18th / 19th July San Francisco-Zurich

All our packing being done on previous day we were all ready to leave for San Francisco Airport.We had decided to take the airport shuttle this time.It arrived on 18th morning right on time - 5:00 AM.Off to the airport and in the plane at 7:30 AM flying to Zurich's Kloten airport. At last a dream come true ...going to Switzerland - Paradise on earth as it is sometimes described. We met my in-laws at Zurich airport.

Kloten is a very small airport and with a not so lively arrival lounge. Or probably it was just the long flight (SFO-Newark 6:30 hrs and Newark-Zurich - 7.5 hrs) that made us think so. All we wanted to do was get to the hotel , freshen up and take some rest.From the less crowd at the airport we could guess how quiet the city was going to be. And so it was. We took a taxi to our hotel - Best Western Hotel Krone Untertrasse (CHF 185). Since the check-in time at all hotels in Switzerland is 2 PM we had to wait for another 3-4 hrs till we got our rooms.

Having no other option but to stroll around in the neighborhood we deposited our luggage at the hotel and went out.Our hotel was not right in city center not walkable distance from main train station (Hauptbahnhof). However we found a tram that went straight to station and it had a stop dash opposite our hotel. That was relieving !!We walked around a bit , sat on one of the benches on the sidewalks. There were not many people except at tram stations.We walked further down towards the tram station but soon realized it was a long way walking not for us but for Aai- Baba.So while they sat on one of the benches at one of the stops of tram no 11, we went ahead and checked out the station got some info and decided to come back once we got fresh and had eaten.The area close to Bahnhof was bussing with sound unlike the area where our hotel was.There were lots of cars taxis, trams , lots of shops and a big grocery store (Coop). The walk back to the hotel was tiring as the roads had a little slope which we had not realized when walking the other way.

We got just one room when we got back to hotel.We freshened up and ate Parathas which we had brought along with us.Then while aai baba took some rest Sandeep and Myself , we ventured out again to get some detailed info about Zurich and also other inquires and reservations for the following day.Zurich Hauptbahnhof is very big.It has facilities for Showers,Lockers for storing bags (only for 24hrs ) , Restrooms (a must ofcourse),full fledge shopping cent re in basement, some bistros/cafes.There is also one useful thing we found.There is a Tourist information booth at every station in Switzerland.It hold maps , tourist information brochures , city guides etc for that respective city and excursions to surrounding areas.There are also counters where agents answer specific queries.It is very relieving to know that English is spoken and understood by everyone in Switzerland .So although sometimes it does happen that brochures and signs are in German /French but asking someone answers your questions.And the agents at these information bureaus are quite helpful.Taking all the info we wanted we returned to hotel just in time for the second room which was now ready for us.

We took a nap and then chatted through the evening. Dinner we had at a nearby restaurant "Ravi's Indian Cuisine". The food was exceptionally good.Infact it was too inviting after all the walking and a light lunch. There were a few restaurants in Zurich serving Indian food and we decided we would try those when we got back on 29th July.