Zurich, Switzerland: Favorite European City & Country Visited So Far

Less than 24 hours since landing back home, I thought I had the whole weekend to post this blog, until I saw the calendar say today's 3/31, so I better get the March trip posted and time-stamped while it's still March!  It's been over a month since my last trip...With the hiatus over, the last week of March took me to Switzerland for business travel, but of course being the multi-tasker that I've now become, I made sure to get in some pleasure and fun.....

It was a jammed pack week juggling between meetings and sight-seeing, and I've got a ton of pictures and material to organize without making this entry a little too much to handle, so for my Facebook friends, make sure to check-out the full album on my wall.  I've decided to organize this entry into "buckets" of categories of my key takeaway impressions of Switzerland.

For most of the week, my primary location was where the company's office is located, in this small city an hour north of Zurich, called "Schaffhausen."  To get to Schaffhausen, I had to fly to Zurich airport and then take an hour train ride.  For those of you who know me well, I don't even take public transportation at home, so the prospect of taking a train abroad gave me some anxiety beforehand.  So, my first topic of discussion is the train system in Switzerland.  People were right - I had nothing to worry about, as the railway system in Switzerland is really sophisticated and rider-friendly.  Furthermore, it's a great way to see the country, as a lot of the railroad tracks go through scenic areas.  If trains in the U.S. had similar accommodations as they do in Europe, I'd definitely take public transportation more often.....

Zurich Train Schedule

Comfortable Train Accommodations

Ham & Cheese Rosti

Moving onto the next topic, it'd have to be about the food, since I usually get questions about how the food is wherever I go.  I enjoy Swiss food more than French or German cuisine.  For my taste, Swiss food isn't as "funky" as French cuisine, and not as "boring" as German food.  I noticed the Swiss use potatoes in a lot of their dishes, and they definitely make the best rendition of a "hash-brown."  When colleagues took me out for lunch, I asked what's the most authentic dish on the menu to give me the full Swiss experience, they suggested a "Rosti," which is a giant hashbrown layered with an equally gigantic egg omelette.  They warned me it would be heavy and big, but I figured might as well give it a try.  Here I was, the only girl at lunch, stuffing myself on this giant hashbrown-and-omelette, while the two dudes I was with were picking at their salads!  While I was only able to eat slightly more than half of the Rosti, it was mighty delicious.  You can get one with all sorts of different toppings and stuffing.  By popular request, below are some more images of the dishes I ate during the week....

"Hauptgang"

Swiss version of Chicken Picatta

There was the "Hauptgang," which was some sort of pork dish with a side of potatoes (again).  When colleagues from the Zug office (more about the city of Zug later) took me out to lunch, I had the most delicious version of a Chicken Picatta ever!  The chicken was perfectly breaded and the side of rice and veggies were so delicious, too.  What made it even more perfect was enjoying the 

"Kalbsgeschnetzeltes"

Zug Lake

dish while eating outdoors with a great view overlooking Zug Lake.  Then there's the "Kalbsgeschnetzeltes," (don't ask me how to pronounce), which is sliced veal in a cream sauce, served with a side of Rosti.  With all this food, of course I had to wash it down with something....that something being BEER, of course!  All week, I was
living off the local brew they have on draft called, "Falken," which is actually pretty good and refreshing...

   

Rhein Falls

Speaking of my breathtaking view of Zug Lake during lunch, I was so amazed at how beautiful the landscape of Switzerland is.  Everywhere you go, you see a backdrop of mountains and pristine lakes -- almost like scenes taken right out of an artist's painting!  And, nowhere else could you get more of this picturesque scenery than in the city of Zug, which is about a 30 
minute train ride south of Zurich.  My company has another office in Switzerland in the city of Zug.  So, after spending most of the week in Schaffhausen, I was invited by colleagues in the Zug office to visit them for a day.  At first, I was a bit anxious about having given myself additional "stress" to my already busy agenda and having to take another 90 minute train ride from Schaffhausen to Zug, but when I got to Zug, I was so glad that I made it after all.  While Schaffhausen is nice, it is still a bit on the rural side.  Zug is South of Zurich and a bit closer to Zurich, and therefore more cosmopolitan.  And, as you can see from the picture above of Zug Lake, it's a great balance between being a cosmopolitan city and nature.  But, Schaffhausen also has its own nature's jewel, in Rhein Falls.  While Rhein Falls isn't a very tall water fall, I was told by colleagues that it is the largest water fall in Europe in terms of how much volume of water it pumps out.

Zurich Lake

So far, I've already talked about Schaffhausen and Zug, but the highlight of my week has to be the afternoon spent in Zurich.  After my meetings ended in Zug, my German colleague and I decided to spend the afternoon exploring Zurich, since we had to pass by Zurich via the train station to get back to Schaffhausen.  We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day weather-wise.  It was 60s and sunny all week!  We walked around the city center, which is built around Zurich Lake.  Similar to the Great Lakes in the U.S., all these "lakes" I'm referring to are huge; there's no "end" so it gives the appearance of being ocean-like.  My colleague and I decided to rent one of those self-paddling boats and just took in a relaxing view of Zurich.  At first, I was trying to find some kind of tour boat that's operated by an engine, so I wouldn't have to do any manual labor, but since it was still early in the season, we couldn't find one!  So, self-paddling it was, even though I did warn my colleague she was crazy to get on a small boat with me and risk having it flip and I'm not even a strong swimmer!


Out of all the foreign cities that I've visited so far, Zurich is by far my favorite.  It is a great balance between the old, historic-European feel, but at the same time, you still feel it is quite contemporary and modern.  It's hard to capture the beauty and spirit of Zurich that I'm talking about, so I definitely recommend Zurich as a "must visit" to everyone so you can experience for yourself what I'm talking about!  Unlike any other foreign city that I've visited so far, I left Zurich actually thinking it'd be so amazing if I were ever fortunate to be offered an ex-pat contract to move there for work.  Though, chances are slim, as Zurich was ranked 6th most expensive city to live in during 2011, so for companies to send ex-pats there, it's quite costly!  But, a girl can still dream, right?  Hehe....

    

Good thing I had extra space in my luggage

CHF 8,200 = $9,000+ Watches

Last but not least, what are some of things Switzerland is most famous for?  Swiss chocolates and Swiss-made watches!!!  Chocolate is practically everywhere you go; from the airplane to conference rooms at the office -- there's a dish of chocolate or someone is passing out pieces of chocolate.  I'm usually not big on sweets, but even I couldn't help but get in on Swiss chocolate.  Of course I made sure to buy a stash of Swiss chocolates to bring home!  However, while colleagues were trying to convince me that I couldn't leave Switzerland without investing in a hand-made Swiss watch, I'm not rolling in enough dough to come home with a $9,000+ watch!  While everyone knows Rolex, apparently there's another flagship that's considered "the brand" by the Swiss -- IWC, which is actually founded in Schaffhausen!  Since I couldn't afford the watches, I figures it was picture-worth to snap a photo of the outrageous price-tag.  Though, my German colleague did comment that while I was snapping the picture, passer-by's were looking at this Chinese girl taking a picture of a case of luxury watches probably thinking I'm going to go back to China and try to make copy-cat knock-offs, haha.


It's been another whirlwind week on the road and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to go to Switzerland.  It's definitely my favorite country that I've visited thus far, and I look forward to going back someday soon again, especially to some of the other major cities like Geneva, which I hear has more French influence, while Zurich is more influenced by Germany.  In summary, Switzerland embodies a great balance between the traditional historic feel of Europe, but while also maintaining a modern contemporary feel.  And, of course, the Swiss people are very hospitable and kind.  Also, just as an FYI, do you know what's the capital city of Switzerland?  Nope, it's neither Zurich or Geneva.  It's the city of Bern!  Another little tidbit that I learned on this trip.....