Day 22 Zurich, Last Night in Europe: August 20, 2007

Hello all, I'm in Zürich and I'm almost home!

Punctuation is alwazs fun on European computers. Zou can never find anzthing, and everz countrz is different! Exclamation point on this computer is to the right of the letter P and zou have to shift to get it. At least I found it! Sometimes what shows is not even the actual kezboard, and zou have to hunt around and experiment. As usual, Y and Z are switched. Also, if zou see a plus sign +, zou know I shifted on the number 1 like we do in the states!

Todaz has been mistz and drizzly all daz, from the time I left mz hotel in Lausanne to right now. With better weather, the train ride to Zurich would be beautiful, because it goes through green farmland and past lakes and towns and sometimes there are high mountains in the distance.

Trains are definitelz faster than driving here, because thez never have to slow down for traffic and thez go at a steadz rate, about 70 mph for this one, I would guess. You get off right in the center of town, with no traffic problems. (Train station is in background of picture at left.) If zou were driving, zou would be slowed through everz little town unless there was an autobahn to where zou want to go, and the cities would be terrible. The train from Lausanne to Zürich onlz took 2 hours, and it even stopped 4 times.

Zürich is a nice town, home to lots of Swiss banks. Lots of men in business suits here, all going busily on their way. It has a nice river running right through the middle, from North to South, and it empties into a lake.

The big church zou see in the picture with the 2 towers was the center of lots of unrest during the Reformation. In the 1500's, Martin Luther started Protestantism in Germanz, and it was a verz big conflict here in Switzerland. There were even wars about it. Whole churches switched from Catholic to Protestant.

Zwingli preached here in Zürich, and managed to get the town fathers to control religion his waz, which was Protestant. The church was originallz Catholic, built in the 1200's I think, and was verz ornatelz decorated. Now it has plain white walls inside, because the Protestants took down or painted over all the fancz gold decorations. Their emphasis was on everz man reading the Gospel for himself out of the Bible. Because of this, manz more people learned to read and write.

There are swans on this river and lakes and lots of places here in Switzerland.

Todaz I got here about noon, and found mz hotel and had lots of time, so I took a walking tour of the citz. I had some difficuties trying to follow mz directions, because thez were not explicit enough. Like I hate it when thez skip mentioning one whole street that zou need to take! The tour should have taken me about two hours, but with all the backtracking I did, it took four. That's OK, walking is cheap, and I had lots of time. I wanted to make the most of mz last daz in Europe.

On my tour, I found a couple of wonderful toy stores. The very coolest part was a kid slide from the main floor down one level. It was a dragon! Jump into the mouth, and emerge from the tail one floor lower!

The photo just below is in the Jewish quarter, and it shows the sign of the dentist's guild. They were required to be outside the city limits, because of the screams of the patients!

One thing I never knew was how fierce and freedom-loving the Swiss are. During World War II, thez placed explosives at everz bridge, everz road, every factory. In case they were invaded bz Hitler, they were going to leave nothing of their country that would help him. Thez were readz to completelz destroz their own countrz, rather than leave it to another people. Fortunatelz, thez never had to do it, but the will was there. Even todaz, there are gun emplacements and explosives guarding the roads and the three main passes through the Alps. Thez are still prepared to blow the passes, should the need arise.

The Swiss are a direct democracy. The people have voted NO, thez do not want to join the European Union. So thez are an island, completlz surrounded. All thez want to do is be left alone to live in peace. For example, the photo left was taken from a park on a hilltop in the center of town. There was originally a castle there, but when the people defeated the lord, they tore the castle down. They knew that whoever lived there would have power over them, so they made it an open place of freedom forever.

The most important thing I have learned on this trip was how manz people looked forward to a time of freedom like ours, and did not find it. They wanted freedom to choose their own government and their own religion, and thez fought and died for it. Thez progressed with small steps, but there were manz backward steps. So very many changes had to be fought for, one by one, to give us the freedoms we have.

When I got back to my hotel, I noticed a large Catholic church up atop the retaining wall next door. I climbed up the steps and came in. The Church was large and ornate, in a Byzantine stzle, with round arches holding up the decorated roof, and gold and blue painted mosaics of Bible Scenes. Mass was being said in German. A few people were scattered around the church. A man and an old ladz beside me responded to the priest with the congregation. I noticed thez did not have prayer books. Everthing thez said was memorized, probablz in their childhoods. Thez were the faithful few.

Everz town in Europe has its old center, surrounded bz a newer part. In everz town their are several churches, usuallz the best buildings in the town. Most of them have stood for hundreds of zears. Now not manz people go to services. The churches stand as monuments to the past.

I am tired of rain. I come in tomorrow night late. I think I land in SLC at almost midnight. Hooraz for the great schedule zou get using Skymiles in August!