5 April 2010
The rain had cleared up by the time we left the Picasso Museum, and we took advantage, getting some great sandwiches (bocadillos!) from a nearby place called Txirimiri (Basque-Navarre cuisine – again, with the high degree of autonomy of different Spanish regions). The warm weather of Barcelona (65+ the whole time we were there), however, was apparently conducive to a flash thunderstorm that reminded me of summer in Ohio. It went from completely clear, blue skies to DARK grey and thunder in about 15 minutes just as we were leaving for the train station. We barely ducked into the Metro (moving with a HORDE of others) before the rain started.
Night train was long (almost 15 hours) and we just had reclining seats, not a bed, but there were some gorgeous views of snow-capped mountains and lakes as we were woken at 7 am for a passport check as we passed through France into Switzerland.
PICTURES: from end of Barcelona, including along the Mediterranean, pictures from the night train to Zurich, and pictures of Zurich, including on a boat ride onto Lake Zurich.
Zurich, located along Lake Zurich near the mountains of East Switzerland, was perhaps as beautiful as Barcelona but in a starkly different way. There were none of the palm-tree lined streets or beaches, and none of Gaudi’s colorful architecture, but the air and water were incredibly clear and the buildings were seamlessly integrated with the landscape.
Random thoughts: no Euro here, instead there’s the Swiss Franc, which exchanges about 1:1 with the US dollar. Prices, though, were definitely at least as expensive as the rest of Europe – a 20 oz of Coke was about 5, and a very simple salad or wrap was 8. We stayed at a budget hotel in Kloten, about a 15 minute train ride from city center, and it was very convenient that our Eurail pass covered the commuter train as well as the boat ride onto the lake. Still not sure if it’s worth it though, since we had to pay 50 Euro supplement for the night train (although I guess it was 100+ Euro without).
Pictures if you missed them - Zurich and end of Barcelona
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