On Sunday morning, Bill went across the street to the fabulous bakery called Wüst. This bakery, which is part of a chain, offers wonderful fresh breads and pastries. Almost every day of our stay, Bill went there to get our breakfasts. One day, he went to a different, but equally good bakery, only because we were out of juice and he could get some at the other place.
I have discovered that I really like the way the Swiss do their breads. The places we’ve gone have offered soft rolls and croissants that aren’t too crispy/messy. Personally, I like that a lot. I know some people love flaky croissants, but I prefer them to be softer, if only because it means fewer crumbs all over the place.
After breakfast, Bill and I took a walk to Lake Zürich, which was a very short walk from the apartment. On Sunday, there happened to be a bike race going on, so there was a “crossing guard” in the middle of the crosswalk! We sure weren’t expecting that.
The part of Lake Zürich where we were was near the Chinagarten, as well as a really cool looking machine/statue that I happened to catch running once during the week. I discovered that I was looking at “Heureka”, a “useless machine” that was built in 1964 by sculptor, Jean Tinguely. Below is a video of it running. I only caught it in action once during the whole week we were in Zürich! I read that they only run it three times a day for eight minutes, from April until October.
According to Atlas Obscura, “Heureka” was meant to symbolize consumerism in advanced societies. It’s made of scrap metal and junk, and when it runs, it just makes noise. It doesn’t actually do anything useful. Interesting that this would be in a place where many people are quite well-to-do.
There were so many people at the lake on that sunny Sunday. They were all lying out on blankets and towels, swimming, sunning, fishing, and splashing around in the lake. I wished I’d worn one of my bathing suits, because the lake was so inviting. But instead of jumping in the lake, we decided to visit a Biergarten right next to it… And unfortunately, we ended up sitting next to a big pile of dog shit. Nevertheless, I took lots of photos, and where we sat was perfect for that. And the sausage and roll weren’t too bad, either.
While we were eating, we were visited by a bunch of little birds and some very well fed ducks. I tried not to feed them any bread, since it’s bad for ducks. But they made it hard to resist. They were practically tame! I noticed a number of different types of birds by the lake, everything from seagulls to swans! I’ll have pictures of the swans later in the series.
After lunch, we walked around some more, and I took a lot of photos. I was amused by the many people on hydrofoils. It looked like a lot of fun, riding those things– like surf boards with poles under them, operating like pogo sticks. Maybe if I was younger, fitter, and braver, I might be willing to give them a try!
Below are some more photos from Sunday. The Swiss, and all of the visitors, all seemed to be having a blast!
We walked a few miles on Sunday, and ended up running into the bike race again. There was a boy there, maybe about 12 years old, wearing a neon colored uniform. He fixed one of the racers’ bikes on the side of the street. We overheard him telling a couple of ladies in German that he was a member of a bicycling club that provided services for the race. We saw a young girl in a similar reflective outfit providing drinks for the riders as they whizzed past.
After awhile, Bill and I got a bit hot, and we were both worried about sun exposure. We decided to go back to the apartment and watch some local television. We caught a couple of American movies, dubbed into German. One was 1962’s That Touch of Mink, starring Cary Grant and Doris Day. The other was 2012’s Now Is Good, starring Dakota Fanning. The Fanning flick was also airing on Friday night. I hadn’t heard of Now Is Good before, but I see it’s on Netflix. Maybe I’ll watch it in English.
For dinner on Sunday, we ordered Chinese/Thai food. I had sweet and sour pork with rice, and Bill had chicken satay with rice. We also had dumplings. There were leftovers for Monday, which was a good thing for me.
In the next post, I’ll start explaining how I entertained myself while Bill was “at school.” Stay tuned for that excitement. 😉
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