After being absolutely exhausted yesterday, you would think that sleep would come easily. 4am saw both Hugh & I awake & jetlagged, with minds that refused to sleep. We managed to force ourselves to doze on and off while watching a dubbed horror film. Once 7.30 rolled around, a time we considered reasonable, we got ourselves ready to go off in search of breakfast.
We stepped out into the harsh, cold wind (and quickly dashed back up to our room to add all the layers we owned) and ambled off towards what we had seen on the maps as a bit of a cafe area nearby to our hotel. Having been awake since 4am, and not having had dinner the night before, my stomach was giving me some serious hunger pangs. Sadly, our stroll in the icy wind served no purpose other than to further our hunger, as everything in Switzerland is closed on Sunday. Our hotel offered breakfast for 20 Swiss Francs per person (which was around $30AUD per person), but we weren't really intending on spending that much money. Instead we found the closest service station and stocked up on snacks for the day, including croissants for breakfast, and a coffee from a vending machine for Hugh.
After wolfing down breakfast, Hugh and I found the streetcar 31. We fumbled our way through buying some tickets from the ticket machine at the stop (which was a lot easier after we found the change language option) and bought a day Zone 110 ticket. The streetcar ran really regularly, even on a Sunday, which was something that we weren't very used to, as Sundays in Brisbane usually mean diminished services.
A short 15 minute ride later, and we had arrived in the centre of Zurich.
We had, to a small extent, planned our destinations on our trip to coincide with some of the festivals that were happening. Today was ZuriCarneval, a fun free Carnival with a street parade that wound its way through the Bahnhofstrasse. For a few hours, the streets were swarming with costumed characters, small floats and music and covered in pretty litter (confetti) and hay.
It was very fun and different to anything I have experianced in Australia, which is why we love going to cultural festivities like this when we travel.
The parade was very interactive, and much more than something to view. Confetti joined the rain pouring onto spectators heads, lollies were thrust into the hands of waiting children, and roses pressed into the palms of women in the crowd (and yes, I did get one. I joked to my husband that at least somebody got me a rose on Valentines day - its not something we usually celebrate).
My face became a canvas, as witches and demons rubbed sticks of purple and black face paint onto my cheeks.
We returned to our hotel later in the evening, tired, happy, with coloured faces and confetti in our hair. We had an easy dinner of take away pizza, eaten whilst cocooned in our doonas to finish our day.
Notes:
Hotel: Ramada
Costs to note: 8.6CHF pp all day tickets for Zone 110
No comments:
Post a Comment