December 29 - Travel day back to Zurich

Today was a travel day back to Zurich.  We took the intercity train past Lake Thun to Bern and then on to Zurich.  These are doubledecker trains that move at pretty high speed when not in the mountains.  At one point we were up to 111 mph.

Lake Thun

We arrived at the train station, which was huge!  At least 42 tracks according to the signs.  Its a double level station with tracks up and down. There is essentially an entire mall on the top level. Crazy. We walked about 10 minutes to our airbnb.  We had had some concerns because it had gotten some back recent reviews and our communication with the host was spotty and unclear.  We arrived early and they stored our bags for us as they finished cleaning, so we went walking.

Grossmunster church in Zurich.  We picnicked on the river front then went in.  People who were walking by kept giving us double takes, like they'd never seen anyone eat crackers and cheese before.  Not sure why this attracted so much attention.  When I was hear last summer, lots of people were picnicking.  Maybe its unusual seasonally?  The cool weather doesn't seem to slow down the city life.  Lots of people out on the streets and even some people sitting on the street in cafes.  I saw one lady working bare handed on a laptop (no gloves and it was 40 degrees) - no thanks.

The North and South bronze doors had lots of biblical stories depicted on them.  They date to 1935 and 1950. 

We got to go upstairs to the organ level.  It was cool to see, but wish I could have listened to it. This is a new instrument, installed in 1960.

This is Urlich Zwingli's home church.  He was a Swiss theologian and major figure in the Reformation.  In 1524 the City council ordered the removal of all images of saints from all churches in Zurich.  The church was stripped bare of all saints and icons and 'idols' with the arrival of the Reformation.  Its a classically bare protestant church. Zwingli's tomb is in the church. 

These were seats in the side aisles on the 2nd floor.

The tree was pretty upfront.  The only stained glass in the church is up front and was installed in 1932.

The tower was open to climb to the top for a great view of the city.  I think there were 187 steps and they were STEEP!

View of the lake to the south.

View of the river Reuss to the north.

This is the 2nd tower.  Both towers were originally wooden, but they burned in 1763 and these two newer ones were completed several years later. 

I liked this angle with the smaller steeple above the alter area of the church visible through the balustrade.

The church also houses a bible collection that dates back to the early 1500s.  Nearly every bible that was printed in Zurich between 1524 and 1798 are in the collection.  The printing press allowed more people to read the scriptures for themselves and Zwingli and others translated the bible into German for the first time. 

There is something pretty amazing about staring at a book that is 500 years old. 

This is an image from the times that showed the striping of the church and burning of many of the statues of saints.

The roman numerals caught my eye.  We are so used to seeing MCM or MM in roman numerals.  MDXXV = 1525.

This is a statue of Charlemagne (Karl de Grosse) dating from 1450.  It used to be on the outside of the church, but has been removed and placed in the crypt.

There are very faint paintings on the walls in the crypt that date back to 1500. 

This was a very nice nativity set out on the side aisle.

Side view of the Grossmunster

After visiting Grossmunster, we wandered down the small pedestrian streets of the old city, doing some window shopping.  Lots of antiques, bookstores, and home decor stores (of the very pricey kind).

One store had a lot of classic children's stories.  I thought this was cute that Pooh Bear is Pu de Bar. 

There were still a lot of Christmas lights up .  I found all the gifts decorating the balcony of this hotel (along with a large cow) pretty fun!

The small streets were lined with live Christmas trees that were placed in front of various businesses.  I think I read a sign that said they were part of a city project.  Very festive. 

Lots of people out and about.  Classic image of the old city.

Burger King wasn't so classic. 

The kitchen and dining area in our last airbnb - very tight quarters.

Adam could not even stand up fully under some of the support beams.

Nice bathroom.  The window was clear glass but looked out on a wall that was about 2 ft from the window. 

I think this dates from the 1980s?  Probably the buzz-in for the front door of the building.

This bedroom had what appeared to be a new shower stall in the corner of the room.  A little unusual, but nice if you were sharing the space with others and needed an extra bath.