http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/SZXX0033_f.html
As you can see the weather report for Zurich is looking pretty phenomenal. It even snowed for the past hour, which has made me lethargic enough to consider & reconsider the gym about 13 times in the past 30 minutes, I'll get there, sometime, maybe. It's just so warm inside....
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Our New Favs....
We have discovered some really great things to do both inside Zurich & outside this past weekend. Firstly, we had our first guests over for dinner & we played Catan (one of our friends, a newbie, won) which was great because now he is hooked and wants to play again and again and...! Heyoh. Then we were invited to go to a comedy club on Satruday night. We were kind of whatever to it, but decided it was something we wouldn't initiate on our own, so we should just do it. So, we did. And we had a really great time. My face literally ached from all the laughing!, and we didn't even get some of the jokes because one of the comedians was British & one Scottish, so some of there language is bloody this, nicked that (it means stole, we finally figured it out from the context)....so that was super great and we are so amused with our Russian friend, Elena who invited us to the comedy club. Every time we go out with her she asks us how we are feeling about Zurich, if we think we may stay longer, etc. etc. (she loves us i think & doesn't want us to leave ever)
Okay, so today we went to Areuse Gorge & Neuchatel as you can see by our photos. First, the alarm went off way too early & then 10 minutes later Joe got back in bed & was like Heyoh, it's daylight savings, we get another 45 minutes of sleep, so that was a great way to start a day, right?! It's about 2 hours outside of Zurich but it was completely worth the trek. The weather was brisk but bright & it just smelled like fall and crunchy leaves and we got to say "Bonjour" to everyone we passed along the trail. And it was stunningly beautiful. Mossy rocks & trees, rushing water, falling leaves, a perfect day to experience the dichotomy of autumn, the dying to create anew. Tonight it was dark before 6, the kind of long darkness that made me realize we will be too cold & drawn into ourselves soon to be able to enjoy hikes like we did today, but we will discover new joys then, like "the best, yet most expensive, hot chocolate in zurich," or eating roasted chestnuts while watching our breathe crystallize, or turning the heat up high in our apartment and making it feel like we are wrapped up in a lovely scarf.
Today was my favorite Switzerland trip we have made so far (not really fair to compare hiking along a gorge to oktoberfest, but even then I am pretty sure I still pick today). Everything was right in our world (minus the vending machine that nicked our 2 francs & did not dispense the snickers we desired). Even the town we walked around after our hike, Neuchatel, seemed to be vibrantly alive, people all sitting, walking, laying, snuggling (if you can call what the European teens do in public here that....) by the lake. Children's go carts & merry go rounds set up and little tykes in various states of joy swirling & screaming. We helped some delightful little French Nana's carry their walkers up some steps. We knew they were asking for our help but clearly don't understand French so I just said in English, "I know you need our help, but I just don't know what you are saying," and cute Nana number 2 responded in perfect English, "if you could just carry our walkers up the stairs?" Well, sure know that we know what you want us to do, of course. And then she corrected my pronunciation when she asked where we were from & I said "we live in Zurich." She said, "oh Zurichhhhhh" (perhaps simply adding hhh's does not really convey the level of difficulty that pronuncing Zurich in this fashion entails, oh well.) But they were truly lovely, and so was our day. Hopefully fall is bringing a little bit of beauty to all your respective worlds out there.
Okay, so today we went to Areuse Gorge & Neuchatel as you can see by our photos. First, the alarm went off way too early & then 10 minutes later Joe got back in bed & was like Heyoh, it's daylight savings, we get another 45 minutes of sleep, so that was a great way to start a day, right?! It's about 2 hours outside of Zurich but it was completely worth the trek. The weather was brisk but bright & it just smelled like fall and crunchy leaves and we got to say "Bonjour" to everyone we passed along the trail. And it was stunningly beautiful. Mossy rocks & trees, rushing water, falling leaves, a perfect day to experience the dichotomy of autumn, the dying to create anew. Tonight it was dark before 6, the kind of long darkness that made me realize we will be too cold & drawn into ourselves soon to be able to enjoy hikes like we did today, but we will discover new joys then, like "the best, yet most expensive, hot chocolate in zurich," or eating roasted chestnuts while watching our breathe crystallize, or turning the heat up high in our apartment and making it feel like we are wrapped up in a lovely scarf.
Today was my favorite Switzerland trip we have made so far (not really fair to compare hiking along a gorge to oktoberfest, but even then I am pretty sure I still pick today). Everything was right in our world (minus the vending machine that nicked our 2 francs & did not dispense the snickers we desired). Even the town we walked around after our hike, Neuchatel, seemed to be vibrantly alive, people all sitting, walking, laying, snuggling (if you can call what the European teens do in public here that....) by the lake. Children's go carts & merry go rounds set up and little tykes in various states of joy swirling & screaming. We helped some delightful little French Nana's carry their walkers up some steps. We knew they were asking for our help but clearly don't understand French so I just said in English, "I know you need our help, but I just don't know what you are saying," and cute Nana number 2 responded in perfect English, "if you could just carry our walkers up the stairs?" Well, sure know that we know what you want us to do, of course. And then she corrected my pronunciation when she asked where we were from & I said "we live in Zurich." She said, "oh Zurichhhhhh" (perhaps simply adding hhh's does not really convey the level of difficulty that pronuncing Zurich in this fashion entails, oh well.) But they were truly lovely, and so was our day. Hopefully fall is bringing a little bit of beauty to all your respective worlds out there.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
napping on the train & recovering
We had a great weekend in Lugano filled with a lot of outdoors. Our hike up San Salvatore was tough, but well worth it. In the end we only saved ourselves 3CHF over the people who took the furnicular up, but it was a great workout. Our legs were totally shaky & spent by the time we got up, so we took the easy way back down. We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon strolling around the town which was filled with Swiss Italians eating roasted chestnuts & all other sorts of delicacies. We ate dinner in a cellar which was quite cozy & enjoyed a few beers at outside bars with huge heaters.
Sunday morning we decided to take a walk along this "olive path" which basically just led us along the lake from Lugano to Gandria. It was stunning, peaceful & an easy walk....when we arrived in Gandria Joe was convinced we would be able to catch a bus to return us to Lugano. However, we couldn't find it anywhere so we stumbled into a gas station to attempt to get directions from an Italian. I have no idea what language she was speaking to us in, Joe says it was German but we managed to find out that a.) the bus does not run on Sunday, b.) we were literally about 15 feet from entering Italy c.) perhaps there is a boat to take, but it was unclear where and if it was running on Sunday. Now I am ticked because there is no way I have the heart to trek the hour and a half on the olive path to Lugano (my legs are super sore from our hike) & we are both hungry (an amazing combination for us;) Somehow we stumbled on what was the bus stop & found some info on the boat back to Lugano which we could see from above was heading towards the town we were in. So we are hustling to find the port when we get stuck behind some meandering Italians walking three wide down the path with no concern for us whatsoever.....(basically this is my internal dialogue at this time: aaahhhh, why don't you freaking move over for one second? ahhhhh, if we miss this boat because of you, ahhhh, etc. etc. in the ahhh department) So, luckily for us we got to the dock just as the boat was pulling up, we bought our tickets & 2 minutes later we were on the water heading back to Lugano & our train home. Let me tell you, these train rides have been pretty amazing nap times for me....I usually wake up flustered at some small town stop as people are all moving around. It kind of makes me feel crazy that I can sleep so well on those things. I just put my purse next to me, grip on to it & pass out. It's really a great way to end a great weekend~
Hope you all are enjoying your Sundays as well!
Sunday morning we decided to take a walk along this "olive path" which basically just led us along the lake from Lugano to Gandria. It was stunning, peaceful & an easy walk....when we arrived in Gandria Joe was convinced we would be able to catch a bus to return us to Lugano. However, we couldn't find it anywhere so we stumbled into a gas station to attempt to get directions from an Italian. I have no idea what language she was speaking to us in, Joe says it was German but we managed to find out that a.) the bus does not run on Sunday, b.) we were literally about 15 feet from entering Italy c.) perhaps there is a boat to take, but it was unclear where and if it was running on Sunday. Now I am ticked because there is no way I have the heart to trek the hour and a half on the olive path to Lugano (my legs are super sore from our hike) & we are both hungry (an amazing combination for us;) Somehow we stumbled on what was the bus stop & found some info on the boat back to Lugano which we could see from above was heading towards the town we were in. So we are hustling to find the port when we get stuck behind some meandering Italians walking three wide down the path with no concern for us whatsoever.....(basically this is my internal dialogue at this time: aaahhhh, why don't you freaking move over for one second? ahhhhh, if we miss this boat because of you, ahhhh, etc. etc. in the ahhh department) So, luckily for us we got to the dock just as the boat was pulling up, we bought our tickets & 2 minutes later we were on the water heading back to Lugano & our train home. Let me tell you, these train rides have been pretty amazing nap times for me....I usually wake up flustered at some small town stop as people are all moving around. It kind of makes me feel crazy that I can sleep so well on those things. I just put my purse next to me, grip on to it & pass out. It's really a great way to end a great weekend~
Hope you all are enjoying your Sundays as well!
Friday, October 17, 2008
like a little kid on Christmas morning...
I tore into our boxes literally like a little guy would when expecting something awesome from Santa. Real dishes after weeks of plastic crap, more than one pan!, & my shoes (thank goodness, I had to throw one of my two pairs away yesterday they were so broken down).
Who gets excited about face soap? THIS GIRL. It was such a party bonus when I realized I shipped our fav face soap! WOw, right?! However, when one is not sure if what one is looking at in the store is face soap or exfoliator or lotion & they all cost about 15 CHF, one gets quite excited to know that they have saved themselves the anguish of figuring out face soap (at least for a little while....although I did ship the econo-sized face soap, so don't worry, we'll be good for a while!) However, now the task of figuring our where all of our delightful possessions should go ensues. The fact that this apt has no closets is certainly making that processes more challenging.
Oh, and Catan is here. Anyone want to come over & play? Joe is already hoping to get our Aussie friends hooked, but if that plan doesn't work out we are going to need some Catan lovers to make the trek out.....anyone game?
Heading to Lugano tomorrow for the night. I am looking forward to a taste of Italy while still surrounded by clean, sane Swissies who do not holler at women on the streets.
Hope everyone else has little things like face soap brightening their days (and their faces!)
Who gets excited about face soap? THIS GIRL. It was such a party bonus when I realized I shipped our fav face soap! WOw, right?! However, when one is not sure if what one is looking at in the store is face soap or exfoliator or lotion & they all cost about 15 CHF, one gets quite excited to know that they have saved themselves the anguish of figuring out face soap (at least for a little while....although I did ship the econo-sized face soap, so don't worry, we'll be good for a while!) However, now the task of figuring our where all of our delightful possessions should go ensues. The fact that this apt has no closets is certainly making that processes more challenging.
Oh, and Catan is here. Anyone want to come over & play? Joe is already hoping to get our Aussie friends hooked, but if that plan doesn't work out we are going to need some Catan lovers to make the trek out.....anyone game?
Heading to Lugano tomorrow for the night. I am looking forward to a taste of Italy while still surrounded by clean, sane Swissies who do not holler at women on the streets.
Hope everyone else has little things like face soap brightening their days (and their faces!)
Monday, October 13, 2008
we were "those foreigners"
We made our gajillionth trip to Ikea on Friday night to pick up a few more essentials: curtains (sorry neighbors, no more looking in at us as you walk by on the street), light fixtures (we were getting tired of carrying the one table lamp from room to room with us), etc. etc. No matter if we make a list or not, Ikea sucks you into their black hole vortex & we end up walking out with an excessive amount of crap. So, we purchased two huge bags full of stuff & a breakfast bar for the kitchen (which mind you, looked quite small in the Ikea showroom). So, the warehouse brings out our breakfast bar & it is absolutely massive (taller than Joe! & wider as well). It's about 10 minutes until Ikea is closing so we basically had no choice but to walk out with it. We have no car as many of you may know or assume, so I had to lug the bags (which left wounds I might note) and Joe is carrying the massive bar top. To get home from Ikea we have not one transfer but two. First the bus, then the train, then the tram, then the walk home. I think we may have considered abandoning the table top on the train....and the way people stare here --- they have no shame whatsoever. Often times I have looked at someone and thought what in the hell are they thinking? Well, that was definitely us on Friday night.
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