Zürich, Day 6

This was our last full day in Zürich, so some time had to be set aside for some serious shopping. We began, though, with a trip up the funicular at the end of our street up to the University quarter. Bahnhostrasse is the main shopping street, and we spent a fair while working our way along it and popping in to various shops and stores. After a few hours of that it was time to find somewhere quiet to stop and relax and have a bite to eat. We couldn't have done any better than the place we stumbled on -- the Kindli, on Pfalzgasse in the old town. We had a wonderful meal at a sunny table which was ideal for people watching. I possibly over-gushed by telling the waiter that we'd just had 'the best food we'd tasted in Zürich', but it really was quite wonderful.

There was still time for some more shopping after that, and then it was time for me to get back to the hotel to dump off bags and change for the evening concert in the Zürich Tonhalle. This year we celebrate the centenary of the birth of Olivier Messiaen, so his compositions crop up quite often in orchestral concert programmes around the world. I'd already been to a performance of his Turangalîla Symphony in our own National Concert Hall, but it was great to have an opportunity to hear it again as part of this trip. The performance in the Zürich Tonhalle was conducted by Eliahu Inbal and was performed by the Tonhalle Orchestra. It was magnificent. All in all, a great conductor, a wonderful orchestra, and a tremendous performance. The musical highlight of the trip as far as I was concerned.

Only Dermot and I went (at this stage Carl and he and I were the only ones remaining in Zürich). We met up with Carl at 9.00 pm and went for yet another wonderful meal, this time in Restaurant Oepfelchammer, a spot with a very long history. It proved an ideal spot for our final meal. Martin joined us when his classes finished, and we made our farewells afterwards before we three went on for our final few drinks, this time getting back to the hotel at a more reasonable hour.