Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and also the 4th most expensive city to live in. Everyone talks about how expensive Switzerland is but it is also one of the few Western European countries I have yet to see. Plus everything is still a little cheaper for me since I am still considered a youth. Or that's what I tell myself.
My goal with Switzerland was to see the beautiful turquoise lakes and hike! Being away from Denver has made me miss the mountains and being in nature.
I had been told that the Lindt museum offers unlimited chocolate so without any further questions I booked a tour of the Lindt museum. Traveling from Maastricht from anywhere is always an adventure that takes at least 3 hours to get to the nearest airport. So I got up at 4am for one of the longest days.
The flight was only an hour and to my surprise I didn't have to go through immigration or customs considering Switzerland is not in the EU. From Zürich airport it only took 30 minutes to the city center. I will give it to Switzerland that they have the best trains in Europe. They are so well connected and punctual.
I immediately headed to the ferry port where I boarded the 12:30 ferry to Kalipsberg where the Lindt museum was located. The boat ride took about 30 minutes and it was so nice to be able to see the city from the water.
The Lindt museum was alright. It was nicely laid out and I liked how they walked through the process of growing the cocoa and the origins, but a lot of the information was redundant given that I had already visited a chocolate museum in Belgium. I did like that Lindt had a room where they explained specifically why Switzerland became popular for chocolate and key players. Lindt became famous for the technology they created to process chocolate that made it extra creamy.
The best part of the Lindt museum is the tasting experience. At one point there are chocolate fountains and you hold your spoon under the dispenser to receive a spoonful of liquid chocolate. I found it a little hard to eat based on how sweet it was. The next tasting experience you simply put your hand under a machine and voila! A piece of chocolate dropped into your hand and you had to guess what kind of chocolate it was. I went around to the stations multiple times until I decided I had had enough.
The last tasting experience was more like a souvenir stop as there was a room with all of the different Lindt truffles possible. You were supposed to only take one of each but let me tell you people were filling up bags and purses. I took whatever I could hold in my two hands although I will admit I probably looked the worst since everyone else could hide it to some degree. No one stopped me though. I do love that after they give you little souvenirs they direct you to the gift shop. No thank you I am fully stocked for the rest of Europe!
I took the boat back to Zürich city center to be able to explore before I headed to Lucerne for the night. I passed by the opera house which looked very grand and several churches, most notably the Grossmunster which can be seen from the water. I love how the houses were situated on the water. Parts of the water were a very light turquoise color which is what I will likely be chasing this whole trip.
You can't go anywhere in Europe without a visit to the Old Town. The historic center is situated on the banks of the Limmat river and is full of old architecture and guild houses. The roads are narrow and have no set order to the way they are arranged. At every corner you turn there are restaurants and tiny shops.
There were two view spots I stopped at. The first was Niederdorf which was right under the church. From there you could look out and see the houses on the banks of the river. The superior viewpoint was Lindenhof Hill. I visited closer to sunset and from the hill you could see the skyline of Zürich. I love how the light fell over the city!
The last place I meandered through was the Bahnhofstrasse. This district is known as the priciest shopping mall strip as it has all of the designer brands. Don't worry I did not end up with anything from those stores at least.
Zürich just got prettier and prettier. I was rewinding on my phone while on the train and looked up to the most gorgeous view. In fact my jaw actually dropped and the girl sitting across from me chuckled. The colors were so vibrant! Bright green combined with the blue sky and darker shades of green. It was so pretty!
I took the train and then a bus to my hotel Ferus in Lucerne. Being in Lucerne would allow me to take the train to mountains nearby and explore!
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