Monday, July 7th:  
Travel day from Mürren to Zürich – I was up nice and early. I wanted to have as much time as I could in Zürich that day.  I took one last walk in Mürren before heading to the train station.

Here are some photos of Mürren early Monday morning…

view from my hotel room

view from my hotel room

view of my hotel and the beautiful scenery

view of the mountains taken from closer to the train station

Travel to Zürich involved 4 trains and took about 4 hours travel time. My first train was the Mürren to Lauterbrunnen cog wheel train. It departed at 8 am and was a 28 min train. My next train departed at 9:05 am from Lauterbrunnen and arrived in Interlaken Ost at 9:25 am. Next, I took the 9:30 train from Interlaken Ost, arriving in Spiez at 10 am. My last train, the 10:08 train from Spiez, arrived at the Zürich HB train station at 11:56 am. The Zürich HB train station was once again a very orderly train station. All trains were on time. 

I had a reservation for my last night in Switzerland at the Hotel & Pension St. Josef in Zürich. Looking at the hotel website today, the prices have gone up quite a bit. It was a pension then and now is a full scale hotel. It was a very nice place to stay when I was there. Everyone was friendly and helpful. The room was comfortable and clean.

I followed the easy directions provided to me by my hotel (written directions and screenshot of a map). The walk from the train station to my hotel was not a far distance.  I was out sightseeing in Zürich about 30 minutes after arriving at the train station and checking into my hotel. I did not do much unpacking since I was leaving the flying back to the US the following morning.

My day in Zürich consisted of sightseeing in the Old Town, taking photos, stopping in some shops along the way, and taking the public tram to get around.

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

I also visited the Grossmünster, an Evangelical Protestant church with one of the two towers available to climb. The views were beautiful from the top! The Grossmünster is one of Zürich’s most famous landmarks in the Old Town.  

I took this photo later in the day

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

I was excited to find Thai food in stopped in Zürich and stopped in to make a reservation for dinner that evening at the Blue Monkey Cocostin. The woman in the photo below took me up to a room located on the second floor of the restaurant where important people meet or met at one time. She was very proud to show me this room. I wish I could remember more about the importance of it now. I ate at a lovely table outside. The food was interesting Thai food. Good, just different than what I was used to in Hawaii.  

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

I found an email that I sent saying that I took a boat ride on Lake Zürich in the evening. I have no recollection of this now! I did take some photos though of the lake that evening.

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

Italy Trip 2003, Zurich, Switzerland Date: Monday July 07, 2003

I did not write much more in the email other than that I did some sight seeing and that I had to pack for my flight the following morning and was too tired from my day to write any more.

My time in Zürich was definitely too short! It was only meant though to be a last night stop for an airplane ride home. I would love to return to Zürich someday to spend more time there. It was a fun city with friendly people and great transportation options.

Tuesday, July 8th:
I enjoyed the breakfast buffet in the morning and then either walked back to the Zürich HB train station to take a train from the Zürich HB train station to the Zürich Flughafen airport train station (about a 10 minute ride) or I might have taken a shuttle from my hotel to the airport. No memory/no notes on how I arrived at the airport.

I do remember that the airport in Zürich had very strict security but then swiss pocket knives were being sold inside the airport, where you could then take on board the flight!  I also remember smoking section right next to non-smoking section in the same open space. Hopefully, this has changed!

I took the 10:45 am flight from Zürich to Newark. My flight was scheduled to arrive at 1:50 pm. After clearing customs, I took a second flight, departing Newark at 3:25 pm and arriving in Manchester, NH at 4:35 pm. There, I stayed with friends in New Hampshire for 11 nights. I also visited with family & friends in Massachusetts. Highlights included a visit to Cape Cod, a Red Sox game, and an Eagles concert. It was wonderful seeing everyone again and it was a great way to break up travel from Switzerland to Hawaii.

This completes my 2003 Italy/Switzerland trip report. Although it was not slow travel, it was a wonderful trip!