Uetliberg, a vegetarian feast and a lake cruise

Today we planned to head up one last Swiss mountain for beautiful views and then spend some time cruising Lake Zurich.

Waiting for the tram

Uetliberg sits above the city of Zurich. We reached the base via train, which took about 20 minutes. Then from the arrival point, we had a 20 minute steep walk to reach the very top. Even at 10am, it had already reached around 30 degrees. This made the walk a little more tiring (and sweaty). For our efforts, we were rewarded with lovely views of the alps, lake and city below us. Shannon chose to climb the tower to get views from an even higher point, while I sat in the shade and enjoyed some people watching.

(I promise my editing will get better in later videos - Shannon)

We sat in the shade for a little while and had a cold drink and giant pretzel, before the walk back down to the train station. Upon returning to the city, we decided it was time for some lunch and already had a spot in mind, that we had read about. Hiltl is a vegetarian restaurant that has been around since the 1800s...yes you read correctly. It was absolutely heaving with people and walking inside was quite overwhelming. Fortunately, a nice waiter came to our rescue explaining how their system works. In the centre of the restaurant was a buffet type set up full of all sorts of vegetarian dishes. You walk around with your plate and make your selections. Then you take your plate to the register and pay according to the weight of your food! Amazing! I loved the beetroot fritters, guacamole, cauliflower salad and lemonade with ginger. A great find and highly recommended to anyone visiting Zurich. Thanks Shannon.

The heat had become intense and so we headed to the lake area to seek some relief. Our Zurich card included a boat trip, so we took advantage of this and boarded a 1 and a 1/2 hour cruise around lake Zurich. It was a great way to cool off a little and enjoy some more sights, with a beer and wine.

 

 A perfect end to our last day in beautiful Switzerland. We enjoyed a great hamburger for dinner and will now pack our bags in readiness for our train journey tomorrow to Milan.

Auf Wiedersehen, Zurich