As I mentioned, Zurich is the first of several destinations on this trip to which I have planned to return once more, having already visited once. As I have also mentioned before, I enjoy visiting such cities insofar as I feel no pressure to eagerly visit the famous tourist sites, since typically, I have already done so.
Nevertheless, I followed my brother's suggestion and visited the Thomas Struth exhibition in the Kunzhaus Museum. Struth is a German photographer, most of his photographs characterized by a lack of human presence (his series of family portraits being a major exception, and probably my favorite of the collection). The photographs included small, barren towns in Peru, jungles in Asia and Australia, holy places of worship (including Yosemite, Times Square, Tienamen Square, etc.) and images of people gazing at famous works of art. Almost all were very large color prints, which I enjoyed. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the 18 dollar approximately ticket price! I took a short stroll into the main gallery area (which I had visited much earlier in the trip) and felt a strange sensation of time that I don't think I know how to explain. That is, I saw some of the works that I had stopped to examine more closely last time, and felt, obviously a sense of familiarity with them, as, unlike most things I see on this trip, I'd seen them before. But also, obviously, this feeling was combined with some distance, because it had been over two months. I think what I'm trying to explain is that my mind kept going back and forth between the feeling of "I know this place" and "it was a long time ago that I was here" an "what am I doing back here?"
I walked down to Bahnhofstrasse, the main shopping street in Zurich and stopped in the Apple store to 1) check my email and respond to some more length, involved emails for which my blackberry was inadequate, and 2) purchase new earbuds for my iPod, since one of my earbuds had been destroyed by yours truly when I stepped on it on a train. Although way too expensive (39 bucks almost!), the new earbuds dramatically improved the quality of my music listening experience.
Grabbed a long late lunch, early dinner at Zeughauskeller, the same sausage restaurant I visited last time I was in Zurich, and read Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for a few hours. Sensing that I would be finished soon, I walked into an excellent English language bookstore (full of all the latest novels!) and picked up The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, the newest by David Mitchell, author of one of my favorite books, Cloud Atlas, and really amazing followup Blackswangreen.
I accepted N's (my brother's Dutch friend) invitation to join her and her two new roommates (two fantastic Austrians who told me a hilarious story about visiting Catalina Island near Los Angeles and being told that they were not permitted to hike somewhere because it might rain, and their emphatic response "We are AUSTRIANS! We hike in the Alps! Let us hike!") for dinner. My appetite was near zero, but I was able to stomach a small amount of couscous and white wine, and we all had a lovely chit chat.
And I was home before missing the last tram back to my brother's place.
Jens Lekman -- Black Cab
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