Zürich

Last weekend I went to Zürich. It was really great, but cold. There was snow on the ground most of the time I was there. The other thing about Zürich is that it's expensive. But enough with the negatives. I arrived on Friday afternoon and wandered the city a bit until Wicher, my host, got home. It's a very modern city with lots of history. That night, we went to co-worker's of Wicher's to watch a movie, Dr. Strangelove. It was an international crowd so we watched it in English. They were a fun bunch of guys. We were messing around afterward, among the activities was darts. I threw a bulls-eye. That's right, I'm awesome.

On Saturday, I went around the old city more, mostly seeing churches important in the Reformation. Zwingli lived here and his name is everywhere. The churches here were much different from all the others I've seen. Much more simple. Not plain or ugly, but simple. I broke my rule about taking pictures in churches. Having seen the extravigant churches of Germany and Austria, I imagine Italy is even more so, and I can see why Calvin and Zwingli stressed simplicity in their worship. Several of the churches were closed on Saturday for a wedding and other things, so I had to go back on Sunday to see them. It was really cool to be there and think about how much change started there.

That night, Wicher was having a fondu party. It was mostly a Couch Surfer gathering. That was a lot of fun. Fondu is a lot of work, but makes for a great party. Zürich is a very international city, there were people there from all over Europe, the US, and even a girl from South America. Church had a similar mix. Unfortunately, it's also become a rushed big city. Everyone's in a rush. I've been through a fair number of train stations, but haven't seen as many people running around as I saw there. Great place though. I need to go back in the summer. It was so cold.