Zürich at Night

On the way back from HB after returning from Ütliberg, I took advantage of the clear blue skies and got some good shots of the city at night.


 


(Üetliberg towers above.)

Another Day Out In Zürich - Üetliberg

First I went to the Museum of Design (Museum für Gestaltung).
 
It was pretty small and didn't take long. Then I took a train from HB...


and went up to a place called Üetliberg. It's on a hill. Once you get off the train, you climb a slippery trail to reach the top of the hill.




Here you can eat bratwurst, drink tea, coffee or punch (pronounced poonch) and generally hang around in cold windy conditions enjoying great views of the city and surrounding areas.


You can also climb up a tower, and get even better views at the risk of mild frostbite. Enjoy...

It is really windy up here!




Yup, that is Zürichsee. 

On the way back in the train, I was trying to decipher the signs.


I think I have it. In order from left to right (click on the image above to get a bigger picture): No crazy wigs allowed; do not empty your pockets on the train (or is it no broke people allowed?); no rock stars allowed either; don't saw the seat you sit on; and finally, no chilling out on the train. Hehe, but seriously I'm fairly certain what each of them means except the second and I guess it's just don't travel without a ticket.

Grossmünster

This is the Grossmünster (gross -> big, münster -> cathedral). I went in and up the tower on the right.


They charge CHF 2.00 for going up the tower. There is no lift. You go up this small spiral stone staircase...


until you reach this opening with windows...


...I continued on the wooden staircase till I reached the top.


(This of course is a photo of the other tower, but you an see the shadow of the tower I am in.)

There are balconies on all sides of the tower and you get great views of the city. Enjoy...




This is Zürichsee (the lake).


You see the Limmat river running through the city.

Street Lights

This is a street right outside HB.

 
What you see above is a street light suspended from a cable tied from two buildings across the street. This is done all across Zürich. If you read my first post titled 'Seefeldstrasse' and didn't notice them then go back and look at the photos.


Some poles are erected just to tie the cables to suspend the street lights.

HB or Hauptbahnhof

This is HB - the main railway station of Zürich.


Bahnhof means railway station. Haupt means top of the hierarchy, or something like that.


Notice the distinctive clock inside HB. The design of this clock is famous. All Swiss train stations have clocks like this. In fact they even sell souvenir wrist watches and wall clocks that have the same design. The movement is pretty unique - the seconds hand actually stops at 12:00 for 1.5 seconds. You can see the movement in someone's video below.




The main hall was mostly empty on a Saturday.


Yes, there was a Burger King at HB. No, I did not eat there.

Seefeldstrasse

This is Seefledstrasse. It is the street where I live.


I live on the 5th floor on one of those buildings. Which building? It doesn't matter - they all look the same. If this was the US, they'd call it the 6th floor.

Trams run on this street - you can see the tracks. There are a bunch of shops in this neighborhood too. They're expensive, but nothing like the shops on Bahnhofstrasse. (More about Bahnhofstrasse later.)


Somebody told me 'Seefeld' comes from the words See (ocean or lake) and feld (something to do with view). Well, I can't really see the the Zurich lake (or Zürichsee) from my place, even though it is pretty close by. Anyway, I'm not sure I believe the story behind 'Seefeldstrasse' because I couldn't find 'feld' or anything similar in the German dictionary (See was in there and it means ocean, sea or lake). But I will ask around to find out.

Strasse means street - if you didn't know you should have guessed by now. I haven't seen a single address in Zürich that didn't end in strasse.