Welcome to the June 2025 Ultimate Coffee Date! I’m back home now, but of course I’m going tell you about the coffee I enjoyed in Switzerland. No matter where you are this week, I’d love to catch up at the virtual coffee date linkup Deborah and I host the first Friday of every month.
Yes, there was Starbucks, but not every day.
You know how this works—grab the badge, link your post, and comment on the other blogs in the link-up.
You also may be joining the Fit Five Friday Link-Up with Darlene, Michelle, Renée, Jenn, and Zenaida.
Coffee In Switzerland
If we were having coffee, I would tell you I was happy to see the cream by the coffee machine at our hotel in Zurich, because it’s not always easy to find in Europe, where people mostly use milk.
On the other hand, one thing our hotel didn’t have was washcloths. 🧐 If we were having coffee, I would ask Catrina if washcloths are not a thing in Zurich, because neither our 4-star hotel in the city nor our airport hotel had them—but they were plentiful at our hotel in Lausanne.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you the train system in Switzerland is as good as you’ve heard—and not just because there’s a Starbucks in the station. 😉 I downloaded the SBB app, and it was so easy to buy tickets and figure out our routes—even if we had to change trains. The app even tells you the track your train will be on—why can’t Amtrak do that more than a few minutes ahead of time?
I mentioned in my last post that Zurich is in the German-speaking region of Switzerland, while Lausanne is French-speaking. If we were having coffee, I would tell you the digital signs in the train car alerting you to the next stop change from German (nächste Halt) to French (prochain arrêt) somewhere between the two cities—I thought that was pretty cool.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you I was proud I still understand French enough to get the gist of the information on museum placards. In Lausanne, we found a park with an installation that told a fable page-by-page as you followed along the path. Now I know it was Le Parc de La Légende, which tells the Legend of Autumn—why trees lose their leaves in the fall. I got that much from reading the pages in the park, but missed a lot of the nuances.
Of course it’s “untitled”
The canvas, covered with a uniform layer of red acrylic paint, embodies a total lack of action and a rejection of composition and of artistic flair. The painting lays claim to nothing more than its own presence in the exhibition space.
If you say so!
The Chagall windows at the Fraumünster church in Zurich were easier to appreciate, but it helped to know that these three are known as the window of Jacob, the window of Christ, and the window of Zion.
We also visited the crypt, which had remnant of walls from the 9th century and artifacts from the Swiss reformation in the mid-1700s. Fascinating1
If we were having coffee, I would tell you I really laughed out loud when this was the first thing I saw upon entering Zurich airport for our flight home.
I mean, it wasn’t wrong!
Do you like modern art?
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Haha, no, I don’t use washcloths! Now that I think about it, I don’t see them in my Swiss friends’ bathrooms, either. For my face it’s cotton pads and tissues, and in the shower I just use my hands to spread the shower gel – low-tech but effective!
Funnily, I’m in a hotel in South Africa right now and I just checked the bathroom – it doesn’t have face cloths either.
I’ve never noticed this cultural difference before! 😂
I forgot about the Chagall windows in the Fraumünster! Glad you got to see them, Coco!! 🤩
I’m glad I asked!
Good luck with Comrades!!!
Glad you enjoyed your trip to Switzerland and got to treat yourself to your beloved Starbucks. That’s an interesting observation about the washcloths. I don’t use washcloths at home, but use them in hotels to set my toothbrush and other toiletries on.
I’m glad you had a good trip!
It’s funny I don’t use washcloths at home but, as Deb said, always when I’m in a hotel.
I have to say that art installation is exactly why a lot of modern art leaves me shaking my head lol.
Ha! That sign was there just for you! Looks like you enjoyed Switzerland. Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen washcloths either. Just hand towels and larger. We are headed to Switzerland in July. Just Zurich and Basel though, I believe
You’ll have to hit up Catrina for more things to do in Zurich — we didn’t have much free time.
I like that detail about the train sings changing from German to French. What an interesting country, and how cool that you got to visit Zurich AND Lausanne.
To answer your question… I don’t think I know enough about art (or, am artistic enough myself) to understand modern art! I did see those Chagall windows when I was in Zurich- they’re beautiful.
Switzerland is a beautiful country! It is fun to practice your French. Nice you were able to have some fun time along w work. I find European coffee so much better! I would never go to a Starbucks in Europe! I’ve also come to appreciate cream in my coffee
That was the main reason I went to Starbucks! But then I found the cream at the hotel.
What a fun tip! That’s interesting about the face cloths. Like a lot of others, I never use them myself, so I wouldn’t think to look for them in a hotel room.
Trains are just better in Europe. Period! Thanks for sharing your trip with us – love to see a place I’ve never been through your eyes.
We don’t use washcloths. Is that weird?!
Judging from the comments, maybe our washcloth use is the exception? At home I use one of those puffs to apply bodywash in the shower.
I now want to go there. Esp for Starbucks. I prefer cream too. But at home, I no longer use wash clothes… as you said, those puff things.
Glad you enjoyed your trip..
Trains are better everywhere than NYC. LOL
I love following your Starbucks adventures!
I love evocative art… there are some pieces of modern art that I find absolutely enthralling and others where I feel like the artist just slapped some paint on a canvas, and called it something like “Angst. 32.” and people line up to pay millions for it. Which is a statement in itself, but I’m just jealous I didn’t think of it first. I do tend to enjoy local modern artists as I find their work resonates a little more. Elena Ohlander and Dustin Harewood are two Jacksonville artists I really appreciate.
It looks like a great time in Switzerland! And all of that Starbucks coffee, yay! That is interesting about the washcloths. I don’t use them at home, but have seen them at various hotels. That was an art piece? Wow! I guess I could do the same thing and have hang it a museum. 🤣
Ah, Switzerland — I hope I get to go explore someday! Looks like you had a great time! :]
That art piece makes me feel like I can hopefully create pieces of art too, haha.
I lament how behind our public transportation systems are every time I travel abroad…