At 9:05 CET (3:05 in our EDT), they came around with an egg and cheese sandwich and Dutch chocolate. I woke my husband K for this, because there was no way of knowing when we'd eat again. I still don't know why the photos are red.
It was 10:10 am, when we landed in Zürich. The gate was only 3 minutes away. When we got off, they sent us to a train to go to baggage claim.
At 10:35, we were in the passport line. That took a while.While we stood in the line for the non-Swiss, we watched a couple of people use an automated system for the Swiss. Then, we saw an interviewer being filmed talking to a guy in front of that system. We figured it was for TV. We weren't done with passport control until 11:00. We then went up stairs to get the baggage.
As we arrived at 11:02, my bag came by on the conveyor belt. We had all of our bags by 11:05 and made a much needed restroom trip. While we were in there, we heard an announcement for our family! We came out and found an AmaWaterways person and asked if she was looking for us. She was and was about to give up on us, as the others were waiting outside. We explained that passport control took quite a while. In fact, the line had gotten even longer, while we were in it.
She led us out of the baggage area to where the rest of the Ama guests were waiting at 11:14. She then led the entire group to the bus. K made sure our suitcases got under the bus and we went on board with our carry on pieces. We were all on board and on the road by 11:21.
It was a grey day and the ride to the Zürich Marriott Hotel took only 13 minutes. J's portable WiFi was working and I found out that it was 34 degrees.
We were checked in by 12:02, but our rooms were not ready. So, we turned them in to be held in their luggage room. We found a restroom and then noticed an Ama podium near the hotel entrance. There we found Rolf, our Dutch cruise manager. He gave us info papers and reminded us of an evening meeting of the guests.
We did an internet check to get directions to the restaurant that we'd planned on, only to find out that they didn't open until evening. So, we googled to find another appropriate restaurant. At 12:25, we left in the rain.
Getting across the street was tricky, but necessary due to construction on our side. Once we crossed, we were walking next to the Limmat River, which flowed out of Lake Zürich (Zürichsee). The water was really moving pretty fast.
It wasn't long before we saw a rather interesting building across the river. We later found out it was the Landesmuseum Zürich, which I figured meant it was the museum for the canton, but in fact, the English translation was "Swiss National Museum". I have no idea where "Zürich" disappeared to in English.
We had to watch for cyclists and joggers as we walked along. Hanging over the sidewalk and even over the railing were these giant flowering trees. Later, we found out that they were horse chestnuts.
Someone escorted us inside and took us to a table. We peeled off our wet things and started in on the menu. It, helpfully, had a history of the place.
We chose three items that we were willing to divide into thirds so as to share. For 27CHF ($29.77), we ordered Geschnetzeltes Schwein Züricher Art mit Rösti (sliced pork Zürich style with mushroom cream sauce and rösti potatoes). For 23 CHF ($25.36), we got Appenzeller Käse Spätzli mit Vorderschinken, Zwiebeln, mit Käse überbacken (Appenzeller cheese spätzle with ham, onions and gratinated cheese). To warm us, we ordered Bündner Gerstensuppe (Grison's barley soup) for 10 CHF ($11.03). That last one wasn't enough, we knew. So, we also ordered the small portion of Walliser Raclette mit Kartoffeln, Essiggurken und Silberzwiebeln (Swiss raclette, melted cheese with potatoes, pickles and spring onions [which were more like pickled pearl onions]) for 17 CHF ($18.74). I had Coke Zero, while J had her usual Coke. K ordered coffee. The food was fantastic and not just because it had been so terribly long since we ate.
We didn't really have anyone around us as we ate. There was a wall with frosted glass half-way down to my left. There was a sign with the daily specials. There was also this interesting contraption.
When we finished lunch, we thought it would be a crime to not have some dessert. We decided to split a Hausgemachter Apfelstrudel mit Vanillesauce for 10 CHF or $11. Now, apple strudel, homemade or otherwise, is not a Swiss dish. It is from Austria, but we decided that wasn't important. When it came, we saw that they made it a bit more Swiss by pouring chocolate sauce on it. It was good.
Not wanting to spend all of our Swiss cash on the first meal, I charged it to my Capital One MasterCard, which has no exchange fees and gives me cash back. We left the restaurant at 2:22 and it was no longer raining.
As we headed back in the direction of the hotel, we ducked into a small grocery, Migrolino. Browsing grocery stores is one of our favorite things to do on trips. We like to see what foods we recognize and which American foods show up there. My favorite pizza brand was there, although Winn Dixie no longer carries it. We don't sell Oreos this way, do we? The dyed eggs were quite a surprise. We noted that Uncle Ben's is no longer Uncle Ben's in Switzerland, either. And, we found the little onions from the raclette.
We found bars of chocolate and quickly googled the top 10 Swiss chocolate brands. J and I each bought a couple from brands other than Lindt, which we knew we could get at home. Buying them in the grocery store is cheaper than buying them in souvenir shops.
When we came back out at 2:50, it felt just plain raw. But, the air was clearer and we stopped on a bridge to take selfies. We also noticed that we could see our hotel down river.
We were back in the hotel at 3:12 and went to ask for our keys and luggage. At 3:20, we were in room 2904 and J was catty-cornered in 2907. The hotel didn't really have us on the 29th floor. They had a funky numbering system that we never could really figure out.
I did my traditional photo-taking of the room before the luggage was brought in. The room was modern and spacious.
As I looked around, I was thrilled to see a bottle of distilled water. Ama had promised one for the ship and I'd asked for one for the pre-cruise and here it was.
Before laying down for a much needed nap, I spread out my chocolate finds to take a picture for Facebook.
Just before 6 pm, we headed downstairs and over to the newer building of the hotel for the pre-cruise group meeting in the Sächsilüüte Banquet Room. On the way in, we were stopped by the folks at the bar to pick up a complimentary beverage. K had red wine, while I chose Prosecco, and J got Pepsi. When we got in the room itself, we found it to be pretty full. Rolf said that there were 79 of us on this part of the trip. He gave some info on the optional trip up a mountain in Luzern. We'd already decided that since we'd all been up Mt. Pilatus there, we didn't need to do this excursion. Plus, it turned out to be very pricey. Rolf gave us the schedule for tomorrow and a bit more info, before we were dismissed at 6:45.
On the way out of the banquet room, we saw this relief sculpture titled Schwan Wappentier der Stadtzunft Zürich (Swan Heraldic Animal of the Historical Society of Zürich) by Armin Wagner. It certainly was an angry swan. The actual shield of the city is like the blue and white flag on Johanniter this afternoon.
When we got upstairs, we got to see J's room and her view. It was certainly better than ours, even with the construction crane.
Ours was just of the rest of the building and a hillside beyond.
In our room, K and I looked over the papers Rolf had given out. One gave some info on Zürich.
At 7:25, the three of us headed out for dinner. It was not raining, but it was still cold. The route J found to get us to the restaurant we'd chosen was rather uphill. The restaurant was on the street above our lunchtime choice and closer to downtown.
I'd seen a video about Raclette Stube on Facebook in a post by Deutsche Welle, the news service. I'd sent it to J and she'd agreed that we needed to go. K likes raclette, when we get that hot, gooey cheese at Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival. So, he was on board.
The place was small and we were lucky to get a table. Even though we'd had raclette at lunch, J and I were most anxious to try Raclettes à discretion mit Kartoffeln (potatoes), Cornichons (pickles), Perlzwiebeln (pearl onions), and Maiskölbchen (mini corn on the cob), which was all you can eat for 39.80 CHF each ($44.26). We both had a second serving of cheese. K surprised us by choosing Fondue fribourgeoise moitié-moitié (fondue half and half- half Gruyère and half Vacherin cheese with wine and kirsch) for 30.80 CHF ($34.25). J and I drank water, while K had 1 dl Johannisberg du Valais beer for 6.30 CHF ($7.01). It was not a cheap meal, but it certainly was delicious.
We just had to try their dessert. So, we shared 1/2 Mousse au Chocolat 1/2 Meringues mit Double Creme. As you can see in the photo, it was a lovely presentation and it tasted great.
The room was definitely converted from something else, perhaps a house. I loved the faux window with its painting of a cheese tree and I was very impressed by all the different bottles of Kirsch on the mantel.
When we left at 9:09, it was 49 degrees with a light rain. When we reached the hotel at 9:26, we could see a think sunset in the distance.
It was a busy first day! My phone measured 10, 583 steps for 3.5 miles and said that I climbed 2 floors.
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