Zurich Loves Its Water

I recently traveled to Zürich to visit with my aunt Anita traveling from Margaree via Malta for meetings. I had only visited Switzerland to catch a late night flight in Basel (and enjoyed Avatar in 3D with 3 sub-title languages!), so I was looking forward to exploring its largest city. We spent the weekend walking all over the city, enjoying the views of Lake Zürich, the Old Town and its many, many water fountains.

First Zurich Wate FountainZürich loves its water. The city is home to 1,248 public water fountains. You can’t walk a couple blocks in the Old Town without coming across an imaginatively sculpted waterspout. Though the fountains become simpler in form further from the city centre, they are just as handy.

The first water fountain was built during the early 15th century to supply trusted water after the Black Death created a (well-founded) mistrust of city wells. The water was brought to the city centre, the top of Rennweg, from a source four kilometres away by wooden pipe. An engineering feat of the time, and the first of many public plumbing projects to come.*

It is refreshing to see the importance and elegance of publicly available drinking water. We live in a generation that remembers thinking that buying water from a store seemed ridiculous to now seeing bottled water as an important part of our convenience diet. Plastic bottles are still popular in Zürich, but many residents choose to bring their own refillable ones instead. The water is said to be deliciously fresh and a treat to enjoy. I can attest that it did indeed taste like water.

Zurich water

In one of the most expensive cities in the world, there’s a simple message: clean, drinking water should be free for the people. It’s simple – no disposable packaging, no global transport, no barriers. A reminder to keep a reusable bottle with you and that the best things in life are free.

The Old Town of Zürich, where we spent most of our time, is also a delight for the its Christmas markets, beautifully lit streets, history stretching back to the Romans and more. To learn more about Zürich, simply click on any of the photos below: Zurich Christmas Lights

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Grosmunster

Call the cows home

Lake Zurich

Zurichhorn

Zurich Singing Santas

View from Old Town

Fountain at zum Storchen

* This interesting history was learned on the Old Zürich Tour guided walked provided by Free Walk Zürich. Our guide was knowledgeable and clearly cared about his city and sharing it with visitors. I would definitely recommend the walking tours for both the great guides and for the pricing that is a contrast to the rest of the city’s.

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