Gutten Morgan, Zurich, con'd

Ok...so where was I...

Sunday! This day was...interesting. There isn't much of anything opened on Sundays any where in this country, so we had to improvise. What are a few things that would in fact be open on that day? Why of course - churches and cafes!

After a sub-par nights sleep (I couldn't really breathe, and there were people outside till really late being really loud - oh yea, did I forget Kadie and I started the day walking around the (very desolate) city. Just 8 hours earlier, people were crowding the tight streets...and now...nothing. Occasionally, you would see the one guy sweeping up from the previous night, but other than that...no one. We did take a stroll through the old town, checked on the hours of a few churches (which were actually closed early in the morning) and got some breakfast in a cafe near the river. Most random thing ever - so we are eating our over priced croissants inside this very nice establishment, when all of a sudden we see a bird hopping around on the floor...creepy! It would just hop around, then fly up to sit on the backs of chairs, and on the menus that were on each table. I was all "do they notice that bird" and sure enough, people aren't taken back at all by if...oh, and keep in mind, it wasn't like a domestic-y bird, this was like a "there-are-thousands-of-me-right-on-the-other-side-of-that-window-but-I'm-just-special" bird. Whatever...

We checked out of the hotel of fun, and explored some more - mainly to check back on the previously closed churches, now that were all in service. Just our luck. We stopped to get Thuli some food (where I also got this pretty delicious berry torte thing...yum). Then we walked around some more, admired the quaintness of the quiet city, and finally got into our first real thing of the day - a church known for having Europe’s largest clock face - I think St. Andrews...Peters...whatever. (side note...I am pretty sure that big ben is a lot bigger, so I will check that out and let you know). Anyways, we couldn't go up it, so we headed to yet another church that’s famous for having this huge, beautifully painted stained glass windows. We had to wait for them to finish cleaning up after mass, but after that, we got in. They were, in fact, huge and beautiful. They really lived up to the expectations!

So what haven't we done in a while? Oh, I know...another cafe! This time...Schober Cafe!!! I finally have been, and it is ridiculous! I didn't take many pictures, but check this link out - it's a virtual tour.

http://www.panoramajournal.ch/schweiz/zuerich/highlights/schober/01_2000.html

This place is sooo huge, so we kept going until we couldn't and sat down I think on the 2nd floor. It was covered in silk flowers, branches, and gaudiness...how fun! We couldn't really read the menu - at all - so we all sort of made things up/ took a guess and ordered. Two hot chocolates, a mocha, two apple strudels and a chocolate torte for the table. Holy richness, Batman. Ok, I had the hot chocolate (made with milk from the farmer that morning), which was topped with unsweetened whipped cream. After folding that layer in, it was quite delicious, but I could only do half - that thing was intense! The apple strudel was very good as well, served with a side of vanilla sauce. That, too, was sooo rich. I nearly finished it, but dang there was definitely some alcohol or something going on in there - it was very..."flavorful". After eating/drinking till near explosion, we went down into their store where we I purchased some of MY chocolate bars...yup, that’s right, all mine! (Theodor Schober Chocolate Bars...I wasn't lying) The woman (who didn't speak a lick on English) was really confused at why I only wanted that type, and even tried to lead me to others, but I told her "no, just these...one of each please". And man, you should have seen her face when I paid with my credit card. She did a double take, and in my very poor, broken German, I explained "Ich heiße Theodore Schober" (my name is...you can do it). She was all "oh...wha....oh" and had to like show some people and whatever. She gave me a postcard - I felt cool! I completely forgot to ask if I get checks per month or something for the name...anything?

Side note - St. Peter's is in fact the largest clock face in Europe - it's like 7 feet bigger than Big Ben...Go St. Peter!

Back to our day. Now, time for some learning. Welcome to the Swiss National Museum! The impressive structure (truly amazing, old castle) houses a truly not-so-impressive museum. It was a little boring, but it was a good collection of really anything one would want to know about Swissland. Thuli relaxed in a park behind the museum while Kadie and I checked out the place. It was only 5 francs, so it was worth it. We cruised through, and then all chilled in the park out back (I didn't feel too great, so the nap that I took was great!). It was about 5, and our train was at a little after 6, so we headed to the train station. There are many shops below it, so we grabbed some actual food (which we really hadn't had that day) and perused the stores before heading home.

Zurich is such a beautiful city. Let me tell you though, through experience, if you only have a few days you can devote to this city, avoid Sundays - no stores of main attractions open.