June 15 - Pull into Zürich Haupbahnhof early afternoon. There must be a LGBTQIA+ event in town, because there are many people moving through the station with the dress and colors indicative of such. We get a tram to our hotel, called Ibis Budget.
It is a prime example of this new generation of budget hotels with compact, modern rooms where not a bit of space is wasted. The front desk is very busy. We see all sorts here, from families like us to groups of young people.
On into downtown to the Rathouse (City Hall) stop along the Limmat River. It has been 40 years since I walked these streets, the city seemed so much bigger then. Everything tidy and full of tourists, strolling the high-priced galleries.
The water in this river is impressively clear, with an aqua-blue tint. It flows north through town out of the Zürichsee (Zurich Lake). As I understand it, the lake is the former site of a glacier, with a moraine resting at the south end of town. Only one hill remains of this accumulated glacial material, Lindenhof, from where the above photo was taken.
Go ‘cheap’ tonight, eating at the cafeteria of Migros, a food selling conglomerate with grocery stores, pharmacies, flower shops, and eateries all over the place. By ‘cheap’ I mean main dishes starting from 13 CHF ($16).