Paris to Swiss Alps: Zürich II (4/4/2017)

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 (continued)
Our walk took us to the main train station.

Hauptbahnhof/Main Railway Station (1871, designed by
Jakob Friedrich Wanner in Neo-Renaissance style)

Look at that sky! We were planning on taking a train up to Uetliberg and hiking. But clouds covering the hills and sprinkling rain deterred us.

McClean, the railway station restroom

L’ange protecteur/Guardian Angel (1997, by Niki de
Saint Phalle, whose husband was Jean Tinguely) (KSS)

Enormous schedule board in the main railway station

Instead we took the tram back to Zürichhorn Park, and walked in the opposite direction to the one we took yesterday with Bill and Elaine.

A large enclosed playground (we are peeking through the gate)

Sheep Piece (1971-1972, by Henry Moore, donated 1976),
located on a meadow where once sheep grazed;
behind it is the Pyramide Klinik am See,
a private surgical hospital

Klausstud/stone pillar (1812) named for St Nicholas,
patron saint of ship captains and sailors, which
marked the boundary in which citizens were
free to fish; the original stood in the waters of the
lake before land reclamation of about 100m/328'

The stone pillar also marked the point at which pilgrims headed to Einsiedeln Abbey would respect the Protestant city of Zürich by lowering the volume of their prayers and singing.

Makeshift memorial?

Wrought-iron and stained glass balconies,
on Feldeggstrasse

Close-up of the balconies

Took the tram back into the city, and then the Polybahn/funicular up to Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, alma mater of Albert Einstein, and the Universität Zürich/University of Zürich.

Not quite the view to be seen from Uetliberg, but a view
of the Altstadt/Old City of Zürich

Interesting chimney caps

Main university building (1911-1914, designed
by Karl Moser) was the first high-rise in Zürich

The Polybahn arrives at the upper station

Heading back down, we are ready to
pass the other funicular car

Painted façade of the Schweizer Heimatwerk/
Made in Switzerland shop in Zürich

What a low, flat boat, seen on the Limmat River (KSS)

Oh, that's why! (KSS)

Netta rufina/Red-crested Pochard ducks

A fountain (2003, by Arnold Amsler)
inside the main railway station

The ceiling of the Brasserie Federal
in the main railway station, where we had drinks

Art installation at Escher-Wyss-Platz, on the way back to the hotel;
to acknowledge the industrial history of the area, the brick pillars
seem to mimic different screwdriver heads; and the orange benches?

Our hotel room at the Renaissance Tower Zürich Hotel

It seems every room has an accessible shower

For dinner, we walked up Pfingstweidstrasse to the Migros store, but it was closing. Across the street we found an Italian deli, and shared an "Italy" panino.

Anne-Sophie, a 5m/16' tall chrome steel figure
depicting a student, in the square in front of
the 25 Hours Hotel on Pfingstweidstrasse

Pedestrian bridge over Pfingstweidstrasse

The Renaissance Tower Zürich Hotel on the right

A view from the hotel room down on the
pedestrian bridge and a children's soccer field
taken over by grown men

Just to show how the men dwarf the soccer goal!

Wednesday, April 5, 2017
After breakfast at the hotel, Viking transferred us to the Zürich airport where we began our journey home, through Amsterdam, Detroit, and finally Cleveland!
As you can see, we never reached the Swiss Alps. Viking needs to come up with a different name for this cruise. One could get to the Swiss Alps either through an optional tour from Basel, or a land extension. However, Kent and I practically met in the Alps (in 1983)!

Friday, April 7, 2017

Here we are after shoveling snow today!

Das Ende.