When Jeremy and I set up another housesitting assignment in Geneva, Switzerland, we decided to spend the week beforehand exploring the country some. I’ve always loved Switzerland, and I couldn’t wait to share its beauty with Jeremy. We booked a flight from London to Zurich on British Airways. I’ve always remembered flying in Europe to be very pleasant: the flights are short, the planes aren’t full, there’s free food and alcohol and the service is always friendly. I know it depends on which airline you fly (the budget airlines like RyanAir and EasyJet are a different story), but I’ve always had such great experiences with flights within Europe on AirFrance and British Airways. This time was no exception. We also flew out of London City Airport (a first for me), which is close to central London, small, and hassle-free. We waited in absolutely no lines (not even for security!), the gates were nice, and each seat had multiple outlets.
Relaxing in the London City Airport. Look at those outlets!
Getting on the plane to Zurich!
The flight was only a little over an hour long, and we were served drinks and sandwiches as soon as we got in the air.
Tiny bottles of wine: the way to my heart.
It was such a pleasant experience, I actually hope that we get to fly again soon.
Arriving in Zurich, the train we needed was right downstairs, and it dropped us off five minutes from our Airbnb. The apartment itself was SO nice, and it was really a highlight of our adventures so far. The weather was perfect and sunny, and everyone was enjoying it outside by the lake, drinking and having a good time. It was infectious. We visited a grocery store to get our picnic, and joined the rest of the people. We ended up doing this almost every evening we were there.
Taking the train from the airport to central Zurich.
Enjoying our first evening in Zurich.
I really liked this beer can.
Nice sunset picnic.
Put this with all the other pictures of me holding tiny bottles of wine.
Interesting cans of beer at the grocery store in Zurich.
The whole city seemed to be eating and drinking by the lake.
The rest of our days there, we walked around town and explored. The entire city is incredibly clean (all of Switzerland is, actually), and the public transportation system is great, albeit expensive. Luckily you can walk around the whole city for the most part. We tried to take a tram up to a cemetery to see James Joyce’s grave, but it didn’t come to the stop we were at (and we had already bought the expensive tickets… ugh). We figured this meant it wasn’t running that day (it didn’t), so we started walking. It ended up being a really long and steep walk and it took about two hours, and Jeremy’s knee was really bothering him, but we managed to take the tram back down to town. The cemeteries in Zurich are some of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever seen. There was one in particular that we had to walk by to get back to our Airbnb, and it looked like it was straight out of a fairytale.
The view from Lindenhofplatz.
Swiss men playing chess at Lindenhofplatz.
There were a lot of neat gravestones in the various cemeteries in Zurich.
The cemetery we walked by every day to get to our apartment.
James Joyce’s grave.
The pretty cemetery where James Joyce’s grave was located.
I love Switzerland’s alleyways.
Opernhaus Zurich in the main square.
Jeremy drinking coffee on the little balcony of our Airbnb.
Pretty good looking picnic if I do say so myself.
When our time in Zurich was up, we reluctantly got on the train and headed to our Airbnb in Wunnewil, between Bern and Fribourg. When booking it, I thought it would be a little easier to reach Bern or Fribourg and that it was in a little village, but it turned out that it was so expensive to take the 15-minute train ride ($40 round trip), we just stayed in the village (if you can call it that, there was nothing really there) and went to Bern on one of the days. It was really pleasant though, and it was good for Jeremy to rest his knee.
Another great thing about Switzerland… all the public fountains with drinking water straight from the Alps.
Next up: our day in Bern!
Lily Runs the World 