Zurich

I'll just go ahead and start out with the very best part of my time in Zurich--the Marc Chagall stained glass. Seeing these windows (pictured left, but there were two more of them, too--one is orange and the other another blue one) goes right up in the category with the Pantheon in Rome and Fallingwater. And so I blatantly disregarded the no photography rule for you, my dear reader (okay, okay, also for myself).






Chagall did a masterful job of innovating within the tradition. These windows are very different from any other stained glass windows that I've seen in a church. They have one theme that weaves through each window--a Christ window, a Jacob window, and a Zion window, among others (the window on left is the Zion window--this part is the streets of Jerusalem).







The windows are modern, while still containing discernible subjects. The window to the left shows Jacob's ladder, with angels ascending.









Here, Jacob is wrestling with the angel.











Here is an angel trumpeting.











Here is Mary and the baby Jesus












and Christ on the cross.










In another church in Zurich there were stained glass windows made from agates by Sigmar Polke. They were no Chagall windows, but I also really liked them, especially when there were brightly colored stones.




























Finding a Catholic Church in Zurich was difficult, to say the least (especially given Stearn's and my lack of German). We walked all over town looking for one, trying to translate the descriptions of the church in order to tell which kind it was. Finally, I suggested we try places that might hold Catholics, like an Italian restaurant near our hostel. One confused waiter, who really wanted to help, exclaimed, "Catholic Churches! We have tons of those!" (He started pointing all of Zurich's churches out on the map.) ... "But you have to understand--we're all Protestants here!"

I think he was confused about what exactly a Catholic Church is...