November 1, 2010

Zurich - How Inspiring!

I'm not sure how many miles we walked today, but I know it was enough to enjoy our dolce without feeling guilty.  Being Sunday, the shops were closed so we looked at churches, museums and window shopped, of course.

We started out the day strolling along Limmatquai.  Towering church spires fill the sky.  I'm standing in front of the Grossmunster (large cathedral) - (Fraumunster's blue steeple in the background.)  The Grossmunster is the principal church of Zurich and the starting point of the Reformation in Switzerland.  The construction of the cathedral began in 1100 and was completed approximately 100 years later.


The bronze doors were created in 1950 by Otto Munch and comprise a theological lecture illustrating particular Bible stories.


Shortly after the Reformation, spires were added to the towers.  Following a fire in 1786, the tower helmets were constructed.  I walked up one of the towers to the point just below the helmet - can you see me there waving?


We whiled away an hour or so in the Kunsthaus-Zurich viewing the Pablo Picasso exhibit.  In 1932, Picasso had his first solo museum exhibit in the Kunsthaus-Zurich.  He selected all of the pieces for the exhibit which represented every phase of his artistic career up to that point and included many of the 225 important paintings created during the first three decades of his working life.


We also walked through the Fraumunster founded in 853 by King Louis the German.  The church with its convent was inhabited by the female members of the aristocracy of southern Germany.  The church houses the largest organ in the canton with 5783 pipes!.  The stained glass windows are beautiful.  The five part series of windows in the choir are the work of  Marc Chagall (1970) as well as the rose window (1978).  (No pictures allowed!)


The promise of shopping in the Bahnhaufstrasse (very chic and urbane but NOT pretentious - ha ha!!) will definitely keep me awake tonight.  I hope my money and feet hold out.  Tanya promised to tote my bag(s) for a fee - a bag from Chanel, perhaps?!

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