Zur-ick!

Let me just come right out and say it -- I didn't care for Zurich. It's not that it was particularly bad or anything, but it wasn't particularly good either. The kicker for me was the expense!
I realize I was complaining about the exchange rate when we were using British pounds and was glad to start using the Euro. We heard that Switzerland didn't use the Euro, but little did I know how fiercely independent they were. The Swiss franc is about even with the US dollar, but damn everything is so expense. Just to give you a taste:

Paperback book - 22.00
McDonald's Happy Meal - 12.00
Plate of Nachos - 20.00
Bottle of Corona - 8.50
Cheapest bottle of wine - 50.00
Lunch on the train - 100.00

That lunch hit particularly hard. A plain chicken breast on top of some noodles with four beers shared among our friends. Ouch!

To make things even more interesting, our hotel was directly above a complex of gay bars. We should have been suspicious when each nightstand had a pair of earplugs free of charge. Nothing is free in Zurich my friends, but our room was pretty loud. AC had trouble sleeping because he kept hearing Madonna songs and got too excited to sleep.

We're now headed into Italy for our final leg of our European tour -- Italy. I've only been to Venice and all I remember is the dirty water and pickpockets. Let's hope for a pleasant surprise!