THERE I WAS AT ZURICH’S STAID DEBUTANTE BALL and in the middle of a crowd of dolled-up teenagers, when who should bounce onto the dance floor but Tina Turner.
Turns out the leggy R&B goddess has lived in the Swiss city for 19 years. Decked out in a glamorous gown, Turner let a spirited rendition of “We Are Family” carry her into an energetic boogie. And naturally, she kept up a fiery dance pace long after the rest of us started to fade.
Any doubts about how high Zurich ranks on the cool meter evaporated in that moment.
Most guidebooks dismiss Switzerland’s largest city as an uninspiring warren of church steeples, fondue eateries and pricey boutiques. Although the airport is a popular arrival point for transatlantic travelers, most bypass the city for Lucerne, Zermatt or other more picturesque Swiss locales.
Resisting the lure of the Alps, this spring I opted to explore the urban life of this pristine European country.
After venturing beyond Bahnhofstrasse – the well-trodden promenade lined with boutiques and bank headquarters that cuts through the center of town – I found an alluring mix of attractions ranging from lofty to just plain fun. Among them: a wing of Alberto Giacometti paintings and sculptures at the Kunsthalle Zurich, the city’s main modern art gallery; the restaurant Blindekuh, where the wait staff are blind and patrons dine in the dark; and the oddly appealing décor of old-fashioned furniture and grandiose baroque decorations – and an equally motley crowd – at Kaufleuten, a popular bar.
“It’s the kind of place where you stop for a day and then stumble across one thing after another,” said Joe Ritchie, an American entrepreneur who lives in Geneva and visits Zurich often. “And then you find yourself changing plans to stay for an extra day, and then another. There’s no single overwhelming attraction, but there is an aesthetic that draws you in.”
Budget travelers have reason to pause at the Swiss border: With the Swiss franc running strong against the dollar, Zurich – most of Switzerland, in fact – is tough to manage on tight funds.
But prices are comparable to those in other countries on the Continent. A traditional Swiss lunch of liver dumplings and sausages at Bierhalle Kropf, a much-loved restaurant, runs around $45 for two. Tickets to the Zurich opera, ranked among Europe’s finest, start at around $25 a seat.
A Zurich card, which costs $11.75 a day, includes admission to many museums and unlimited rides on trams and other public transportation.
An afternoon amble through the side streets brought me closer to the rhythm of the city. The attractive old town, bisected by the Limmat River, makes for a pleasant hour-long excursion, and the walkways along the banks offer grand views.
Although Zurich is a true metropolis, the narrow, low-rise, medieval buildings and enclaves of cafes, bistros and wine bars on nearly every corner give it the intimacy of dozens of villages clustered together. I followed a promenade that runs along the banks of Lake Zurich, the soft-blue body of water that stretches for about 16 miles from the southern part of the city. As dusk fell, the 2,857-foot Uetliberg Mountain and other peaks were bathed in blue hues.
A panorama of natural majesty like this could have been entertainment enough for my first evening. But a Swiss friend had snagged a hard-to-get reservation at Blindekuh.
Billed as “an experience in darkness,” the restaurant is designed to give the rest of us a chance to see what it feels like to live without sight. Inside the front door, Camilla, a sight-impaired waitress, told us to choose our dinner options from a menu displayed on the foyer wall. She then led us by hand into a room without a single glimmer of light.
Appetites, I learned, are triggered at least in part by vision: Without the option of seeing my plate, I had to feel it to see how much I had eaten. And in this place where no face was visible, my dining companion and I found ourselves focusing more intensely on conversation. With my sense of taste enhanced, my salad seemed fresher, grilled steak more flavorful and mousse more chocolatey.
Aside from the awkwardness of toasting in the dark, the evening was as fun as it was instructive. At around $50 a person, it was worth it.
Guide to treasure
Thank goodness for Peter Ern. A guide with Zurich’s tourist board, he was unusually honest, and his focus was as much on the sociology of locals as the monuments. “We are generally a pretty stubborn people who value independent thinking,” he said as we walked through the old city center.
“It’s not for nothing that (Zurich) was the birthplace of Dadaism,” the popular protest movement of the early 20th century that stressed total freedom of artistic expression.
Ern seemed to know an anecdote about every structure we passed, no matter how obscure. He took me to the site of Turicum, the ruins of the city’s original Roman fortress.
This is one of the highest points of the city, and an overlook allows a lovely view of the buildings sprawling for several miles in every direction. A few codgers had gathered to play chess on two giant boards. A poignant fountain commemorates the day in 1292 when, according to legend, a group of local women donned armor and frightened away the invading Habsburgs.
We stopped at the Fraumuenster, a church originally built as a convent in the ninth century. When the Protestant Reformation swept through Zurich in the 1520s, the convent was closed. Later the building briefly became a refuge for Huguenots and a Russian Orthodox place of worship. These days the services attract many prominent locals.
We paused before a set of five elaborate, 33-foot-high stained-glass windows depicting prophets and other biblical figures.
Artistry in windows
Marc Chagall, who was born in Russia but immigrated to France, accepted a commission to design the windows in 1967 and spent three years on the project.
The mid-morning sunlight accented them brilliantly. The windows – representing prominent scenes from the Old Testament – were more detailed than any I have seen, and Ern’s thorough descriptions made me appreciate them even more. When he finished, the small crowd that had gathered to eavesdrop offered an ovation.
As we left, I paused before another stunning window in the north transept, a 30-foot-high scene depicting Christ with eight prophets designed by Augusto Giacometti (a cousin of Alberto’s) in the 1940s.
In this city known as a stronghold of watch merchants, it seemed a shame not to see what new timepieces were on display. Bucherer, a shop on Bahn-hofstrasse, had a display of every imaginable type of watch, from a gold and steel Rolex with a regal blue face for $6,000 to a Swatch with a baby-blue elastic band for $55. A few blocks away, I popped into Schweizer Heimatwerk, a shop that specializes in Swiss-made crafts, souvenirs, knives, watches and other wares. The goods seemed well-made, but they weren’t cheap. A child’s embroidered dress cost $60; wood-carved candleholders were $25 each.
Preoccupied with window-shopping, I was almost late for the Opera Ball. Organized by the Hotel Baur au Lac and held in the baroque Zurich Opera House every year, it is the city’s poshest social affair.
Although I covered the event as a member of the media, it is open to anyone who pays the $640 price of admission.
I watched with other reporters as the Zurich elite – bank directors and corporate officers and their wives, decked out in black tie and classy evening wear – arrived. And then came Tina Turner. Her hair was tinged with blond, her lipstick fire-truck red. As usual, she looked terrific for a woman in her 60s.
Cornering the pop diva, I asked why she had chosen this unlikely place as her home.
“It’s fresh, always beautiful, and I can walk down the street without being bothered by anyone,” she said with characteristic bluntness. “And people here are life-loving.”
Bea Blum, a Zurich activist I chatted with later, had a different take on Zurich’s residents. “We’re a place with a lot of wealth, but I think and hope we realize that with that comes heavy social responsibility.”
The details
Where to stay
My base was the Hotel Baur au Lac (Talstrasse 1, 011-41-1-220-5020, bauraulac.ch), a 160-year-old family-owned property whose spacious guest rooms have a mix of traditional furnishings and modern technology. Some offer views of Lake Zurich.
Rooms on the weekend run $440 a night, double occupancy, with breakfast included. Weekday rates are $566, without breakfast.
The Hotel du Theatre (Seilergraben 69, 011-41-1-267- 2670, hotel-du-theatre.ch) has a vibrant, youthful feel, with trendy furnishings in the lobby and guest rooms. Doubles start at $153 a night. For fewer frills, the Comfort Inn Royal (Leonhardstr. 6, 011-41-44- 266-5959, comfortinn.ch) is centrally located, well-managed and clean. The rooms have nifty blond furniture and comfortable beds. Doubles, including a buffet breakfast, go for $173 a night.
Where to eat
For a novel dining experience, Blindekuh (Muehlebackstr. 148, 011-41-44- 421-5050, blindekuh.ch), where guests eat in the dark, cannot be exceeded. Be forewarned: The eyes never adjust to lack of light. The food is an unadventurous but tasty mix of salads, soups, fish and meat dishes. Dinner for two comes to around $100. Reserve well in advance.
Kronenhalle (Raemistrasse 4, 011-41-44-251-0256, kronenhalle.com) features smoked pork with lentils, calves’ liver, dumplings and other traditional Swiss dishes. The original paintings by Miro and other masters make it a treat for the eyes as well as the taste buds. Dinner, with a couple of glasses of wine, costs around $100 for two.
What to do
The next Opera Ball is March 11, 2006. Contact the Opera House (011-41-44268-6400, opernhaus.ch) later this year for ticket prices.
The Kunsthaus (Heimplatz 1, 011-41-44-253-8484, kunsthaus.ch) is the city’s main modern art museum. Free admission to regular exhibits with a Zurich card; otherwise, admission is from $8. Because of renovations, the exhibition rooms – except the Giacometti wing – are closed until December.
Bucherer (Bahnhofstr. 50, 011-41-44-211-2635, bucherer.com) is the place for watches and jewelry. For knives and other Swiss-made crafts and clothing, try Schweitzer Heimatwerk (Rudolf Brun-Bruecke, 011-41-44-217- 8317, heimatwerk.ch).
The Fraumuenster Church (Stadhausquai), decorated with Marc Chagall and Augusto Giacometti stained-glass windows, is in the city center, a couple of blocks from Bahnhofstrasse. Free.
Information
The Zurich Card, which offers access to museums and unlimited rides on public transport, is sold at the tourism office in the main train station; prices vary. Switzerland Tourism, 877-794- 8037, myswitzerland.com, or see Zurich Tourism’s website at zuerich.com.
Gary Lee, The Washington Post
