Zurich

Our overnight flight from Singapore was reasonably comfortable having a spare seat beside us being a great help, and we arrived in Zurich 6.30 am Sunday. Our first taste of Swiss precision was immediately evident when we disembarked, as we were directed to a train which took us straight to baggage collection and through customs. With nothing to declare we took an escalator directly to the train station to which took us into Zurich HB. The Hotel Schweizerhof was a 1 minute walk across the Bahnhofplatz outside the station!!!! How easy was that?
The hotel was superb….very luxurious and with an understated elegance. The room was quite large, and beautifully decorated. Our enormous bed was actually 2 pushed together with soft fluffy down filled duvets…a pity it wasn’t cold…and each side had an individual control to lower and raise the foot and head!!! (I want one of these at home!) The bathroom however was amazing…twin sinks, magnified mirror (didn’t like that first thing in the morning) and a toilet that washed and dried you after a visit. I want one of these too!!
Unbeknown to us, Zurich was having a festival on Sunday, with the streets closed to, vehicles and the city fitness brigade out in force to take part in a very energetic trek around the city using Nordic ski poles, this was the funniest sight you will ever see when being rushed by a thousand very determined lycra clad pole wielding Swiss health freaks determined to get to the finish line first. The locals were also in traditional dress and we were entertained by choirs and Alpine horn players, as well as male dancing flag tossers (not too sure about the latter, they appeared to need a lot more practice.) As there were a lot of people out and about, there were many mouths to feed, so with Swiss precision the longest chicken roasting spit had been set up in one of the squares, and the little birds were spinning to the tones of the alpine horns , as they took on a swiss suntan.