16 September 2026

It was goodbye to Sils this morning. Never quite knowing if there will be a next time, I don't take it for granted and appreciate every moment and sight.

We had one last walk through the quiet village to some favourite shops.

As we drove out of Sils, passing by the Silvaplana, there was a last opportunity to take photos of this beautiful lake where we've walked, before heading towards Zurich -

Driving northwest through Graubünden, I realised I'd forgotten how stunning the Julier Pass is.

No hectic curves or dramatic hairpin twists, just smooth curves -

- and this fabulous landscape, rocky and tundra-like as it's mostly well above the tree line -

Cows too, of course, as it's still green in their Alpine terrain and temperatures still mild. What a paradise this place must be for a cow!

We made it to Zurich by early afternoon, where our weather luck broke for the first time on our trip, and having dumped our luggage we began our walking exploration in steady rain.

Luckily we found ourselves right outside the Baur au Lac at a moment of heavy downpour and sought refuge for a (hugely expensive) kaffee und kuchen and luxury loo break.

As the rain eased we were soon walking the Quaibrücke over the lake, with views to the Opera house in one direction -

and the Fraumünster and St Peter's in the other -

A cheerful konditorei was wet and abandoned outside -

A second-hand bookshop had its doors opened invitingly -

First stop was the Kunsthaus on the hill on the opposite side of the lake - David Chipperfield's beautiful construction of volume, space and light -

I love the huge window to the garden, showing the giant monster head for children to climb -

This exhibition, exploring the idea of icons in art, was thoughtfully curated and interesting -

We walked back past the Grossmünster (invisible, completely covered by scaffolding for restoration), the Fraümunster and the Bahnhofstrasse (below) -

- while trying to figure out my feelings about Zurich.

I agree somewhat with Alain de Botton (who was born here) when he says it's 'gloriously boring' and 'one of the great bourgeois cities of the world'.

Because he's even-handed in his assessment: it's 'boring' and 'bourgeois' for sure because of the obsession with money, tradition, cleanliness, safety, responsibility, etc. But also 'glorious' and 'great' because to live an ordinary life in Zurich (or Switzerland) means housing, transportation, education, healthcare, safety, public spaces and facilities are taken care of at a level that similarly 'ordinary' people in London or New York, say, could not dream of.

I know there are more complexities to the comparison, but somehow the two photos below seem to illustrate these points -