Twenty-Five Francs or Less

After four months of not working, along with some serious travelling, my savings account had officially dwindled down to nothing. So in an attempt to prevent the onset of serious debt, come December, I was on a mission to be as thrifty as possible during my three weeks in Zurich. In hindsight, Zurich is not the best place to stop spending money…but ever resourceful, I did manage to find a few activities outside of dinners, lunches and drinks for 25 francs or less.

My first weekend in town proved to be a discouraging start… Martin and I went to the Zurich Zoo for an afternoon of wildlife only to find out admittance (even with the possible onset of rain) was CHF22 per person - which was still below my limit, but left no room for snacks or souvenirs. Thankfully the rain held off and the zoo surpassed my childhood memories of sad animals behind cages…It did help that I spent a fair amount of time trying to avoid the scariest animals in the place …not the lions or tigers, but rather the local “Swiss Mother” with zoo-issued stroller, who would rather run you over or off into the cages than make their child wait a few moments to spot an animal… I may or may not have had a slight anxiety attack in the reptile house due to too many strollers, kids and snakes in such a confined space.

Martin and I also enjoyed the Zurich Oktoberfest my first weekend in town, where CHF25 will get you a large beer, a pretzel and polka music…at least I think it will get you a pretzel, Martin and I made the mistake of foregoing dinner and drinking instead. He had somehow convinced me that 3 one-liter beers equal one schnitzel…we later found out that this is not the case. Yes, cranky, hungry, jet-lag Lisa made a return appearance, resulting in an earlier bed-time than the Friday night deserved

The CHF25 got us a little further at the Zurich Wine Boats, where 20 francs got Martin and me into the festive boats to taste wines from all over Europe and parts of the world. We spent the evening hanging out with friends and drinking great wines from both large and small wineries. And with our extra money I was able to buy a cheese pie afterwards for a late night snack.

Throughout the weeks, while Martin was at work, I took my CHF25 to the Kunsthaus (Art Museum), Swiss National Museum (where admittance is only CHF10… and where I should have spent the extra CHF5 for the English museum guide, as most of the displays were only in German), and the St. Gallen Library, a world UNESCO heritage site recognized as having the richest medieval libraries in the world… or at least that is what Wikipedia told me, after travelling to St. Gallen I was informed that the library was closed to the public from November 9 through the 29th. I was also looking forward to spending my money on the Lindt chocolate factory tour, only to find out that the tours, while when they occurred were free, are no longer offered. The money was subsequently spent at the Lindt factory discount store, a close second to Willy Wonkas, unfortunately minus the oompa loompas.

To wrap up the weeks of savings, Martin and I celebrated with the outdoor Christmas Market (free) and glasses of gluhwein (mulled wine for CHF5 apiece)…unfortunately after four glasses of wine, our budget was all but spent and dinner out that night was a “splurge”. I guess you can’t win them all. However, for a city as expensive as Zurich, CHF25 surprisingly goes a long way.