A River Runs Through It

Back in the winter of 2006, I went to Switzerland and signed up for my very first and (so far) only ski lesson (I was doing well until looking down and remembering my fear of heights).  Having spent maybe 36 hours in Zürich, most of my attention was focused on the swanky St. Moritz.

 

In planning my summer 2023 holiday, I considered re-visiting a favorite (Berlin) but with ‘expensive’ miles’ requirements to that market, a desire to see new places and a limited amount of time, I pivoted to its cheese-and-chocolate-lush neighbor.  The original plan was to spend about 24 hours in Zürich and head to other areas.  Nothing against the country’s largest city, but initially I only had about 6 days to tackle a lot and wasn’t sure it could offer me enough uniqueness.  However, when an opportunity presented itself to start my vacation earlier, I decided to spend a little time getting to know some of the northern cantons.

 

Since Swiss government and geography might not have been part of your high school experience (if it was part of mine, I might have been writing notes to friends during that lesson…), let me get you up to speed that the country is made up of 26 cantons.  Each has their own constitutions, parliaments, governments and courts.  Zürich is in (wait for it), the Zürich canton.

 

My first night (Saturday) was spent at the Hilton Airport.  By the time I realized I could get on the days-earlier flight, there wasn’t much hotel inventory downtown, so this felt like an easy solution.  After a quick jet-lag-induced nap, I headed into the central area via a 15-ish minute train.  It was bustling and (of course) my eyes immediately caught sight of a local chocolate shop’s enticing window display…which led to the purchasing of some gifts for friends (maybe also an ‘open this asap’ gift for me).  That evening, during the executive lounge happy hour (no peasants allowed, obviously – and no I’m not a snob, you’ll understand this if you’ve read my prior blog :)!), I ended up chatting with a fun couple from Vegas (who grew up in Chicago) for an hour and a half – traveling is such a great way to connect with others.

 

Ema House was “home” the next two evenings.  Without my (suddenly very heavy) suitcases, it was an easy 10 minute walk from the main train station.  With my (how did they gain weight so fast) suitcases and sweat-inducing temperatures, it was probably 20 minutes.  On the way, I went over the river and through the woods (well, ok it was a park but there were trees).  In 2006, I never left the very centre of the city, so seeing nature was a nice surprise.

 

On Sunday, with almost everything closed (the Germanic countries are fairly religious), I wandered along the Limmat Fluss (river) – it commences at the outfall of Lake Zürich and flows in a northwesterly direction (I used to think all rivers flowed down i.e. south – again, was probably still not paying attention in class – I did well on the ACT though so I guess river directions weren’t on that test).  Anyway, back to the Limmat… it forked with one section hosting a few families paddling along quietly.  The other branch was like a very sunny night club complete with music, posturing and lots of partying.  A long wall featuring cool graffiti was surrounded by artists of all ages, paint cans in hand.  Swimmers frolicked in the water and some flaunted diving skills off the bridges.

Before arriving in Switzerland, I’d bought a 15 day train pass.  Monday, I broke it in by hopping aboard to visit Lucerne (in the canton of…you guessed it…Lucerne).  I didn’t see a river, but there was a very large lake, creatively named Lake Lucerne. Beautiful views with mountains in the distance.

 

Tuesday, I decided to take another day trip – off to Baden.  This town is not to be confused with Germany’s Baden-Baden (in case you were, in fact, getting confused).  For those keeping track, the canton is Aargau.  A non-stop train is about 16 minutes, so it’s quite close to Zürich but felt like another world.  There was a handy walking path next to the river (yes, the Limmat flows there too), gorgeous greenery along the way and the old town area was quaintly cobble-stoney.

That night, I was booked at the same hotel from 2006, Hotel Schweizerhof.  They had a pre-populated form with my address from 17 years ago – hadn’t seen that street name in ages.  The location is directly across from the train station, quite convenient upon arrival back from Baden.  While I hadn’t remembered this from last time, each night, a butler comes by the rooms to offer a treat.  His cart held many (many) chocolates on offer.  I’d already eaten my ‘gift-to-me’ from Saturday so… sure, I would like Schokolade, bitte!

 

The next day, I left the northern cantons to head south (which as I learned is not necessarily the direction that all rivers flow).

 

Can you name any of the other 23 cantons?  No googling allowed.

 

Leave me a comment below!