I don’t actually commute, but I do walk to the American Women’s Club once or twice a week, and here is what I see along the way. First I walk down my street and then down a little road that is closed to through traffic, down some stairs and past the graffiti-covered daycare building.
Then I pass the Careum Campus, a health services school where people are often outside taking a smoking break. If I pass the snack stand (on right), I’ve missed my shortcut through the University Hospital, so I backtrack a few steps.
The University Hospital (Krankenhaus in German, Spital in Swiss German) has a lovely campus with lots of greenery.
Then past the University of Zürich’s Zoological Museum and then look across the street at the beehives.
Down a long flight of stairs and over a bit to the Limmat River.
When I cross the river I am almost half-way to the club. In the heart of the Old Town I pass the Observatory which now houses the Jules Verne Bar, the Manor dept. store where we like to eat breakfast sometimes, and this water fountain.
Another little shortcut leads me through a courtyard with an artist studio, an indoor swimming pool, lots of bikes – some parked, and some I have to watch out for as they ride past. Oh, yes, and a spur from the river.
Past the Selnau Train Station comes the Stauffacher Bridge over the Sihl River (a tributary).
And then I turn down the street for the club and see one of the locals. There is a Jewish girls’ school next door to the AWCZ, and it is not uncommon to see this Orthodox dress in the neighborhood.
So that’s some of my 35-minute commute across town. When I go home, it expands to 40 or 45 minutes, depending on how fast I want to go up those hills…
Glamping in Switzerland 