Today we went to Ütliberg, a hill 814 metres above sea level, which offers sweeping views of the countryside around Zürich, as well as the city itself.
This afternoon, Jean and I walked around Zürich, and had coffee and tea with a Schoggikuchen at the Cafe Odeon. We then slowly meandered along Limmatquai, looking for somewhere to have dinner. We also looked at watch shops. I've been wanting a Swiss watch as a souvenir of Switzerland. I tried on one watch in one shop, but it looked better in the window than on my wrist. We spotted another watch in another shop. This one I liked, so I bought it. I'm happy now. I might have missed out on climbing Mt Pilatus in Lucerne, but at least I've got my watch.
The lady in the watch shop said my German was good, and, of course, I felt very gratified. I like it when locals don't speak English to me or can't speak English. Here in Switzerland, I've been amused by the German the people speak. In Lucerne, they sounded like they were singing when they spoke. Indeed, it was like they were yodelling. They don't quite sound like they're singing here. But regarding pronunciation, instead of the Swiss saying 'musst', I've heard 'muscht'. Instead of 'zweimal', I've heard 'zweumal'. And at the Zürich Casino, instead of 'sechs' or 'sechzehn', I've detected 'sachs' and 'sachzehn'. I also remember from the 80s instead of 'natürlich', the Swiss say 'natürlach'.
Tomorrow, we leave Zürich and head to the area of Lake Constance, where we will go inside a castle that once belonged to my great-great grandparents.
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