There are a lot of churches in Zuerich. In fact, when I mapped out a plan of what to see in the city yesterday, all the travel guides listed three main churches (Fraumuenster, Grossmuenster, and St. Peter's) as the most salient things a tourist should take note of in this burg. And one could well divine this merely by scoping out the city--the Zuerichscape is most notable for the numerosity of its steeples.
This is all well and good, since I'm neither a big fan or a big foe of churches (are there big foes of churches? does anyone go around saying, "If there's one thing in life I loathe, it's a damned cathedral"? seems unlikely). But here's a notable and increasingly startling side effect: on weekend days, all of these churches, which have bells, ring those bells. Frequently. And kinda cacophonously, since there are often several churches going at it at the same time. And loudly. Really loudly. And for a loooooong time.
This everpresent bonging is something that I began to notice gradually over the course of this weekend. At first, it was kind of nice. Then, I thought, "wow, that's a lot of bell-ringing." And eventually, while it's atmospheric and probably religiously significant to at least some folks, it got to the point where it was kind of distracting and made me understand how the protag of Poe's "The Bells" really could go nutso thanks to excessive tintinnabulation.
For what it's worth, though, having just said this, the bells have quieted, and so I've regained my sanity. For now.
Image: view of Zurich from the Quaibruecke. On the left of the river, you can see the Frau- and Grossmuensters; on the right is St Peter's.
{NB: Seriously, the millisecond that I hit "publish post" they started ringing again. Aaaah! Bells!}
