miles today.

We have enjoyed our time here in Zurich. It has been a good stopping off point for us to rest up before the bike trip. I have found Zurich to be a prettier city than I expected and, in the Swiss way, everything is orderly and works well.

In Lindenhof Park with the city in the background