Zürich’s Fifth Avenue

Today, for little reason, has been the most expensive day of my 3+ weeks on the road, and I wasn’t even buying anything exciting. I did splurge on a restaurant lunch, something I’m trying to do about once per country. My dish-of-choice ended up being a wurstsalat mit rösti: sausage, lettuce and horseradish/pickle-flavored dressing, with a side of hash browns. While my Swiss platter was cheap enough, they were also serving Texas-tourist fare at laughably high prices: chicken nuggets, fries and lettuce for a whopping 16.50 CHF (13 USD)!

To give you even more evidence of how obnoxiously expensive Switzerland is, let’s round up today’s expenses:

• Hostel: 38 CHF
• Lunch: 13.50 CHF + 4.20 CHF (beer; compulsary below the beer-and-wine line)
• Pharmacy: 31.50 CHF (Contact lens solution and Swiss decongestant for my cold)
• Phone Card: 5 CHF
• Dinner: 8.50 CHF (Döner Kebab sandwich)

And it’s only 8:15, so if you have any suggestions on how to continue bleeding Swiss Francs, get your cards and letters in soon.

It’s pouring again, so you can see I am online. I did spend a few hours walking around, mostly taking photos of the lakefront and the Bahnhofstrasse commercial district. Tomorrow I am heading to Lucerne, one of my favorite places from previous adventures. If there is any semblance of a higher power, the sun will come out and I will get to enjoy my three days in one of Europe’s prettiest resort towns.