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Zurich is an ideal destination
for those who would like to combine culture with nature, i.e. the main
sights of the city as well as its beautiful surroundings. Zurich is situated
perfectly, in the core of Europe, beside Lake Zurich, presenting the breathtaking
view of the Swiss Alps. An additional convenience is that the city is just
10 minutes away from the international airport. This allows your easy access
to it, as there are regular scheduled flights from every continent and
most countries and larger cities of the world, which land there. You can
reach Zurich also by train, which is the cheaper way, having in mind that
over a thousand trains halt daily at Zurich's central railway station.
No matter whether you prefer
local Swiss or international cuisine, Zurich has got eating and drinking
establishments, suitable for everyone's taste. The city offers plenty of
restaurants, featuring top quality service and a superb choice of wines.
Bars and typical street cafes - many places where you can sit and enjoy
the Swiss lifestyle.
Shopping in Zurich is a
genuine experience. Visiting one of the most beautiful shopping areas in
Europe - the famous Bahnhofstrasse, where are located many elegant fashion
stores and boutiques for shoes, firs, accessories, jewellery and watches
is a must, which proves Zurich to be a trendsetting city. This main shopping
zone is situated in the core of the city, which makes it ideal for pedestrians.
Many boutiques and antique shops can also be found in the beautiful Altstadt
(old town) of Zurich, situated on the left bank of the Limmat. Another
pedestrian zone and shoppers' paradise is the Niederdorf - offering plenty
of boutiques, night - clubs, bars, restaurants and street artists turning
the Niederdorf into an exciting entertainment centre. Another place where
anything can be found on a reasonable price is the Langstrasse - a home
to people from over 80 different countries.
If you approach Zurich by
ship you will get an impressive view of the soft silhouette of the city
and the green promenades on the sho¬re. If you later stroll along the
Lim-mat that divides Zurich in two like a smaller version of the Grand
Canal or see the towering large minster, when you are up and down steps
in the old town, or gaz¬ing at the jumble of roofs then you will understand
why the au¬thor Gerhart Hauptmann enthused about the "unique spirit
of Swiss bourgeois."
Zurich it is said is a large-sized
small town or a small-sized city and indeed when you consider the huge
amounts of money that are handled in the world's biggest store of money
and through the veritable Interna¬tional airport of Kloten…Yet Switzer¬land's
largest city of 350,000 people quickly shrinks back to a comfort¬able
size. Much to the pleasure of its inhabitants who feel pretty good un¬der
the lime and chestnut trees and very proud that it is possible to take
a swim in the lake during their lunch-break.
The location tempted the
Ro¬mans who built a castle to defend themselves on the banks of the
Lim-mat. Following the occupation of Roman territory by the Alemannians
from the fifth century of the for¬mer Turicum the town slowly flour¬ished
and was formed into a free city state in 1218. In 1351 the city joined
the Swiss Confederation and after bitter struggles finally gained a leading
role. Nevertheless Berne rather than Zurich was chosen as the capital when
the Swiss Republic was formed in 1848. Zurich remains the largest Swiss
city and has devel¬oped into one of the world's leading financial centers.
Destination for educational
travelers
Right from the beginning
of the eighteenth century the Swiss Con¬federation was a destination
for those traveling to educate them¬selves and from the mid nineteenth
century it was regarded as the height of chic to pay the city on the Limmat
a visit. The Hotel Baur au Lac was built in classical style in 1844 and
became a home for queens, diplomats, the aristocracy, and Bohemians. They
lived idylli-cally alongside the blue lake, with luxury, with just the
boats of the big houses, with just the ponderous chiming of bells from
the old town. But artists and writers were also drawn to Zurich and it
became the capital of the Dadaists with the forming of the Cabaret Voltaire
in the Spiegelgasse. Later the Cafe Odeon was where the exiled writers
could be found. No other theater in Europe had the abundance of intel¬lectual
talent at their command as the Zurich Schauspielhaus with those who fled
here between 1933 and 1945.
Trade and finance
Zurich already enjoyed an
economic boom with industrialization and when the rail station was opened
in 1871 the city's international trade flourished. Following the example
of the Parisian boulevards the road from the station towards the lake (Bahnhofstrasse)
was stylishly plant¬ed with lime trees. This street is still the nation's
showcase and one of the most elegant shopping streets of the world. The
big fashion names and fur couturiers have their establish¬ments here
and cafes offer hot Schoggi (hot chocolate) and it is still a pleasure
to stroll along the Bahn¬hofstrasse when the limes are in blossom.
Just a few steps remove you from the dominance of the large buildings of
the big banks.
One quickly notices that
tradi¬tion is rigidly upheld in Zurich and the same is true of their
architec¬tural inheritance. The Meisen town hall and guildhall, the
church of St. Peter, the Zurich town hall with the finest Baroque hall
in Switzerland, the Grossmiinster (large minster church), and the Fraumiinster
(no¬ble women's church) with window by Chagall, the Wasserkirche ("wa¬ter"
church), and the Neo-Baroque Opera House represent the same kind of continuity
as the Kronen-halle restaurant in which you can enjoy food surrounded by
original pieces of modern art. Art is highly regarded in Zurich and the
collec¬tion in the Kunsthaus form one of the highlights of the European
mu¬seum scene.
Zurich is also a stronghold
of youth culture. The sub culture con¬stantly seeks out new places
and young people remain non conform¬ist where other quasi revolutionar¬ies
long ago became leaders
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