Elle Takes Europe 2026 - Day 10: Its Raining Fondue
It continues to be unseasonably warm in Zurich. We changed our plans for the day, opting to go to the Swiss National Museum instead of the outdoor zoo. We woke up around 8 AM and were down in the lobby by 9 AM, having breakfast. Jenn and I both had eggs and a few sides while Elle had pancakes. Both Jenn and Elle love this special juice infusion they make each morning, and it’s a great way to keep Elle hydrated. From there, we skipped breakfast and decided to brave the heat by walking to the museum rather than taking a taxi.
It was only a 15-20 minute walk, and we were able to get a lot of relief in the shade. It’s amazing how quiet Zurich is on a Sunday. We were told to expect most stores to be closed today, but we never expected it to be this quiet. It made the walk to the museum all the more pleasant. Once we made it through the train station and to the museum, we bought our tickets, dropped off the stroller, and started exploring.
I’m happy to report that the Swiss National Museum turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. They have several wings of the museum, from the banking sector to Swiss craftsmanship to the country's history. There were also some temporary exhibits, like one on the Ukraine war, that was really fascinating. Elle fell in love with some of the dresses and suits from the 17th and 18th centuries, and explored the animal exhibits. More than anything on this trip, we’re finding that she likes the ability to wander and lead, and we’ve been trying to give her more opportunities to do it. The museum was a pretty good size, and we spent over an hour there before grabbing a sandwich in the cafe (that Elle didn’t like) and a hamburger from the train station, then heading back to our hotel. We tried to get a taxi to our hotel, but no one had a car seat, so we ended up walking back.
During Elle’s nap, I worked on catching up on these posts while Elle rested. We left shortly after 3 PM when Elle woke up and went out walking. First, we made our way to the iconic Augustinergasse, a beautiful medieval street that is one of the city's most famous. From there, we made our way up to the park on top of Lindenhof hill. It had stunning views of Zurich and a large, open area for Elle to run and play. We quickly gravitated to the swing set where we spent at least 15-minutes pushing Elle on the swings. I haven’t seen Elle that excited to be on the swings in a while. Her smile and giggle were the best.
From there, we made our way back down the hill and across the river to dinner at Swiss Chuchi. We chose to get a table outside because they said it would be cooler than sitting inside. It turned out to be a good choice, as it allowed Elle to people-watch and us to enjoy a fabulous cheese fondue. We only got bread with the fondue, but it was exactly what we needed and what we'd been craving. Elle had sausage and fries for her meal, and she did a great job of eating one of the two sausages and some of our fondue. Jenn also had a sausage in an onion sauce, and I had the shrimp skewers (originally they gave me chicken by accident). Jenn’s was by far better, but the highlight of the meal had to be the fondue and Swiss white wine.
Towards the end of dinner, the skies started to get darker, and we had a few raindrops land on our table. The restaurant staff pulled down some awnings to make sure we were covered, but the walk home was looking like we might get very wet. That didn’t stop us from getting a quick, small cup of ice cream at a delicious stand near our restaurant. Of course, as Jenn was paying for it started to pour, so we quickly ate our ice cream, got brain freezes, and ran for the hotel. Ironically, it was so hot out that we were mostly dry by the time we reached the hotel, and the rain began to slow. It ended up being such a fan day capped by a beautiful summer storm to cool us off and bring us back to the hotel to call it a night.
