Schwamendigen - Egg - Zürich

(English below)

El ride de hoy fue totalmente improvisado, y por lo tanto, sin querer, pasé por lugares que jamás me imaginé que existirían tan cerca de la ciudad, con vistas espectaculares a las montañas que rodean el valle y el lago de Zúrich.

El ride comenzó como lo usual, saliendo de Schwamendingen hacia Greifensee. Luego de pasar Riedikon, me topé el amanecer y por supuesto, tomé un foto:

From Bike Pictures

El plan orginal era ir hasta Rapperswil-Jona, pero en total hubieran sido 70km, y ya era muy largo. Así que a medio camino, saqué el mapa y en el pueblo de Mönchaltorf, tomé un desvío hacia el pueblo de Egg. Lo que no me esperaba, por lo ponerle atención a las curvas de nivel del mapa, es que el camino desde Mönchaltorf hacia Meilen es pura subida sádica:

From Bike Pictures

From Bike Pictures

Después de estar harto de tanta subida, obtuve una merecida recompensa: una impresionante vista hacia las montañas al oeste del valle de Zúrich, y una espectacular mirada al pueblo de Meilen a la orilla del lago:

From Bike Pictures

From Bike Pictures

From Bike Pictures

From Bike Pictures

Terminé el ride cruzando el centro de la ciudad de Zúrich, y aquí les comparto una foto de Fraumünster, uno de los emblemas de la ciudad:

From Bike Pictures

Tiempo: 4:15:00
Distancia: 53km.



Today's ride was totally improvised, and as such, without knowing it, I got to know places that I never imagined actually existed so close to the city, with spectacular views to the mountains that surround the valley and lake Zurich.

As usual, the ride began leaving Schwamendingen towards Greifensee. After passing by Riedikon, I met the sunrise, and of course, managed to take a picture:

From Bike Pictures

The original plan was to ride to Rapperwil-Jona, but the whole trip would have been 70km long, and that was too much. So, halfway, I took out my map and at the town of Mönchaltorf, took a detour to the town of Egg. Was I did not expect, partly my mistake for not paying attention to the curve levels of the map, was that the road between Mönchaltorf and Meilen corresponded to a very unpleasant and continuous climb uphill.

From Bike Pictures

From Bike Pictures

Just about to go crazy because of the incessant climbing, I received my reward: an impressive view of the mountains west of the valley of Zurich, and a spectacular look to Meilen and the lake:

From Bike Pictures

From Bike Pictures

From Bike Pictures

From Bike Pictures

Just before ending the ride, I crossed the city of Zurich, and I'll share with you a picture I took of Fraumünster, one of the city's landmarks:

From Bike Pictures

Time: 4:15:00
Distance: 53km.

Tour around Zürich

I am a true believer that city tours by bus are one of the best ways available to get to know a city, at least the most important landmarks. So, as always, I took a city tour from "Best of Switzerland".

Now, in a wonderful display of my endless intelligence, I forgot to take my digital camera with me. Therefore, I had to take the pictures with my cellphone. Please, pardon the bad quality of the images...

One of the company's offers (http://www.bestofswitzerlandtours.ch/) is an extended, 4-hour tour through Zürich and its surroundings. At first, the bus drove near the main train station towards Wollishofen, where it stopped so that we could observe Lake Zürich (Zürchersee). Here, people can sail their boats on the lake and even swim and take the sun along its shore (that is, in summer, of course).

Afterwards, the tour circled around Zürich's highlands to the north, where one can see beautiful (and very expensive) houses. Also, we drove in front of the FIFA's new headquarter building. As you may know, FIFA's main offices have been in Zürich for quite several years now.

Coming back down to Zürich, we stopped at Fraumünster church. This church is right in front of another very important landmark of Zürich, the Großmünster church. The church of Fraumünster was founded in the year 853, and is widely known for its windows, done by Marc Chagall, which display stories from both the Old and New testament in marvelously elaborated glass.

Großmünster church:

Fraumünster church:

Next, the tour took us to the airtram on Adlis. There, we climbed to a mountain where one could see most of the valley where Zürich resides. Though not the best spot to see a panoramic view of Zürich (that will come later...), the view is still precious and worth the effort to get there.

Views of the valley:

To end the tour, we crossed Lake Zürich via the Meilen ferry. The ferry takes about 8 minutes to cross the lake from one side to the other. Here, the views of the city are also impressive.

As for the tour, well, I'll highly recommend it to everybody traveling to Zürich. It costs CHF 45 (about $43), but you get good value for your money.Bye,Luis.