Day 580 Zurich
Visiting Grosmuenster
By a strange coincidence Cyndy and I are in Zürich and so is Barack Obama, but I don't think we're in the same city because he's hanging with us, traveling all seven continents without a jet. I could be wrong, but so far we haven't crossed paths. Not that I wouldn't mind chewing the fat with the ex-president.
We found ourselves in Zürich, partly because, well ... it's Zürich, and partly because it's on its way to Norway, and partly because we had made friends with Philippe, Andrea and their lovely toddler daughter Sol while traveling on Navimag through Patagonia back in February.
Philippe drove us into the city and we walked its streets, pushing Sol around in her little stroller. It was a sunny Saturday and the city brimmed with shoppers and local tourists. The Limmit River at the mouth of Zürich Lake provided a stunning backdrop. We passed the city's public bathhouse where locals heat up in saunas and then plunge into the cold river, but did not partake.
The city is home to many great churches, but one in particular stands out—Grosmuenster. Once catholic, it is today Lutheran to the teeth. In fact it was at Grosmuenster that the Protestant Reformation accelerated. Martin Luther, a catholic priest, lived in nearby Wittenberg when in 1517 he dramatically parted ways with the pope and Church after hammering his 95 theses to the church door.
Indulgences, basically get out of jail free cards that various popes had used to raise funds for the Vatican, was a central issue, especially for two Swiss priests, Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger (born in Bremgarten).
Grosmuenster is enormous (thus, I suspect, its name), with a great walnut pulpit carved in place of the old Catholic nave and sacristy that must once have graced its vaulted stone walls. As we stood inside, I found not a scrap of evidence of Zurich's patron saints, Felix and Regula, discovered, according to legend, by Charlemagne a thousand years earlier. But I could imagine the resounding sermons of Zwingli and Bullinger echoing through out the church, exhorting parishioners to forgo indulgences and the greedy evils of papists.
Up to Uetliberg
Later we made for the Stockerst Rasse transit stop that carried us to Zurich's highest point, Uetliberg. The views on that spring day gave me a fresh appreciation for the Swiss countryside. Below, trains, cars and people bustled about among the city's 16th century buildings, while on the lake a small flotilla of sail boats skimmed the waters. Meanwhile, Sol amused herself by toddling off to the nearest trash receptacle to toss away anything we could offer -- napkins, paper plates, utensils. Even at such a young age the kid was helping make the planet a better place.
Soon it was time for dinner and we returned to Andrea and Philippe's charming home next to a local church. Andrea was back from her work as a midwife. We sat down for raclette and salad and wine and after an evening of excellent conversation said goodnight to little Sol and returned to our hotel where we would prepare for our next adventure: the Matterhorn.
