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TRAVELLER
ROCK
YOUR
BADI
I
t’s Friday evening in ZürichWest and this former
industrial zone, in the heart of Switzerland’s financial
capital, is hotting up. A faint, but insistent
boom, boom,
boom
fills the hazy summer air, emanating from the
banks of the river Limmat. There, between trees bathed in
coloured light and arty projections, hundreds of people sit
in beachwear, sipping cocktails, lounging on daybeds or
dancing to relaxed Balearic beats. Some even kick off their
Havaianas for a dip in the water as the crimson sun dips into
the horizon. This is nomirage, it’s the night-time alter ego
of one of the city’s mainmunicipal bathing areas, Oberer
Letten (
badi-info.ch
).
If your idea of Zürich is that it’s all about the banks,
you’d be right, but not, probably, in the way you imagine. As
soon as Zürich’s surprisingly steep summer temperatures
settle in, usually inmid to lateMay, its banks – those of
the Limmat and the 17th-century Schanzengraben river
channel, along with the city’s main aqueous attraction, the
40km-long Lake Zürich – come alive, drawing legions of
half-undressed locals of every age and shape who come to
swimand, later, party.
If you’re looking for Swiss stereotypes of conservatism,
this isn’t the place to find them. Indeed, getting together by
the water is no novelty here – the Romans remains of baths
dating back to the first century AD can still be found close
to St Peter’s Church – and today’s summertime swimming
scene dates back to the city’s 19th century lidos (known as
badi
). The first of these was built in 1837, in the centre of the
immaculately preservedOld Town, where the Limmat starts
its journey north from the lake. Rebuilt some five decades
later as a charming art nouveau wooden cloister, with front-
row views of the iconic Grossmünster church across the
water, the women-only Frauenbad Stadthausquai (
badi-info.
ch
) floats there still.
ZÜRICH