Zurich is a weird city to describe because on paper it sounds boring and in person it really isn’t.
My brother and I spent an afternoon at the FIFA World Cup Museum, which - if you’re into football at all - is worth two hours of your time. They have a section where you can play FIFA against each other on a big screen. We are both adults. We did not care. We stood there with controllers for way too long while people walked past us on their way to look at actual World Cup trophies. No regrets.
That was probably the most unserious thing that happened in Zurich.
The rest of the city carries itself differently. Walk down Bahnhofstrasse and it’s just Graff, Rolex, Patek Philippe, one after another, all understated storefronts with Christmas wreaths on the doors and one item in the window. No price tags. You know the thing. The street is almost empty and somehow that makes it feel more expensive.
Then you turn a corner into the old town and it’s cobblestones and gold starburst decorations hanging between buildings and warm light coming out of every window. It looks like a film set. A very well-funded film set.
The funniest moment was walking past a tram stop at night and seeing wooden construction barriers spray painted with “BITCOIN” in huge letters. In Zurich. The city that basically invented private banking. Someone out there is losing their mind and I respect it.
Everything here costs a lot and is also genuinely good. The coffee is eleven francs. You do the conversion once and then stop because it’s not helping you. Things are expensive, things are good, and after a while those feel like the same thing.
Not a warm city. People are polite but you’re not getting adopted by strangers at a bar. Once you accept that you’re fine. Better than fine, actually. There’s nothing to do but walk around and notice things, which turns out to be enough.
