Seefeld

Any visit to Zürich should include a walk through the Seefeld District. It stretches along the east side of Lake Zürich starting just south of the Opera House.

In other posts I have blogged about various landmarks in this district: the Tinguely sculpture Heureka, the Botanical Garden, Villa Patumbah, the Chinese Garden, and the Le Corbusier house.

Here are some other delights:

Sculpture by Henry Moore: Sheep Piece

Stepping Stones across some water

The ubiquitous swans.

Now is a great time of year to wander along the shore.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Heureka: A Jean Tinguely Iron Sculpture

Along the lake, there is a very large Jean Tinguely sculpture. It’s called Heureka (Eureka). It reminds me a bit of a steam engine.

Three times a day from April 1 through October 15, the sculpture comes to life for 8 minutes. You can see it in motion here.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Sculpture in Three Seasons

Along Lake Zürich on the east side lies Seefeldquai, a long, narrow park with a variety of attractions. Here you’ll find the China Garden, a LeCorbusier house, swimming places, a huge sculpture by Jean Tinguely, along with many places to eat and plenty of space to play and relax.

I have looked for information on this sculpture, but have come up empty. If you know anything about it, please leave a comment below. I have walked by this lady in each season. Here’s how she looks in spring, fall, and winter.

Amorphophallus titanum: Corpse Flower in Bloom

Many Thursday mornings I walk with a group from the American Women’s Club. We enjoy each other’s company as we wander along the lake, the river, or into beautiful gardens. Last Thursday we were treated to a rare occurrence, the blooming of the Amorphophallus titanum. Also known as the Stinky Corpse Flower.

Our walk took us to the Botanical Garden where we waited in this line. I think it took us at least 30 minutes to reach the flower, but it was probably longer. I did not keep track. Too busy socializing.

The Amorphophallus titanum is the largest blooming flower in the world. It has a putrid odor, like rotting flesh. Various sources have it blooming every 2-3 years, or up to every 8 years. I heard that this one last bloomed 4 years ago.

Here’s a close-up.

The line was even longer when we left.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Botanical Garden in Zürich

Just down the street from the Villa Patumbah is another free garden to explore. I had been here in 2014, and I’m not sure why I hadn’t been back this time. Spring is definitely a good time to visit the University of Zürich (UZH) Botanical Gardens.

I was there on a sunny day, but the three greenhouses would be a perfect place visit on a cold or rainy day, too.

So many lovely textures.

And patterns.

Even though we were too early for tulips in the Netherlands, I’ve been seeing many around Switzerland.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Villa Patumbah

This Villa near Lake Zürich was built in the 1880s by a wealthy entrepreneur named Karl Fürchtegott Grob. (Fürchtegott? I’ll bet he didn’t let on to his classmates his middle name when he was in school.)

Grob made his money in tobacco plantations in Sumatra, returned to Zürich and built this estate.

After entering here,

you can wander through the garden.

You can also go inside to see the Swiss Heritage Center, but I was there in the morning, and it doesn’t open until 2 in the afternoon. The magnolia trees were almost done blossoming, so I missed those. It was still lovely.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Zürich Chinese Garden in Spring

As promised in this winter post about the Chinese Garden, I returned to take some spring photos.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Light Show at the Zürich Opera House

Just when I thought that Light Show season was over, we heard about the Lichtspektakel at the Zürich Opera House.

A new production of Siegfried, one of operas in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, is opening. To celebrate, the public was treated to a half-hour light show, not unlike the one we saw in Bern, projected on the front of the Opera House.

From March 2 – 4, there were three performances each night. It lasted 30 minutes. We went to the first showing on Friday. Lucky for us, we snagged some chairs right up front. As you can see from the above photo, the sun was just setting.

It grew darker.

The dragon

And by the end, it was dark. The first ten minutes featured scenes from the  Rheingold , the next ten from the Valkyrie, ending with ten brand new minutes to Siegfried.

As I looked at YouTube, I found many choices for viewing this show from the comfort of your own screen.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Zürich Chinese Garden in Winter

We have had two snowfalls so far. The first one lasted about 3 days before temps rose. The second one has lasted several days, as well, but temps are expected to rise above freezing soon. I had seen several Instagram posts of snow at Zürich’s Chinese Garden which inspired me to get there quickly. Who knows if and when we’ll get snow again?

I believe it cost money to enter the garden last time we lived here, but it is free now and open every day from 11-7. The garden was given to Zürich by its partner city, Kunming, in thanks for “the technical and scientific support provided with expanding drinking water supplies and urban drainage.” It opened in 1994.

I plan to return, especially in the spring and summer.

More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.

Le Corbusier in Zürich

One Trip Advisor review gives the Heidi Weber Museum – Center Le Corbusier a bad review because it was closed when they went. A quick click on the internet would have helped them out….

We’d been waiting for this building, the last work of Swiss/French architect and artist Le Corbusier, to open since we learned about it. Apparently it is open only from July – October.

Swiss art collector and patron Heidi Weber commissioned Le Corbusier to design a building for public exhibition. In 1961 the architect started drawing up the plans for a concrete building which was then changed to a steel construction. Le Corbusier died in 1965 before the building was completed.

The small museum houses the artist’s sculptures, paintings, writings and furniture designs throughout the various stories of the building.

Most interesting is the roof which sits at various angles as protection from the sun as well as rain. The views from the roof look over green spaces towards Lake Zürich as well as the Chinese Garden and provide for the movement of air, especially welcome on a summer day.

I heard a story that this building in Zürich was considered by Le Corbusier to be the most interesting building in this city. Hmmm.