Zurich - Part 2

Yesterday was all about strolling.  As you go away from the water, Zurich becomes quite naturally hilly - let's just use the word Steep!  No need for a bike.  So I just started to wander.  I crossed the bridge and started going up until I got to a lovely park that overlooked the city.  The part I liked best was the big chess boards in the park:

Totally great.  Then I crossed back over the bridge and wandered up the other side, and for some reason I decided to go into the Grossmunster Church which like all things European dates from a period of 1100 to 1230.  At this point in the trip, I have lost track of the old churches I've seen, and meaning NO disrespect whatever, they start to look a bit the same after awhile - at least to me.  Which is why I say I'm not sure what inspired me to wander into this one.  I'm so happy that I did because it presented me with a completely unexpected surprise.

The long history of this church includes a concerted effort to make the building a presentation of stained glass art.  What's stunning is that the windows have been periodically updated over time, and the latest display was designed, installed, and dedicated by Sigmar Polke in 2009 (he has since died in 2010).  The windows are at once contemporary while still incorporating the medieval stories that belong to the Old Testament of the Christian faith.  I could go on and on about all that, but here is the stunning part for me.  All of the west windows of the church are filled with sliced agate, held together with the traditional lead caming used in the old ways of making stained glass windows.  The sliced agates are especially meaningful to me because my maternal grandfather also made sliced agates, and in fact had created a light box which I inherited and restored and which sits in my living room at home.  But I have never seen sliced agates anywhere other than from my grandfather.  But here they are in a Zurich church, and curiously sliced stone (usually alabaster) was commonly used in the Middle Ages to fill window aperatures.

Here then is a picture of one of the windows:

So for obvious reasons, I loved this church because it brought yet another unexpected connection to my family history.

The evening was spent listening to a public lecture about the Klimapause at the university of Zurich where Clara's conference is.  We had a fine meal and came back to our room to watch the Swiss team lose to the French in the World Cup.  

I'm not sure there will be time for another post from Zurich, but will update when I can.  This afternoon we are going on a hike when Clara finishes her conference, and then a friend of ours who lives in Zurich has invited us for dinner.  We feel pretty lucky to have so much personal interaction with locals all along the way in this trip.