SUMMER'S SURRENDER

THREE DAYS IN ZÜRICH THROUGH ITS OLD TOWN, THE LIMMAT'S RHYTHM AND THE SPIRIT OF SUMMER

- ANTARAA CHATTERJEE

A FEW TEENS WERE SPRAY PAINTING ON the concrete walls a little away from the throng of adults lying splayed on sunbeds close to the river's edge.

"Don't people mind the graffiti?" I asked. "Some do. But the city also commissions wall art to artists," my companion replied. I was sitting on a terrace a storey above and decided to remove the thin jacket I was wearing as the strong Swiss sun beat down on my back. Zürich in summer was younger, more buoyant, and with less bite than I imagined. When the sun is out, people milk it till its last, fading rays. I gave my glass of Aperol Spritz a lazy swirl, observing the jamboree downstairs.

We were lunching at GUMP at the Oberer Letten riverside bathing facility, considered the ultimate summer hangout in the city. From my perch on the sundeck of the bar I could spot a mix of sunbathers and swimmers hogging the river and floating facedown, dead to the worries of the world.

Having experienced a European summer in all its languid beauty, my life in Delhi seemed like a distant, difficult memory.

Summer in Zürich felt like late November in Delhi, but looked like a Goan beach day. The Limmat River was a map, a lifeline, and a rowdy summer companion, a bit like that friend enabling your impulses but always there to catch you if you fall. Rivers usually divide cities; here, it seemed to sew everything together. From the moment of our arrival, we followed it and it guided us. Elizabeth, one of the city tour leaders, put it simply, "You can never get lost in Zürich. Just follow the river!" And sure enough, every bend of the Limmat felt like a breadcrumb leading us deeper into the city's heart.