ZüriTipp: Rimini Bar

This rainy and gray day is perhaps not the most appropriate day to tell you about this discovery, but I'm posting it anyway in the hopes that the sun decides to come back soon!

Anyone who has spent a muggy summer night in Zürich knows - the best place to be is near the river (or on it, like the canoe-polo players above), where a chance to dip your toes or at least feel a slight breeze coming off the cool water helps to mitigate the heat. Most people head for the Oberer Letten area of the river, which is just a short walk (or float!) from the main station and lined with snack bars and swimming platforms.

Another option closer to the lakefront is the Barfussbar, located in the city's Frauenbadi (a river-swimming facility open only to women during the day). However, the Barfussbar's opening days are rather erratic and since it's often rented for private parties, there's a good chance an unplanned visit will result in disappointment.

Last week we met up with some members of the local couchsurfing community for a drink at the Rimini Bar, just two steps from Selnau train station, down a poorly-lit and unpromising path behind the stock exchange. At first I wondered where the heck we were going, but as we stepped through a small wooden door and onto these platforms, I was amazed to find this cool place suspended above the Schanzengraben section of the river. Open every summer evening except if it's raining, this is a great place to beat the heat and dip your feet while sipping one of their creative house drinks and lounging on comfy cushions. My bicicletta (2 dl of white wine with a splash of campari) was a very reasonably-priced CHF 11, and a generous 3 dl gschprützte wysse is only CHF 8.
The Rimini Bar also hosts other events such as a Monday Clothes Market, offering everything from secondhand to designer labels, and occasionally concerts and parties as well.

Cheers!