Zurich 2013

Zurich is a genuinely beautiful city set in stunning countryside.  My five days there were packed with things and I barely scratched the surface.  Apologies in advance as my camera wasn’t working so there are no photos to share.

The city as cosmopolitan as you could hope for, with one of the most comprehensive public transport systems I think I’ve ever seen – buses, trains, funiculars (whee!), trams, bike hire – it was all going on.  It’s also impressively expensive in some respects – it made the London Travel card look positively cheap, and eating out is definitely for special occassions.

Switzerland seems to be very proud of it’s dispirate groups, and the city reflects that, with very different atmospheres in it’s different districts and areas – some of it feels very English industrial, some of it very French town square (missing only the boules) and some of it undoubtedly Swiss.

The city centre is well worth a visit, particulalry the old town, if you are only passing through.  However if you have more time – a tour on the lake (which issomuch bigger than I thought it was, and we went on the day of the Annual Swim across in which 56,000 people took part!), a walk up (or down!) Uetliberg for it’s stunning views across the lake and the surrounding land and visits to both the Fraumünster church (famous for it’s Chagall stained glass windows) and Grossmünster with it’s stunning “alternative” stained glass windows by Swiss artist Augusto Giacometti added in 1932.
We also took a trip out of town to visit a local Palace, which was fascinating and meant I got to travel through several  Swiss villages – all of which look exactly like you would expect them to from chocolate box depictions over the years – wooden shutters and steep roofs with over-abundant flowered window boxes.  It was lovely.
I was more than ably looked after by A, her husband and excitable Bob clone Max.  And of course staying with crafting friends meant there were visits to yarn shops and crafty goodness.  I was surrounded by spinning wheels (seven to be precise!) and spindles and lots of books I don’t own and an impressive stash.  A’s crochet friends welcomed me with open arms (despite my Swiss/German being even worse than my French) and I saw some outstanding samples of filet crochet used as curtains, tablecloths, dresser runners….
I only went into two yarn shops while in Zurich, but they were chalk and cheese.  One was on the ‘main drag’ in the Old Town and was set up like many high-end luxury yarn stores in the UK.  Yarns were grouped by colour and then by weight (cobweb at the top, bulky at the bottom) around the walls of the store – which was very pretty, but pointed out an almost non-existance of varigated yarns.  Haberdashery was limited and nothing had a price.  I did pick up a set of square knit pro circular needles as I hadn’t seen them elsewhere, but little else appealed to me.  It had a good range of yarns but I got the feeling I couldn’t afford any of it before I even started.
The second store was more ‘hidden’ – and in the start of a theme I was to revisit in Vienna, this store had been taken on by an enthusiastic knitter when the original owner retired.  Now, I have to say that the owners were lovely, very friendly and I really enjoyed the time I spent there (and I did buy stuff, more about that in a second).  The shop was HUGE, two large rooms, but it was very, very, difficult to see how much space there really was – or what was in stock.  The owner was working towards her PhD – Piled higher and Deeper – in stock management.
There were some really lovely bits and peices – and some surprises (Rowan Silk Haze for £25 anyone?) but you really had to dig and ferret, and not everyone is comfortable doing that.  It’s a shame as this could be a really lovely shop.
Anyway, on to what I bought…
Kauni  XEQ lace weight – 150grams over lovely rainbow long colour stripy-ness…
Kauni XEQ Laceweight
and this puff of fun may have found it’s way into my bag..
Zealana Air - Cashmere, Possum and silk
It’s Zealana Air – a 40% cashmere, 40% Brushtail Possum down and 20% mulberry silk blend that gives nearly 200m for 25grams.  yeah, you read that right – Possum!  How could I not?  I also bought a swirl pewter shawl pin and a double ended tunisian hook (just of the completeness of the collection you understand!) – however most of my ‘haul’ came from Austria – so I need to leap on a train and travel…

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