Sober Sabbaticals

Haters disperse: Zürich is legit. In Zürich [ˈt͡syɾi] (in the local dialect) they speak Swiss German. Oftentimes in standard German the phoneme /x/ is realized as [ç]. In Swiss German it’s typically either a back [x] or [χ], and it’s always heavily-fricated. The phoneme, whether realized as a voiceless velar fricative [x] or a voiceless uvular fricative [χ] is a very recognizable sound and I got used to hearing it constantly.

Zürich

I’m just returning from my first trip to Switzerland. Switzerland is right in the middle of Europe, which makes it even more inexplicable that I hadn’t been there up until now. I managed to visit Liechtenstein, the microstate on the border between Switzerland and Austria, while I was there as well; inching ever closer the the achievement-unlocking status of having been to every country in continental Europe (only a few left at this point).

A serendipitous juxtaposition.

I had a free weekend and found a cheap ticket, so I figured I’d jog over while I had the chance. Unfortunately the visit to city with the most clubs per capita in Europe coincided with my month of sobriety in February. I’m sober every February, but rarely do I wish I wasn’t as much as this February. Zürich has a ton of great bars and clubs, so I guess I’ll just have to visit again to get a proper experience.

Note the portrait below.

The city itself is quite small with a modest overall density, but it’s very walkable and the public transport is phenomenal. It doesn’t have a super high capacity mode like a metro system, but the surface rail and trolleybuses do a great job of moving people around the city efficiently. The city center is fortunate to be quite sparse of cars, so the transit is able to effectively navigate with little delay. Plus they have 25 meter double-arcticulated ETBs which are mental.

Hess lighTram BGGT-N2C

I woke up at a little after 4am on Friday morning after having gotten maybe two hours of sleep to head to Trg Slavija in Belgrade to catch the airport bus at 05:20. I ended up in Zürich and navigated my way to the hostel with the hopes of being able to sleep a bit, but alas check-in time wasn’t until the mid afternoon. I relied on heavy coffee consumption and constant exploration to get through the day. Most of it involved walking around and finding neat little cafes and bars and wishing I was in them drinking a cocktail. Ten-or-so cups of coffee later and I ended up not getting to sleep until the wee hours of the morning again.

Stadler FLIRT EMU with some unimpressive scenery in the background.

The following day I woke up at a comfortable hour and decided to head to the little country of Liechtenstein [ˈlɪçtn̩ʃtaɪn] a few hours away. Liechtenstein is a strange place, I’m not sure what their primary import/export is, but they still have a prince that lives in a castle in the the capital of Vaduz [ˈfadʊts]. I got off the train from Zürich in Sargans [zaːˈgans] on the border and hopped on the bus toward Vaduz. I got into town and wandered for a little bit. I was stopped by a group of women having a bachelorette party; apparently it’s customary to take a Polaroid-style picture with the bride, receive a party pack of hair conditioner and an airline shot of some alcohol derived from figs in return for giving them some money to finance their party. The picture didn’t really turn out, so all I have is a bleached-out photo, conditioner I left at the hostel, and an airline shot I can’t drink until March 1st. The town of Vaduz is quite beautiful, nestled in the alps and covered in vineyards. That’s about all it’s got going for it though, there’s really not a lot going on.

The prince actually lives there…

The following day I explored more of Zürich on foot. My primary goal was to visit the Chinese Garden, but I ended up completely on the other side of town due to a poor understanding of the street network. After walking for many countless miles, I ended up at the Chinese Garden. It was closed, like LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE on Sundays. I’m used to European Sundays, but it’s unbelievable how dead this place in particular is on the Sabbath.

I love the city and I met some great people while I was there. I’m definitely looking forward to making it back and properly exploring the bar/restaurantscape.

The only memento of the bachelorette party I have.