The [B][B][C]: "Feeling Zen"

We all travel at different times to find different things - sometimes in search of new experiences, new foods, or new friends. Sometimes, we even travel to reconnect with our inner selves, to feel peaceful and away from it all - to capture our "zen" feeling if you will. Over Thanksgiving weekend, Jen & I escaped to Zurich for a girls' weekend with one goal in mind - holiday cheer. Now, I know what you're thinking - this type of "zen" trip in no way compares to the intensity of the India chapter in Eat, Pray, Love. Nevertheless, we managed to escape from it all...work, chores, cleaning, emails, and to-do-lists, and spent 2 days allowing ourselves to get lost amongst the city streets, roaming from one Christmas Market to another, buying trinkets and warm hats, drinking mulled wine and hot tea, sampling traditional Swiss fare (mostly chocolate, potatoes, and Raclette cheese, and the infamous Luxemburgerli pastries from Sprungli bakery), gazing up at the holiday lights, and admiring the soft falling snow. As a city, Zurich seems to have found its own inner zen - though it remains the largest city in Switzerland, it is extremely peaceful and quiet, with classy residents able to converse in at least three languages, a few prominent buildings jetting into the skyline, and a calm river that leads out to Lake Zurich and a stunning view of the Alps. Even on a Saturday morning, leading up to Christmas, at times we found ourselves almost alone as we window-shopped, commenting that we wished London allowed for such slow, peaceful walks through the heart of the city. We allowed ourselves to be completely comfortable with not knowing what the next hour would bring, free to change our course as we saw fit. Naturally, the 48 hours bumbled along quite slowly - isn't it funny how time passes at a reasonable rate when you've slowed down enough to let yourself get lost, and find that inner peace and balance that arises when you truly get away from it all...

Central Zurich, sitting on the sides of the Limmat River