Zurich

Tuesday July 1

We arrived in Zurich by bus around 1:20pm and took a taxi for the 3k ride to our hotel (Central Hotel Zurich) - it cost an eye-watering 26CHF (over $50) for a very short ride.

We checked into our hotel - a (very) junior suite which was nice as it was air-conditioned and pretty compforatble - the only issue is that it had a shower over the bath - the climb in and out was not for less agile persons.

After some very minor unpacking (as we were only staying 2 nights) we did a quick reco of the local area (right at the main train station and old town) and a very nice Coop grocery store right across the street. The lady who checked us in was very unfriendly which was surprising as all other staff we interacted with were super nice.

After showers (where we manged not to break our respective necks on the bath) we had dinner on the hotel's terrace bar/restaurant which was very nice.

Prices in Zurich (and all of Switzerland) are extremely high;e.g. what costS $1 in Australia is 1 CHF here (e.g. close enough to $2) - there are some exceptions; e.g. some grocery items.

Wednesday July 2

After a good nigth's sleep in glorious air-conditioning with a comfortable bed and excellent pillows - we had one of our in room brekkies - berries and yoghurt and lots of good Nespresso (type) coffee.

We set out around 9:30am before the really high heat and walked to the lake, window shopping along the way. We decided to take 1.5 hour boat cruise around the lake which was very pleasant given the hot conditions. We finished off with a light lunch at a lake side pub then wandered back to our hotel - arriving around 2:30pm - time for some Wimbledom viewing and resting before in room happy hour. We walked around the old town and selected a local restaurant (whose menu appealed to Dieter) - the whole thing was about a 4 out of 10 - when the waiter asked my if I wanted to tip 10% or 15% - I said I did not want to tip anything - I felt a bit bad afterwards but really - the food was not that good particualarly for the price and it's the first time in Germany or Switzerland I've been asked to tip. Back at the hotel we had a nightcap in the hotel bar (mainly becasue we had a 10CHF credit for selecting not to have our room serviced) - then off to bed.

Thursday July 3

Off to Lugano today - see next section.