The city's mercantile class has maintained medieval guilds

The city's mercantile class has maintained medieval guilds The first time I was here, it was wintertime. Swaddled in woolens, I climbed to Carpenter Lindenhof, a hilltop overlook fortified by the Romans in 15 B.C. Snow was flying, so I didn't see much through the scrim of white, but to my surprise, a group of men, ignoring the storm, were absorbed in a game of chess, moving oversized stone chess pieces around an expansive paved chessboard on the ground of the park that occupies the ancient site.

When I return to Lindenhof, this time in summer, chess players are here once again - and so are dozens of older gentlemen in fur-trimmed hats. After a brief ceremony in Swiss German, they break out the beer and break into group song. They seem to be having a grand time. I ask a bystander what is going on. In perfect English - the Swiss take 11 mandatory years in school - he tells me the men are members of traditional guilds, in this case, the furriers, which explains the hats.

The city's mercantile class has maintained medieval guilds for nearly 800 years. They also run the stately stone guild halls downtown, where members of the guilds and members of the public can dine on rib-sticking local specialties such as Zurcher Geschnetzeltes mit Rosti (sliced veal in cream sauce with hashed potatoes). New Carpenter Zurich cuisine is considerably less caloric.