The Most Expensive City on Earth

Ok, so the title may be an exaggeration, but Zurich, Switzerland, consistently ranks among the top 10 most expensive cities in the world. I was excited to be going to Switzerland, where the Swiss Franc is trading for less than the US Dollar. After months of dealing with the expensive euro, I would finally be on the right side of the exchange rates. FALSE. See later for details.


The train ride from Milan to Zurich went through the Swiss Alps, including the beautiful resort town of Lake Lugano. The views were spectacular, and Switzerland's countryside is all that you would imagine it would be. Upon my arrival in Zurich late Friday night, my friend Drew from Georgetown greeted me at the train station. Drew's family lives in Zurich, so he graciously offered to take me around the city while I was there. It was great to have a tour guide and someone to travel with (for the first time since I returned to Europe)! After checking into my hostel (the most expensive and nicest one by far that I've stayed at in Europe), we headed out to explore Zurich nightlife. The Niederdorf is a alleyway where most of Zurich's bars and clubs are, and that is where we spent the night out. Drinking in Europe is expensive, but it is unimaginable in Switzerland. For 3-4 drinks for each of us during the night, we spent at least 100 francs, if not more!


After resting up, we started our tour of the city on Saturday morning. Drew has become his family's unofficial tour guide for when friends and family visit them in Zurich, so I got tons of great information and saw lots of sights. Zurich is not a very large city, but it certainly is beautiful. The city is situated on Lake Zurich and the Limmat River runs through the center of town. On almost every street, the Swiss flag (which is square not rectangular) and the Zurich Canton flag hang between the buildings, proving how proud the Swiss are of their country and their region within it. Zurich is in the north of Switzerland, thus they speak German for the most part. English and French are widely spoken, and almost any person can speak any of the three languages on command.


We visited a series of famous old churches in the city. The Grossmünster is the largest and most famous, and legend has it that Charlemagne himself built it. A quick climb up the several hundred stairs to the top, and there are spectacular views of the city, lake, and the Alps in the distance. Fraumünster is nearby and famous for its stained glass windows designed by Marc Chagall.


The weather was PERFECT in Zurich on Saturday, hot and sunny, which is not always the normal for northern Switzerland in the summer. Citizens and tourists alike were out in droves on the lake to sunbathe and boat. It seems like everyone has a sailboat...or yacht. We had lunch at a cool little Mexican restaurant...which was 80 francs for two people!! Next we walked the Bahnhofstrasse, the main shopping street in the city just near the train station. A coffee break at Starbucks, ever popular in Europe, with the bill totaling 16 francs for two drinks!


Later we walked around the park behind the National Museum before Drew went to the countryside to visit with his family. I grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Burger King in the train station before my train...and a fast food meal cost....a whopping 16 francs! The equivalent of $15-16 is what it takes just to get a crappy burger, fries, and drink in Switzerland. Unreal. I loved the city of Zurich, and I would love to return to see more parts of this beautiful and posh country. Germany in the next post!