Two Switzerlands

Two Switzerlands
By day: medieval towns, cowbells, and splendid mountain views. By night: the edgy scene of Zurich's Industriequartier. Would these two countries recognize each other?

By Barry Yeoman

Originally published in US Airways Magazine, June 2008
Click here for photos

IT'S A FULL HOUSE TONIGHT at Rosso, a popular restaurant carved out from a former natural-gas laboratory in the Industriequartier of Zurich, Switzerland. Having arrived without a reservation, I'm sitting at the stainless-steel bar, drinking a cold Ziegel Hof beer and waiting for dinner to arrive. Like nearly everyone who dines at Rosso, I've ordered the pizza. Mine is the Puttanesca, its crust parchment-thin, simultaneously piquant and briny with anchovies, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Peering through the windows at the nearby rail yards, I chuckle to myself about what an incongruous day this has been. This morning, I took the train to Schaffhausen, a 1,000-year-old town just a 40-minute ride away. As I explored the lively historic district, where children drank from 16th-century fountains, I stopped to admire buildings covered with elaborate frescoes. At the Haus zum Ritter, I marveled at a facade first painted in 1570 by Schaffhausen native Tobias Stimmer and saturated with hues of crimson, green, and copper. Repainted in the 20th century to preserve the original, the famous exterior is rich in classical and religious images, from Circe the sorceress and her lover Odysseus to the Christ-like pelican piercing her own breast to feed her chicks.

The afternoon was sunny, so I rented a bike. Switzerland has an intricate system of hiking and cycling trails, and I took one to Rhine Falls, a trio of cascades (Europe's largest) that converge around two spires of rock, spraying mist in every direction. Standing on a viewing platform, I was awed by the power of the water rushing so close to me.

From there I doubled back, loosely following the Rhine through sunflower fields, pear groves, and even a little finger of Germany. A man passed me on his bicycle; poking its head through the saddlebag was the rider's dog, wearing sunglasses and evidently enjoying the view. Ninety minutes later I was in Stein am Rhein, a remarkably preserved medieval village of half-timbered houses. At its heart is Rathausplatz, where nearly every building is covered in vivid Renaissance frescoes. I stared at the colorful structures: It was like the entire plaza had undergone a full-body tattoo.

Now, at Rosso, I'm experiencing a different kind of renaissance. This one is in Zurich; with the help of artists, restaurateurs, and visionary architects, an abandoned manufacturing district is being reborn. I take a bite of pizza and ponder the contrast: Would one Switzerland even recognize the other?

AFFLUENT ZURICH, LONG ASSOCIATED with clean streets and upmarket shopping, has recently acquired a cultural edge. Much of the excitement centers on Züri-West, a group of neighborhoods on the western side of the Sihl River.

One of them, the immigrant enclave Aussersihl, has been discovered by entrepreneurs who have moved in and opened galleries, bars, and the Hotel Greulich with its Zen vibe and slow-food Catalan restaurant—developments that are helping the area shed its reputation as the city's red-light district. For Bäckeranlage, Aussersihl's central park, architectural firm EM2N designed an amoeba-shaped community center that architecture critic Axel Simon called "the antithesis of the Swiss box." It was key to the park's renewal: Now the once-derelict Bäckeranlage overflows with families who gather for picnics under mature trees and watch their children splash in a wading pool. Throughout the day, locals gather at the park's inexpensive restaurant and dine at long outdoor tables until midnight.

The more dramatic revitalization, though, lies across the railroad tracks in Züri-West's Industriequartier. As manufacturing has left the city, the hulking spaces left behind have been recolonized—first by artists and club owners, then by others who recognized a hot neighborhood in the making. "It's the most fantastic transformation of the city since the turn of the last century," says Daniel Niggli, a partner at EM2N, which is now designing a marketplace that will fill the arches of Züri-West's massive stone viaducts.

The streets buzz in the Industriequartier, especially on weekends. Not only do the nightlife, food, and art excel, but the cavernous spaces they inhabit create a sense of daring in a city famous for quaint buildings on cobblestone streets. At the Löwenbräu-Areal, a former brewery on Limmatstrasse, artists exhibit mixed-media installations, some based on biting social commentary, at two museums and several smaller galleries. Inside the Schiffbau, once a shipbuilding plant, a steel-and-glass cube houses LaSalle, an elegant restaurant with creative European cuisine. A former metal foundry has been reinvented as Puls 5, a complex that includes the Pan-Asian eatery Angkor. When night falls in Turbinenplatz, the plaza outside Puls 5, young men play bocce under birch trees bathed in yellow and blue light.

For me, the energy of Züri-West is enough of a draw to this city. But there's another reason I find myself drawn to Zurich : It makes a great base camp for visiting much of the rest of Switzerland, particularly its north and center. My plan is to explore some of the more traditional places, but to return each night for my urban fix.

THE SWISS RAIL SYSTEM, TO NO ONE'S SURPRISE, is the very definition of efficiency. Trains run everywhere. They run often. They run on time. "I'm in love," Eric Weiner write his his recent book The Geography of Bliss. "The object of my amour is not a woman or even a person. It is the Swiss rail network."

One morning I take the train to Alpnachstad, where I board the steepest cogwheel railway in the world. (It runs May through November.) Rising at a 48-degree gradient, the rail climbs Mount Pilatus, a once-sacred peak said to be haunted by the ghost of Pontius Pilate. There is a press of people around the two hotels near the 7,000-foot summit, but the crowds thin out considerably when I hit the Tomlishorn trail, which follows the curve of a cliff top lined with wildflowers. Below, the land swoops and plunges down to the lakes of central Switzerland. In the distance, I can see the Alps, snowcapped even in the summer. After hiking a few minutes, the only sounds I hear are the breeze and the clanging of cowbells.

Two days later, I travel an hour to Solothurn and arrive in time to take in the Saturday market. A colossal sand-colored cathedral, framed by the Jura Mountains in the distance, rises above the Baroque town, with its brick streets and 16th-century clock tower. Flower vendors are doing a brisk business in snapdragons and lilies; a merchant hands out samples of marinated olives; waiters run helter-skelter at the cafes lining Marktplatz. A few blocks over, alongside the Aare River, bar owners anticipating a warm weekend afternoon are busy setting up outdoor tables. It boggles my mind that a place this charming could be so completely off the tourist map. But it is.

The quirkiest but most satisfying activity of the day is yet to come: a five-mile bike ride to Altreu, a farm town that has become a sanctuary for white storks. Long regarded as fertility omens (hence the legend they bring babies), the storks began dying out more than a half-century ago as European farmers drained the birds' wetland habitat. In 1950, white storks were declared extinct as a breeding species in Switzerland —but then a young teacher named Max Bloesch imported more than two dozen from France and Algeria. Despite expert predictions that Bloesch's experiment would fail, the storks started breeding in Altreu in 1960. In a 2004 study, nearly 200 breeding pairs were seen throughout Switzerland, and the threat of extinction seems to have passed, at least for the time being.

I stop at Altreu's modest visitors' center, where Doris Kamber tells me that stork-watching requires patience. "You have to take time to see them," she says. "At this time of the day, they're out feeding." She turns for a moment, then points to a nearby rooftop: "There's one!" Following her index finger, I spot an adult who has returned to its nest, probably to feed a chick.

Kamber's cautionary words notwithstanding, it doesn't take long to find more. The nests themselves are hard to miss: They can reach up to six feet in diameter and ten feet in height. Atop Altreu's restaurant, zum grüene Aff, five of the long-legged animals clatter their bills and preen. Another sits on a low roof next door. Then, just outside of town, I see dozens feeding in a freshly plowed field. It's stirring to see such regal animals up close and uncaged, and to realize they have made the long journey back from the edge of extinction.

I hate to pull away. But the afternoon is growing late, and I know the tables at Solothurn's riverside bars will soon fill up. I'd like to grab a seat near the live music, have a cold drink, and admire the Aare once more before I leave.

And after that? Well, I think I hear Züri-West calling me home for dinner.

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SIDEBAR: GETTING AROUND

Trains from the airport run frequently and take less than 15 minutes. Customizable timetables for Switzerland 's rail system are available in English at rail.ch. For Zurich transit schedules, go to zvv.ch. Bicycles can be rented at many railroad stations, but some only offer rentals between May and October. Outside Zurich 's main station, across from Platform 18, they're free year round, so bring your passport. Scooters and skateboards are also available.

Where to sleep

Architect Tilla Theus crafted the Widder Hotel from nine historic houses, one dating back to the 12th century. Medieval building materials and Renaissance frescoes commingle with Bauhaus and Biedermeier furniture.

The Zen-inspired, all-white rooms at Hotel Greulich will appeal to lovers of modern design. The Aussersihl location is several minutes from downtown by train.

At Dakini's Bed & Breakfast, owner/artist Susanne Seiler has enlivened six guest rooms with her own collage-covered furniture. Shared baths mean bargain prices.

At Kafischnaps, another European-style pension, each room was created by a different young Zurich designer. The cafe is a favorite gathering spot in the Wipkingen quarter.

Where to eat

The modern European cuisine at LaSalle bursts with bright flavors like fennel, banana, citrus, and olive. Its setting (a former shipbuilding factory) is half the experience.
Schiffbaustrasse 4; 011-41-44-258-70-71

The pizza at Rosso is crispy and flavorful, the staff upbeat and helpful. No surprise this Italian restaurant is one of Züri-West's most lively spots.
Geroldstrasse 31; 011-41-43-818-22-54

Angkor serves rich Pan-Asian fare. Don't shy away from the vegetarian dishes: You've never tasted tofu like this before.
Giessereistrasse 18; 011-41-43-205-28-88

Restaurant Bäckeranlage sits inside the leafy park by the same name. Locals gather al fresco for inexpensive salads and pastas.
Hohlstrasse 67; 011-41-43-243-87-43

Converted from a military riding school, Reithalle feels like a convivial beer garden. It serves reasonably priced meat and vegetarian dishes late into the evening.
Gessnerallee 8; 011-41-44-212-07-66

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