Today was our 5th and final day in Zurich. We figured that at some point we should really explore the city where we were staying (at least once when we weren't jet-lagged).

The important things for the day were: (1) shopping on Bahnhofstrasse, (2) find a blue cow in a balcony of Old Town, (3) visit Fraumunster, and (4) get chocolates from Sprungli.

We started off the day with a starbucks (me) and a choclate filled pastry (Teree & Robyn) and headed down Bahnhofstrasse, the popular shopping street in Zurich. The North part of the street includes many trendy stores, like Mango, Swatch, Zara, Manor (a Swiss department store), etc. The further South you go, the more expensive the stores (Jimmy Choo, Cartier, Omega...). Needless to say we didn't do much shopping after the first couple of blocks. However, our shopping was successful as we walked away with a couple Swiss watches and some apparel from Mango. Next we went in search of the blue cow Teree had heard about before our trip. It was situated in Old Town on a balcony above a Swiss fondue restaurant, Restaurant Swiss Chuchi. It was a little bigger than Robyn and I had anticipated, as we'd been looking for a small cut out in an apartment window (it was a life-sized cow!!) We shared a cheese fondue for lunch for the second time in 4 days. It was delicious.

After lunch we walked a little further through Old Town to the Fraumuster, a Protestant Church famous for its distinct and attractive stained glass, and Grossmunster, the larger Protestant Church across the river. The final "must-do" for the day included picking up souvenir chocolates from Sprungli Cafe, a famous Swiss chocolate company, which does deliver chocolates worldwide in case my gifts don't actually make it home.

Having checked everything off of our "must-do" list we headed back to the train station and headed to Uetliberg, a small town located in the mountains above Zurich. Once up there we got a bit confused as to where we were supposed to go, but eventually found the path to the lookout and the tower. We climbed the 180 steps of the tower at the lookout point and were greated with a breathtaking (and windy) view of the city.

Tired from our full day out we jumped back on the train and headed back to the city to meet Jay and Celia for an authentic Swiss dinner, Gratin. From there we headed to Talacker, a local watering hole, for a few drinks. We met a couple of Swiss guys who asked us where we were from and when we said Canada one of the guys said "I've been there, I saw the large lumberjack and went up the mountain". Jay & Celia, who are from Toronto, had no clue what he meant (he meant Whistler). He then commented that we were all Asian "except for you" as he pointed at Robyn, and asked if we were there for an Asian convention.

We're a little sad as we realize we've just spent out last night in Switzerland, but remembered that tomorrow we head to Venice bright and early. Italy, here we come!!!