St. Gallen = Small Villiage?

In the weeks and months leading up to my trip, I was told numerous times by people in the know that St. Gallen was a very small town with nothing to do there. Even when I was in Zurich, my parent's friend's son, a native of Switzerland, reconfirmed the nothingness that is St. Gallen.

So in the days leading up to our arrival, I was constantly making snide remarks to Waverly such as "what am I going to do in this one-cow town for 3 months?" and "if St. Gallen is a tenth of Zurich, I'll be happy."

So going in with zero expectation, let's just say I am very pleasantly surprised with St. Gallen. For the record, this city is not a one-cow town, here's proof:



And there's a very busy, vibrant market place with shops and eateries. An abundant amount of restaurants, all of which are very cozy and packed with people. There's a farmers market two days a week, a bunch of retail stores (two H&M's), and everything is within walking distance from where we are staying. There actually is a Tourist center so yes, people actually would come here to see things (those things most likely being it's stunning baroque-style Cathedral and one of the oldest libraries in Europe).

The main part of town is nestled between two hills (one of which we live on) and the view from the top is stunning. There are hiking trails littered with people while cows graze and freely roam on the rolling greens.

So for all you haters, St. Gallen is not a small village. It's no New York City...heck it's not even the upper east side... but that's okay, it's home (for 3 months anyway).