Zoom-zoom Zurich

Switzerland has a reputation for being one of the most expensive countries in the world. This is definitely true, but it is also one of the world's most picturesque and happy countries. Switzerland has jaw-dropping landscapes for its clear waters and scenic mountains. It is an extremely clean country and its citizens are one of the nicest in the world. Zurich is no different.

Day 1

Our flight from Paris to Zurich was short and sweet. We arrived at noon and were immediately stunned by the fatal cold! Luckily, we had come prepared in layers of clothing. Once we made it out of the airport, we met the streets of Zurich. They were similar to many other European countries - the uneven ground was built with countless individual bricks and the people filled the wide, open streets. There were old buildings everywhere.

We took a bus from the airport, narrowly figuring our way out. Once we got off, it was a 2-kilometre walk with our heavy bags. We decided to wait for another bus, which ended up being 45 minutes late. We didn’t wait and decided to do the impossible. After a kilometer of trudging through the streets with our bags, the bus we were waiting for passed us, and a wave of anger and frustration came over us. After another 15 minutes, we made it to our hotel, Stoller Mercure. We checked in and went up to our rooms. It was an average hotel room with two beds, a bathroom, and a small couch that extended into a third bed. The only view we had was of the opposing building and a main road in between.

After resting for an hour at the hotel, we decided to head out and scavenge for places to eat lunch. Fortunately, right around the corner was the perfect café with delicious sandwiches and pastries. The café was located in the most popular spot of the intersection. Soon after we found a table, a long line formed and the waiting time reached half an hour, making us realise how lucky we were.

After the more than satisfying meal, we headed off to what soon became one of my most favorite spots in the whole trip. The bus station was right in front of the café, but we still ended up waiting half an hour in the cold. After 20 minutes, we reached the Lindt headquarters: Lindt Home of Chocolate.

The building had an extravagant, posh appearance and the word 'Lindt' was spelt in big gold letters. There was a strong smell of chocolate and I fell into a deep daydream, thinking of what it would be like to be inside the factory. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long. Inside, there was a massive ball of chocolate being drizzled with liquid chocolate. Chocolate poured down from the ceiling and covered the ball in a milky brown color. The whole interior of the factory was white. White walls, white flooring, white steps and white handrails. We started the tour, which explained how chocolate is processed and made from cacao seeds. The tour took around an hour because there were many videos to watch and texts to read for information.

After the tour, we came upon the best part of the tour: chocolate tasting. There were three different machines for tasting: milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate. We were in that room for another hour, eating an endless stream of chocolate. My dad seemed to enjoy this the most out of all of us. He was having buckets of chocolate and still wanting more! On the other side of the room was a chocolate dispenser that gave out unique flavors of chocolate. There were flavors like cranberry, 80% dark chocolate, crunchy and many more.

After that, we moved on to the last room, which was also the most important. In the room was a posh display of every flavor of chocolate Lindt sells, and they were free. You could take as many as you wanted and the staff wouldn’t say anything - they would simply keep refilling the displays. We stuffed our pockets with as many as we could and even used a napkin to create a mini bag! We were already filled to the brim with chocolate from the last room, so we didn’t have any on the spot.

We came down a set of spiral stairs and down into the Lindt store. There, we spent a long time getting things for everyone at home.

When we were done, it was evening and mosquitoes started feeding on us. By the time I got to our hotel, there wasn’t a single part of my body that wasn’t bitten! We found an Indian restaurant close by to have dinner. We ordered three big nans and one paneer butter masala. The bill was $75!

Day 2

The next morning, we woke up much later than planned. The gloomy weather made it very difficult to find the excitement to explore new places and things. At around 11:00 am, we finally left the hotel and took a bus to the main city area, which cost almost $10! When we reached, we had a look around and eventually found a nice pizzeria. We ordered a simple Margherita pizza and small fries. The bill turned out to be $50. We were tempted to dine and dash!

As we made our way out of the restaurant, dark clouds peered over us. They took over the fragile wind and rewarded us with a shower of silver rods. We walked down to the old, wooden dock for the cruise we had booked. The rain made it hard to see anything but we figured out the path. After waiting for 10 minutes, our cruise arrived. Turned out, we weren’t the only ones. The cruise was packed with people but the size of it accommodated all of them. As we set sail, the beautiful water enclosed us - it wasn’t clear, but a glowing teal color. The rain violently hit the water and created a pattern. The deck on the boat was flooded, but we didn’t care because the view left us hypnotised. In the distance, mist gathered and hid the mountains that were once craning over us.

Once we got back to the dock, we explored the streets of Zurich. We found this mini replica of the Queen Victoria market on one of the streets, but everything they were selling was second-hand. Once again, we had our dinner at the Indian restaurant we went to the night before.

Zurich was an absolutely phenomenal experience not just for me, but for my family too. It was indeed one of the best places we have been to and hope to return to one day.

About the Author

Harsh is a high school student, a tennis player, a car enthusiast, and an entrepreneur. He lives in Melbourne with his parents.