Last Wednesday I went to Zürich, the largest city in Switzerland, to meet up with Christa Polkinhorn, a Swiss-American writer who’s over from sunny California for the winter. We went to an extremely lush coffee shop near the river and talked books for hours – it was lovely!
People tend to think of banks when you say ‘Zürich’, but there’s a whole lot more to the city than grey financial buildings. Christa and I tramped through narrow alleyways with tall, centuries-old buildings on either side; we wandered along beside the river Limmat, taking the same route as her characters in An Uncommon Family, and we talked.
We finished off by crossing the river and walking up the Bahnhofstrasse, one of the most expensive and exclusive shopping streets in the world. It wasn’t jewellery or swanky handbags we were after, though – Christa wanted to introduce me to her favourite mulled wine stall! We stood there on a chilly November afternoon, warm as toast and watching the world go by…
One thing I often do when I go to Zürich is visit the Fraumünster, with the amazing Chagall windows. It was closed for renovations last week, but if you’re ever in Zürich, do go in for a look. It’s the colours that are fascinating – vibrant doesn’t begin to describe them. This window isn’t in the Fraumünster, but it gives you a feeling for the atmosphere, and you can see more here.
A few more Zürich photos:
Book news:
The Attic Room is on special offer over the weekend, just 99p/c on kindle. is now back to its usual price of £1.99 – still a snip!
And I was really pleased to find The Cold Cold Sea has hit 100 reviews on Amazon UK. It’s only a number, maybe, but it feels a bit like celebrating a round birthday – without the grey hairs!
My brother lived in Switzerland for a year in the early eighties, acting as a teaching assistant in a school. I went to visit him for about ten days in the late summer, and remember doing some wonderful sightseeing. He was living in Winterthur so it was an easy trip into Zurich. I absolutely loved the city! Must go back some day . . .
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My own favourite Swiss city’s Berne. I’m planning a post about that someday too. I occasionally stop in Winterthur for a wander along the main shopping street. Let me know if you ever venture over again!
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Ah, Linda, it truly was a lot of fun! Snow was back with a vengeance here but the rain is already washing it away.
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Same here, though we didn’t have as much as you would. Yes, it was fun – we’ll do it again sometime! 🙂
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Will do, Linda! Yes, we went to Berne for the day. They still had the bear pit then, where they let the bears out to play for a while and people watched. Bet that’s a long-gone practice now? (Hope so!)
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They were poor things back then. They have a bear park now, which is better: https://youtu.be/KPdNWnmAicU
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Oh, Linda, that was wonderful to see, thank you – SO much better than the tiny concrete pit with a couple of climbing logs they had when we were there 🙂
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‘talked books for hours’ you had me at this line…though Zurich looks lovely too 🙂 It’s always such a delight to meet up with writer mates!
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It’s lovely – and something I’m not often able to do, unfortunately!
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