Traveling to Muscat, Oman, from Austin, Texas, is a long haul! To make the trip a little less tiring and a lot more interesting, we made a stop in Zurich along the way, sandwiching a night of sleeping in a proper bed in between two overnight flights. To counteract all the hours of airplane-induced inactivity, we spent most of our two days in Zurich walking. Fortunately, Zurich is a wonderful city for exploring on foot! We stayed mainly in the old, central part of the city, wandering along narrow, cobbled streets.
In the old town it seems that every door and window is lovely,
old-fashioned signs,
and are especially dramatic at night.
We stopped atop Lindenhof Hill to soak in sunshine and city views.
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| Atop Lindenhoff Hill |
solid and yet inviting.
It's worth walking slowly so you can spot interesting details,
old-fashioned signs,
and inviting storefronts.
On our second day, after a goods night's sleep, we took the Polybahn, one of Zurich's two funiculars,
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| The Polybahn |
up to ETH Zurich, the Swiss institute of technology, for a panoramic view of the city.
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| Zurich from ETH |
We continued onward by bus to the Zurichberg, where we enjoyed fresh air and well-marked hiking trails through the woods.
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| Hiking the Zurichberg |
In the afternoon we stopped in at the Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum), adjacent to the main train station. It is interesting as much for the old castle in which it is housed as for the exhibits which trace the history of Switzerland.
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| View from Landesmuseum window |
We also spent a fair amount of time walking along the Limmat River, which runs through Zurich from the outfall of Lake Zurich.
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| Reflections along the Limmat River |
Reflections of old buildings change with the light,
and are especially dramatic at night.
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| Zurich by night |
I don't have a lot of needlework to show, except for a stack of nine-patch scrap blocks that I stitched up during the long flights in and out of Zurich.
I'm hoping to be home for most of the next couple of months so maybe I'll have enough time to stitch them up into a quilt top.
I'm also hoping to have enough time to post a little more frequently, so come back soon for reports on Muscat, Oman, and London.
I'm hoping to be home for most of the next couple of months so maybe I'll have enough time to stitch them up into a quilt top.
I'm also hoping to have enough time to post a little more frequently, so come back soon for reports on Muscat, Oman, and London.
