Walking Down the Streets of Zurich: Episode 2 (River Limmat)

Hello, there you are, great! With all the daily activities at work eating up my mind and body, I usually go home tired and sleepy that I almost forgot I still had this to post. Yes, it's been months and I'm so sorry for that...

After our walk a few months ago (referring to my previous post, Walking Down the Streets of Zurich: Episode 1), I bet you have recharged a little bit? Oh, come on, don't tell me you would like to rest still? The sun is up but it's still very cold at 2 degrees Celsius! I really think we should keep on walking. This is getting even more exciting as we approach the heart of the city!

We're just about to leave Sihlquai and stroll along Museumstrasse heading toward the Swiss National Museum. The museum which is one of the main sights of the city is located on an island between two rivers, River Sihl and River Limmat.

River Sihl                                        River Limmat

You will see the museum exactly in the middle of the two rivers.

From a distance, the museum resembled the castles I used to read from my Classics Illustrated comics. Believe it or not! Look at these.

A view of the Swiss National Museum from the bridge

Looks a bit scary, I know, because of the barren trees but for me it was another mesmerizing view. I couldn't seem to stop gazing at the towers of the museum. Oh, I should have had a picture with it at the background. How unfortunate though that Billy wasn't able to capture the tip of the tower when he took a photo of me standing in front (left photo). But good that he was able to get another full view of it (right photo)--- without me in the pic!!! :(

The tower of the Swiss National Museum

Unfortunately, the museum was closed on a Monday. That means we had to return another day to see what's inside.  For this day, we had to settle with a few shots outside the building.

But I will post the photos together with all the rest of the photos taken inside. Oh, sorry to say that it would mean another post!

From the museum, we crossed the Museumstrasse to go to Zurich Main Station or Rail City (or Central Station) also known as Zurich Hauptbahnhof (or HB).

Photo taken along Museumstrasse. The museum on the left and the Zurich Central Station (Rail City) on the right.

Side entrance to the Rail City; along Museumstrasse, in front of the Swiss National Museum

Let's see what's inside...

The Central Station is the largest railway station in Switzerland, Zurich being the major railway hub servicing not only Switzerland but also other neighboring countries like Germany, Italy, Austria and France, as well.

 Photos of the train station inside the Rail City

The station has more than 200 underground shops where travelers can buy food, souvenirs, jewelries, ornaments, flowers and plants included. The photos below were all taken inside the Central Station or Rail City.

A full view of the balloon-like figure of a big winged woman hanging in the middle of the Rail City. 

I was so intrigued looking at it that I took a photo as it seemingly hovers over my husband posing below. Hahaha! I finally succeeded after several attempts!

There we found the Zurich Tourist Information where we were able to ask questions about transportation, top places to see and the easiest, fastest and most practical means to reach any place we wanted to visit. All the Tourist Information staff were very approachable and courteous in entertaining us. They speak different languages... impressive! English, yes!!! They gave us these brochures containing maps of the whole city. Now we literally had Zurich in our pockets!

Zurich in your pocket

                                  Zurich Welcome Guide                               Zurich Guide Shopping

Thanks to these handy guides containing pmaps and information about top Zurich attractions. Having received tips on how to explore the city, we were able to buy tickets that would allow us to travel by tram, bus, train or even cable car. That's the first thing I like about Zurich---its transportation system. Hmmm... would it disappoint you to hear that I plan to make another very special post about that. 

But before leaving the Rail City, here's Billy posing in front of the souvenir display. 

Sorry, we didn't buy anything here. Just queries on where to go, how to go, how much.

For now, let's get out of the Rail City through the gate fronting the Limmat River, along Bahnhofquai. Let's walk across Bahnhofquai towards Bahnhofbrucke in order to cross the Limmat River.

Look at this map to see the area covering the Swiss National Museum, 
Zurich HB (Rail City) and the Zurich Central

Now we're heading towards the Central Plaza which I always referred to as "Zurich Downtown". 

The photos above were all taken along Bahnhofbrucke on our way to Zurich Central

See us standing at Bahnhofbrucke, while crossing the Limmat River. Have you noticed that we don't have photos taken with both of us together?

At long last, we reached the heart of the city! From Zurich Central, we traversed the length of Limmat River alternately via Limmatquai on the East Bank and Bahnhofquai on the West Bank. One could not describe Zurich without mentioning Limmat River. It plays a major role of dividing the city into two, the east and the west banks. 

I hope you can relate by looking at this map. 

See the Limmat River at the center.

This division of Zurich into the East and West Banks by River Limmat really caught my interest. Yes, the city stretches on both sides of the river! That spells the beauty of the Limmat River, making it one of the highlights of the city. 

Connecting both the East and West Banks at certain points are the following bridges, starting from the Zurich Central--

The Bahnhofbrucke

Bahnhofbrucke, the bridge between Zurich Hauptbanhof and Zurich Central, is one of the main thoroughfares in Zurich.

The Muhlesteg 

What's in this plain and simple-looking footbridge? Don't you dare underestimate it! 

You might be surprised to know the main feature of this bridge. Another post to watch out for ;)

 The Rudolf-Brun-Brucke 

This bridge was named after the first mayor of Zurich, Rudolf Brun.

The Rathausbrucke

The Rathausbrucke is a popular pedestrian crossing that connects the Rathaus (Zurich Townhall) located at the right side (East) with the left side (West) of Limmat near the Lindenhof area. The foundations of the Rathaus is built on the waters of Limmat River. We didn't enter the building but it is said to have a Renaissance architectural design with a Baroque ceremonial hall. 

 The Munsterbrucke

The Munsterbrucke with the Grossmunster Church at the background

This bridge is located near the three prominent churches in Zurich. That could be the reason for its name as "munster" means "big church". These churches are the Fraumunster and St. Peter Church on the westbank and the Grossmunster Church on the eastbank. Click here to view my previous post entitled, "Kirchen in Zurich" where I featured these three famous churches.

Here's another view of the Munsterbrucke taken from the Rathausbrucke.

... and that's me with the Munsterbrucke and the two churches 
(Fraumunster and St. Peter Church) at the background. 

The photo above was taken while resting for a while under the shady tree beside the statue of Ulrich Zwingli at Zwingliplatz.

The Quaibrucke

The Quaibrucke, as I observed, is the bridge near the quay area. 
Photos of this bridge above and below were taken from opposite directions. 

The photo above was taken while watching the boats and yachts at Pier 7 along Limmatquai while the one below was taken from Quaianlagen along Utoquai, a few blocks away from Quiabrucke, towards the direction of Lake Zurich. 

The Quaibrucke is the last bridge along River Limmat connecting the East and West Banks of Zurich. Beyond this point the river meets Lake Zurich (Zurichsee), one of the main tributaries of River Limmat.

Ooooppppsss... of course, I shouldn't forget to post these before I leave. Snap shots of me taken by Billy as we sidetripped into some streets along the East and West Banks and while crossing the bridges along the Limmat River.

In this post, see how far we've gone traveling on foot! Mind you, my husband walks so fast!

The map very well explains my countenance below. 

We had to recharge after walking that far!

Whew, finally, I made it... six months in the making! Well, it did take so much effort preparing this post after all the time spent consulting Google maps, zooming in and out on specific areas comparing various city landmarks with photos we took. It gave me a great sense of fulfillment reading about the places we've been to. So here, I wouldn't pass this chance of sharing with you a portion of what I've experienced in Zurich in a week's time. Oh no, erratum please... this is only Day 2! 

Hope you enjoyed traveling with us! Click Kirchen in Zurich to read my post on Day 3 (churches we visited). See you there!