Touchdown in Zurich!

My SWISS flight from New York landed in Zurich at 10:55 am and, even though the airport was'nt busy at all, I found myself silently wary of the location of things. I blindly followed the flow of passengers from my plane to passport control and then on to customs. The transit at some point included a short trip on an internal train which had the most awesome elevator music consisting of a mixture of mooing cows, yodelling and the sound of large cowbells. Welcome to Switzerland!! Anyone who flies to Switzerland for the first time in his or her life should fly directly toZurich airport. Here you are truly welcomed to Switzerland. 

Got thru passposrt control & customs in less than 10 mins and reached the airport outside bit that's really a high-priced shopping mall designed to lure jetlagged tourists into paying $10 bucks for a bottle of water. It was surreal.

After I'd stood there for a full ten minutes doing nothing, I set about trying to find a 
starbucks to get my morning caffine fix. "$6.60 !!! for a small latte, Ouch! thus began my slow haemorraging of money that only Switzerland can bring.

I figured the cheapest way to get to my Hotel is via train and then a tram.The trip to the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (main station) by train took under 15 minutes. Just like the Zurich airport, the Zurich Train station turned out to be a huge shopping area. They had all  restaurants, cafes and quite a few the tourist shops selling candy, watches, Swiss knives, cow bell, etc. I took a tram out side the station to the hotel. The tram system is wonderful.

In the evening  I decided to take a walk to the lake and down Bahnhofstrasse.  The lake and views of the Alps give it a unique character. Zurich has the feel of a typical European city with the added charm of being located on a lake with a river running through the city and you can see the Alps from the bridges. .