travelswithalice

August 31, 2017

From Zürich to Konstanz

THREE ZÜRICH DINNERS

1. In a medieval armory- Zeughauskeller

Touristy but a necessary stop for Stuart whose avowed mission is to verify the authenticity of Palms Country Club's version of Zürich geschnetzeltes. This was the first of several samplings in the city. My roast pork shank was traditional hearty fare, lots of it, and quite delicious.

2. With Marc Chagall & friends- Kronenhalle

Traditional Swiss, punctilious service, olde worlde charm. We had liver dumplings and more geschnetzeltes.

Let's face it, we were there for the art. Our hotel concierge instructed us to ask for the Chagall Room but the whole restaurant is chock full of art from the owner's collection: Picasso, Klee, Kandinsky, Rauschenberg, Giacometti, Miró, Chagall, to name a few droppable names.

A lady we met sometime later told us that the current collection is, sadly, much reduced from ten, twenty years ago.

Upstairs, a more intimate space. There's a bar, a clubby smoking room, more art pieces, lamps by the Giacometti brothers, carpet and wallpaper by Yves Saint Laurent.

3. At a Farmhouse- Adlisberg Farm

A small chicken cooked in hay...

...a field of frisky horses...

...a water-color sunset...

...and a shy crescent moon.

_____

TO LAKE CONSTANCE BY TRAIN.

Having packed everything into two small wheelies, we took the Dolderbahn from the hotel, then hopped onto Tram #3 for the train station. We had booked two nights at a hotel on Lake Constance, and have no further plans for the next two weeks.

Street art outside Konstanz main station.

A Dominican monastery in a former life, the Steigenberger Inselhotel sits magisterially on a private island at the edge of Lake Constance.

Befitting its monastic heritage, our room has beautifully crafted furniture and built in cabinets of wood and leather but no art on the walls, save an exhortation: