Krannert Krew Goes to Germany: Weekend Round 1: Ladies take Zurich

Hallo!

We all arrived safe and sound to the lovely Reutlingen, Germany! We had zero problems with flights (even had room to spread out a little on our first flight) and everyone made it with their luggage and sanity in tact (except maybe Eric who was not feeling so great). We were greeted by one of our classmates, Tiffany (from the Stuttgart area), who was so sweet and welcomed us with pretzels and champagne! We had a toast and went outside to catch our bus. Then we bussed from the airport (Stuttgart) to Reutlingen city, and then from the city to the campus area where our dorms are. After getting our keys, and somewhat settling in, we headed back to the city center to do some exploring and avoid falling asleep at 2:00PM (oh jet lag, you vicious villain!).

I could not believe how cute/beautiful/amazing our city is. It is AWESOME. Quite picturesque if you ask me. Lots of shopping and cool sights. I really do love it and will be spending much time exploring!

(City Center - Reutlingen, Germany)

(Shopping in the city - love the look and feel of it!)

(First meal: Fruit crepe. Loved every bite).

(Super cool building).

With aching feet, arms full of purchases of things we forgot or still needed, we trekked back to our dorms (well some of us did - others decided to party). Caitlin, Katherine, and I had a picnic dinner of bread, cheese, and meat on their floor. It was perfect. I headed back to my dorm just before 7 - unpacked and took a shower and then I deliriously fell onto my bed, only to be woken a few hours later by the frigidness that was my room. I bundled up in my winter coat, scarf, and some extra layers of socks and vowed to buy a thicker blanket next time I was in town.

The next morning, the ladies (Sarah [me], Caitlin, Katherine, Dawn, and Lauren) met bright and early to catch a train to the wonderful land of Switzerland! The bus and train systems here are amazing and so easy. We boarded are first train with purchases from a bakery (hellooooooooo apfelrolle!) and were on our way! 2 transfers, 3.5 hours-ish, and lots of talking/laughing later we arrived in beautiful Zurich! We made our way to our reservation with an AirBandB host via tram (easiest system and cleanest system I've ever seen) and settled into the cutest apartment ever. We then ventured out and just went walking. We walked all over Zurich and saw so many amazing buildings, structures, and streets, not to mention, the ALPS!

(Oh hey, Alps!)

(In love with their architecture.)

(Sarah and Lauren)

(Gorgeous clock tower)

(Lauren, Dawn, Katherine, and Caitlin- how cute are they?!)

(Love locks on a bridge <3)

(Did I mention I love European architecture???)

After a long day of wandering/exploring, we decided to have some dinner. Lauren, Dawn, and Katherine went to the apartment to have a picnic dinner, while Caitlin and I headed out to find a local, authentic Swiss meal. We settled on a nicer place we had tried to eat for lunch. An excellent decision! We split a meal called Rosti. It was essentially a super fancy, but super delicious version of a breakfast hash brown casserole. It had potatoes, bacon, fried egg, and a glorious amount of delicious cheese. It was pretty dense so we were glad we split it. We were not so glad with our water - it was mineral water (I don't care for the carbonated water they typically have here). Guys. This mineral water had the nastiest after taste ever. Seriously gross. AND. It was a whopping 7 Franks (Swiss currency- right now 1 Frank is ~ 1 Euro)! Woof. Not our best decision. We then headed to a grocery store to pick up some chocolate and a few other things and headed back to the apartment where we spent the rest of the evening talking, planning, and having a great time.

The next morning we slept in a little and headed to a free walking tour. This was one of the best things we could have done and I highly recommend starting with one of these. We learned so much about the places we had seen and explored on our own the day previous. It was cool to hear the stories (both fictional and non-fictional) about the city.

Our tour guide was adorable (1/2 Swiss, 1/2 American). We ended our tour at Grossmunster Church. What a gorgeous building. It had the most incredible door! It was wood and had square panel carving of biblical stories (mostly ones involving Jesus Christ). I could have looked at that door for hours! The inside was quite remarkable as well. Beautiful stain glass, paintings, carvings, and an organ.

(Grossmunster)

(Incredible door)

(One of my favorite biblical stories- Christ saving a sinking Peter who had demonstrated his faith by accepting Christ's invitation to walk on water as he had. He was successful until he was frightened by the waves and vast ocean and began to sink, and called for his Master to save him, which he is doing in this scene. LOVE).

(Dawn, Katherine, and Lauren outside the church)

After our tour was over and we had enjoyed viewing the inside and the door, we asked our tour guide for some recommendations for food. The first place was Hotel Adler for lunch. GUYS. This place was AMAZING. So delicious. I had a cheese and potato soup (anyone who knows me will not be surprised by that order in the slightest), while Lauren, Katherine, and Dawn partook of the goodness that is Rosti. Caitlin, however, completely won. She essentially got a cook your own cheese and meat buffet where you literally cook the meat on a fryer and melt the cheese (raclette) on a skillet and slide the cheese over an array of meat, potatoes, vegetables, and a pear (you read that correctly). Everything was delicious! Well done, tour guide. We then went to the most adorable/extravagant cafe, where the tour guide had claimed they had the world's best hot chocolate. It did not disappoint. I was expecting a very sweet, rich cup of goodness, but it wasn't! It was rich, but it wasn't very sweet. It was essentially Swiss dark chocolate in a cup with cream. A-MA-ZING. Holy smokes. If I had only one recommendation for a restaurant in Zurich, it would be this lovely: Conditorei Th,Schober. To die for delicious. I also had quite the immaculate fruit tart. A bazillion stars for this place.

(Hotel Adler)

(Switzerland has cow things everywhere - and the cheese to encourage it!)

(The best things ever)

(They were very festive in their decorations!)

With full and extremely satisfied stomachs, we decided to end our trip with a walk down the river towards Lake Zurich. We stopped for a few pictures outside the Zurich Opera House (beautiful building!). It was the perfect way to end- beautiful scenery, perfect weather, and wonderful sights of the Alps. It could not have been a better trip! We went back to the apartment, hopped on the tram, got on our train, and headed back to Reutlingen, where the stars aligned and we walked right onto a bus that took us to the dorms. It was an amazing, slightly exhausting weekend, and we were a little tired for our first day of classes, but it was oh so worth it.