Bargain Bonanza

To counterpoint the prior blog entry, lest you consider me shallow or cheap or pessimistic or perhaps simply a whiner for my newfound Zürich price sensitivity, allow me to even the score. If you're a city person--and Steph and I have indeed fashioned ourselves the past fifteen years in lifestyle and travel as city people--you perceive ample elements in every cosmopolitan city to justify its prices. After all, high prices are partially driven by demand, therefore these expensive city items must be in high demand otherwise so many people wouldn't live there and buy them.

So here's a sampling of the equation's flipside, that is, a selection of wonderfully high-value items we've already discovered merely 15 weeks abroad. We characterize these as discoveries, as in, "You'll never guess what I discovered today!" Every discovery is a major victory. In fact, due to our more liberated daytime schedule, Hobbes and I often specifically set forth discovery-hunting. Thus we constantly seek and evaluate new and different Plätze, i.e., neighborhood offerings.

As usual, I categorize "high-value" as tremendous benefit for the price, not simply inexpensive. So not even considering the gorgeous views and nearby awesome activities such as hiking and skiing, here are presented 8 introductory and purely commercial fantastic reasons to visit us in Zürich. Drumroll, please:

....CHF
1. 89.00 - Make the mice insanely jealous by riding Zürich's Fondue Tram, a two-hour evening lakeside, downtown and hillside neighborhood tour aboard a street tram while devouring your choice of authentic, famous, melted spiked Swiss mountain cheeses (one-of-a kind tour and regrettably seasonal, only Dec-Feb)

2. 25.00 - Sure, the average 25 CHF Schnitzel (meat cutlet, usually pork) abounds on every street corner, but expend the extra effort to patronize Kloten's old-school Frohsinn Restaurant for 88 Schnitzel varieties and all you can eat fresh fries. I enjoy the Holsteinschnitzel with fried egg and sardines. Fresh fries means the server brings brand new crispy hot fries to the table every few minutes until you bloatedly burp, "Nicht mehr, danke." And 100+ years of accumulated tarry cigarette odor in the walls and furniture comes free of charge.

3. 20.00 - Scarf the most fabulously authentic Thai lunch this side of Phukett at the unassuming Mishio restaurant attached to train station Bahnhof Stadelhofen. Yellow, green and red curries with fresh Thai eggplant and kaffir lime, noodle dishes, perfectly sweetened homemade lemongrass iced tea and a thick roasted hot red chili tabletop condiment. Unemployed people shouldn't eat so good!

4. 16.00 - Who cares about nosebleed seats when midweek orchestra tickets come so cheaply? We stood from our seats (not on the seats), necks craning to watch and listen to the Turkish piano equivalent of Eddie Van Halen rip up some Mozart last Wednesday evening in the lovely old Zürich concert Tonhalle.

5. 6.50 - Perhaps the best deal in town, the famed year-round outdoor grill at Vorderer Sternen at Bellevueplatz specializes in phenomenal grilled veal Bratwurst served with a browned, crusty roll and sear-your-sinuses mustard. Cold beer is mandatory, even if the air only reaches 30F degrees under the heatlamps.

6. 3.30 - Perhaps the next best deal in town, the savory ham and cheese Quiche from Steiner Bakery is outrageously delicious. It's like deep dish pizza without the distracting bread dough. Stop at their airport location on your arrival and departure. And every day for lunch. And breakfast.

7. 2.00 - The two-Franc coin feels like a quarter and there's no better use than flipping one to a street vendor in exchange for a fresh, warm salted pretzel at a well-placed Brezelkönig ("Prezel King") location or with a competitor (we affectionately call them Brezelkönigin, or "Prezel Queen"). A few additional Francs affords fresh cheese or chocolate on top or inside. I no longer fear leaving the apartment slightly hungry.

8. 0.85 - You're never more than a block and a Franc away from the near-omnipresent gipfel, a blessing indeed. Whether you like your croissants Swiss-style or Paris-style or rustic or wheaty or chocolate-filled or gigantic & crispy toasty brown or all of the above, one of these suckers always turns a bad day into a buttery better day.

So there you have it. And we're still just getting warmed up, as is the weather (sooner or later) when we anticipate dozens more bargains to bloom, mainly in the guise of beer gardens all over the city. There's no substitute for experiencing it yourself, so start cashing in those frequent flier miles and we'll leave the light on for you.