The Log Dog Blog: Spring Break 2023: Zurich

Our final Swiss city of the trip was Zurich; we arrived by train on Saturday morning and stayed until this morning when we had to head to the airport for our flight home. We stayed at Hotel Adler Zurich, which is a small, charming place and while we loved our room and the location was ideal (less than a ten minute walk from the train station), it is in a very busy area, so it was quite noisy all the time. We had a cute little balcony, but didn't spend any time out there because of all of the noise coming from the shops, cafes, and restaurants below. Also, the bell situation all over Zurich is ABSURD...they ring very loudly for fifteen minutes straight at least twice a day! Have you ever listened to loud clanging bells for fifteen minutes straight?!? Not a fan! It is a nice city, although I definitely prefer the smaller towns of Bern and Lucerne to the larger cities of Geneva and Zurich!

I will say that I CANNOT WAIT to retire so we won't have to travel during holidays!

Over the course of this ten-day trip, we stayed at four different hotels, and visited seven places across the region, taking a total of 15 train rides, which I absolutely loved. Trains are one of the greatest things about Europe, as evidenced in this pic:

passenger trains lines
USA vs. Europe

My few complaints are the same that I've had in most other European countries. The first is the prevalence of smoking. Disgusting. Everywhere we went, we were inhaling second hand smoke. The second is that I found many of the people quite rude. They will walk right into you on the sidewalks, push past you to crowd onto escalators or elevators or trains, and stop dead in the middle of a space, often in large groups. We were warned by a friendly shop employee that people there walk extremely slowly and are in no hurry to get anywhere, and he was absolutely correct! Also, in comparing Switzerland to the many other countries we've visited where we don't speak the local language, I found it to be the least accommodating to English speakers (which struck me as strange, given how multi-national it is). I don't expect people to speak English by any means, but the obvious annoyance we encountered throughout the week was a bit much. A little kindness and a little patience would have been very appreciated. All I can say is that I'm super grateful to live in a world where Google translate exists! Despite these complaints, I would return to Switzerland in a heartbeat and we were fortunate to come across very nice locals everywhere we stayed!

For me, the two highlights of the trip were definitely visiting Jungfraujoch and driving through Liechtenstein. The entire trip was a dream come true and I'm glad we were able to see different parts of the country! The scenery was beyond spectacular and I was in awe every single day!

this guy is the greatest travel planner on earth...
the day before we left, I was asked if we were going
to certain places and I couldn't even say yes or no
because he plans everything and I just go along
for the adventure...I am so, so, so fortunate in every way!

Our flight home took nine hours and it was a great flight with a very nice crew. When we landed at Dulles, it was a totally different story. I have long sung the praises of Dulles, especially compared to Reagan, which I strongly believe to be one of the worst airports around. However, I was not at all impressed with Dulles today! We have Global Entry and based on previous experiences, it should have been about ten minutes from getting off the plane to getting through customs to getting our luggage and leaving the airport. Instead, it took more than 75 minutes in what can only be described as a complete debacle being mismanaged by buffoons. We were so anxious to get home so we could pick up Avalanche and the sheer incompetence on full display was infuriating. I will still commend Dulles in terms of domestic flights, but based on today's experience, it clearly cannot handle lots of travelers arriving on international flights!

Speaking of Avalanche, he had a great time at the kennel...we got a report card and pictures every day and it looked like he made some friends! It was interesting to watch as the week went on because he started strong and seemed to enjoy all of the socialization, but in the final few days, it appeared that he'd had enough. He takes after his mother - an introvert who likes socializing for a little while, but when we're over it, we're OVER IT! LOL! He was so excited when we picked him up a few hours ago!