We arrived at the Zurich Marriott at 12:30AM. Being a Platinum Member, Geoff requested an upgrade. They gave us the largest room they had, a room with two "doubles". They rolled in a cot too. It was the end of Ramadan in Muslim countries, and all Muslims on the European continent seemed to swarm to Zurich and take all of the large rooms!
The two "doubles" were really two singles, and there wasn't much floor space. This ended up being our least comfortable accommodation, and we were staying there the most nights. At 12:30AM, and exhausted, it was a little difficult for us to deal with this setback, but we figured it out.
We pushed the two "doubles" together and three of us slept there, at least the first night. Due to a lack of sleep that first night, I slept on the floor a later night. Ceci had three chairs pushed together with pillows on top to make a little bed, and Geoff got the cot.
Zurich was our base for seeing the sights of early Mennonite reformers, some of which were Geoff's maternal grandfather's ancestors.
We walked along the Limmat River and came to a location where Felix Mantz was drowned for his role in the Reformation. The river was not deep. Apparently, many came to watch the drowning. It was hoped to scare believers from continuing their new-found beliefs, but it didn't. It took place right around this building somewhere:
We went to the Romanesque Grossmünster where the Reformation in Zurich began. It has doors that tell the history of the church:
It was beautiful. Maybe Geoff's ancestors came to meetings here. We tried to find the Felix Mantz home, where the first baptisms took place, but only came to the general vicinity.
As we got to where the Limmat River meets Lake Zurich there was a huge flea market. We walked through the stalls and found a few treasures, like these WWII, German, fighter pilot goggles:
They were 25 euro and Ceci only had 20. As she haggled with the guy, a man nearby handed her 5 euro and said something to the effect of, "Live your dreams."
Adele ended up with the cute, wooden elephant on the table.
We ate at an outdoor, cafeteria-type place. It felt so good to slow down.
There was live music and a dance floor where some older couples were enjoying their dancing skills together. Geoff and Ceci went out and did some less-skilled moves, but who can resist the sight of a dad and daughter dancing?!
We made our way up the other side of the river.
And came across some cute little streets. (Notice Tennie's flea market sunglasses!)
Due to our late night and poor sleep, we were exhausted. Adele wanted to do a little shopping, so we made our way back to the hotel via the shopping street while Geoff, Tennie and Ceci went straight back to the hotel. Adele and I discovered we were too tired to shop so we weren't far behind the others. As we were crossing the last bridge back to the hotel we noticed people jumping into the river. Wait, it was Geoff and Tennie!
Ceci jumped in too! They convinced us to join them. They felt so refreshed! (It was a hot and humid day.)
After jumping in, many people floated down the river to the next bridge. These four went a ways down before finding a place to climb out.
This was a GREAT memory.
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