It was goodbye, Lake Constance, hello Zürich on Sunday. A van arrived at 47 Grad and picked up Peter, Terri, Tom, Tina, Wade, Linda, and me for the ride to Zürich. The first four were dropped off at the airport, but Linda, Wade, and I continued on for a couple extra days in the city. After being deposited at the Hotel Opera, we checked in, though as it was still a bit early, our rooms were not quite ready, and we waited in the lobby for a little while, taken care of by a charming young Fräulein from the reception desk named Joelle, who helped with various other things over the course of the two days in Zürich. Finally we got to go to our rooms; Wade and Linda made out OK, but mine had not yet been cleaned up from the last occupant, so I waited a little longer in the lobby until I was finally assigned another room. The three of us then reconnected in the lobby for a tour that VBT had organized as part of the extension. The weather was overcast and threatening rain the whole time we were in Zürich, so it wasn’t an ideal time to sightsee, but we managed. Our tour guide picked us up and we started walking through the city, beginning along the north shore of Lake Zürich to Bürkiliplatz, then north up Bahnhofstrasse, detouring to see a couple churches and other buildings. We worked our way back to Bahnhofstrasse, and finally to the Hauptbahnhof. After looking around inside, we crossed the Limmat to the right bank and headed south on Limmatquai back toward the hotel. I noticed a music store, about which more later. Our guide finally bid us auf widersehen, and the three of us found a restaurant for lunch. This was our first direct experience of the high cost of living in Zürich. After lunch we made it back to the hotel, where I rested up, then got dressed for the opera that evening. I had dinner before the performance at the Hotel Opera restaurant across the street from the hotel. A fancy meal with a fancy price, but you only go around once. Then I walked a block to the opera house for Der Freischütz. The performance was good despite a tacky production. My seat however was an unfortunate choice. I had gotten the ticket online prior to the trip, and I ended up behind a post that was not indicated in the online seating chart, so I was bobbing my head left and right all night to try to see what was going on. After the performance it was back to the hotel and bed.
Day two was also gloomy and overcast. After breakfast with Linda and Wade I got a mass transit day pass from Joelle at the hotel reception desk and set out to see what I could see. Any idea I had of a train to the overlook at Ütliberg was shortlived, as the overcast and fog made it not worthwhile, so I decided to stay in the city. Trams took me part way up Bahnhofstrasse, where i made my way to the Fraumünster Kirche which was worth seeing, but did not allow photos inside. On the way I found a restaurant that looked promising for dinner. Worked my way to the Wasserkirche and Grossmünster Kirche for more sightseeing, but in general the Protestant churches were more spartan than Catholic ones–also lacking Gothic construction. After finishing with the church visits, I got on a right bank tram to the Hauptbahnhof for more examination than on the previous day. There are several levels of tracks, with the usual assortment of stores and concessions. Grabbed a sandwich for lunch, crossed over the river, and found a side street (Niederdorfstrasse) that had some eateries that would be worth trying on a subsequent trip. Walked back down Limmatquai to the music store I had noticed the previous day. I decided to splurge and pick up some Van Doren White Master (German) clarinet reeds. (It probably would have been cheaper to have bought them at the store in Munich. 20-20 hindsight.) It wasn’t obvious which strength I should get, so I got #3, which was what I currently used for my regular reeds. On getting home and trying them, it turned out they were a lot stiffer; Tom, to whom I gave one to try, agreed. Oh, well. From the music store I walked back to the hotel, reaching the opera house and sitting down at the plaza to people-watch for a little while. That night I had a ticket for an early concert at the Tonhalle–not the Tonhalle Orchestra, but a visiting orchestra, the Arcadia. It was a satisfactory performance, though I am still not a convert to the Berg concerto, and no post in the way: a pleasant way to spend the final evening. After the concert I went to the restaurant I had found earlier, but it was crowded with a line to get in. As it was getting late, I instead found a pizza concession at Bellevueplatz, and that was my dinner. A tram back to the hotel and bed.
Tuesday a cab took me to the airport where miraculously I was able to change to a bulkhead seat. That was the good news.: enough leg room. The bad news is some clueless woman was sitting next to me with her five-week old baby, who cried seven of the eight hours of the flight. I was almost ready to head for the exit door and jump out after a couple hours of this. But we did make it to Boston, I escaped passport and Customs, caught the bus back to NH, and Roger picked me up at the bus station. A tale I lived to tell.