We will be returning home in a few days, and I have decided to update my blog! Since we have been in the apartment the Internet is much slower, and I can't seem to upload anything, so I guess you will all have to wait to see my pictures until I get back. I'm going to try to keep this brief or I would be here all day!
If you have been following on face book you may have seen that Jesse and I visited Italy for lunch last weekend, and caught the Bernina Express. It is an amazing train ride that has been in operation for 100 years this year, what a special experience.
The weekend before we spent the weekend in Munich during their annual city founding festival, luck timing I guess. Since we went all the way, we did spend most of one day going the little bit farther to visit Dachau. Jesse and I defiantly learned a lot in that visit, not even including that sense of reality that sets in when you actually see a place you have only ever heard of. Not to make little of war, or the atrocities committed especially in WWII, but growing up secure and safe and so far removed I don't think these places or events were any more real than words on a page until I was actually standing there.
I'm not sure what the last post I made covered so forgive if I repeat myself. The weekend prior to Munich we visited Lucerne and Bern, both of which are beautiful and best understood with pictures.
All along we have booked our own train tickets, except to Munich and the Bernina Express. For those trips we paid a travel agent to help us book our tickets, international train travel, then a fully booked train/bus package required the extra attention. We have found the trains easy to use, clean and comfortable. Jesse's only complaint is that we have not travelled in a sleeper car yet, I think we will be saving that experience when we have more time to commit to the journey itself. It seems like everywhere in Switzerland is only about 2 hours or less by train from Zurich!
Speaking of Zurich, I have some errands to run that will take me into the city today, and since I need to get back early so Jesse and I can meet some of his co-workers for a World Cup game and Bar-B-Q tonight, I need to wrap it up and get on with it. Love you all and will see you soon!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Lazy Days
So I haven't updated in the last few days, mostly because I haven't had much to say. The rain has kept me mostly pinned down. Today is beautiful so I will go out for a walk in the sun today. LOL I'm listening to a live radio feed from Portland and as I typed the last, the lyric was "I just wish I had known to go out walking in the sun." Synchronicity right? Anywho before I go let me tell you what I've been up to.
As always I'm collecting addresses for the invites, and yesterday I cut, stamped and hand wrote on 200+ wedding favors! I got a little cooped up yesterday after all that so I wondered around and took some artistic plant pictures.
On Wednesday I went out and purchased my Museum Pass and visited three different museums. The first one I went to was the Oskar Reinhart Museum am Stadtgarten. Oskar Reinhart was an art collector in Winterthur and there are actually two Museums in the city that house his collection. The one I visited was an art museum in his lifetime and usually houses work by German, Austrian and Swiss artist from the 18th - 20th centruries. The other is the Oskar Reinhart Am Romerholz, which is the collector's former home. This one houses a lare collection of Old Masters as well as important French paintins from teh early 19th and 20th centuries, most notable is the colloction of early impressionist. The later museum is closed for renevation and part of that collection is on exhibit in the museum I visited. The works are presented "In Dialouge," you are incouraged to compair and contrast the technique and approach of artist to simular subject matter. It was interesting and educational, and I was able to see some amazing art!
The second museum I visited was the Villa Flora, another art museum, this one is much smaller and in the home of the couple who collected the art usually on display there. Usually the works on display are French Impressionist. Catching on to a theme? Well the exhibit was the first instilation of intirely sculpture! The exhibit compaired two Swiss artists who produced female nudes at about the sametime. Very informative and interesting. I didn't get any postcards from there since they didn't have any of the sculptures I really liked.
The third museum I went to was the Lindengut Museum. This is local history museum with rotating exhibits that focuses on the daily lives of families in Winterthur, and include a large toy collection. Well when I arrived the man on duty, who spoke very little english told me that there was no exhibit until five days from now, but if I wanted to wonder around feel free. So I look around at empty shelves, storage crates and holes in the walls where art must have hung recently. The building itself was beautiful with painted panels and tiled stoves.
In the midst of all of that I took myself out to lunch. I had seen a mexican restaraunt, I know I know, but I really wanted some nachos! LOL Well I didn't get the nachos when I saw that they were nearly CHF30!! So instead I opted for the daily lunch special, which the english speeking waitress told me was somekind of beef with sause and a rosti. (which you may recall is basically hashbrowns). For half the price of the nachos the special also came with soup! So I had my soup, which was egg flower. (ok so I'm in Switzerland, in a mexican restaruant, eating chinees food?!?) Then I get a wiff of something awful and look around to see my lunch being served to me. It was liver, so rare some of it was still bleeding, in a garlic wine sauce. In my whole life I don't think I ever did not eat something of what was served to me at a restaraunt. I ate some of the rosti, but the smell of the whole thing was awful. I ended up putting it on the table as far from myself as I could. The waitress returned and asked if there was anything wrong and as I have never done before, I told her that my lunch was not good. She asked if she could get me anything else and I informed her I had lost my appetite. So yeah, not so good food adventure! At least she didn't make me pay for the lunch I didn't eat!
When I got back that evening and told Jesse about my day he tried to sympathize since it sounded like I had a pretty lousy day, I was out in the rain for hours, I had a bad lunch, went to an empty museum and didn't get to see the French Impressionist art I was so looking forward to. I was shocked, I thought I had a great time! It's true your attitude is everything.
I have been enjoying everyone's comment on facebook I'm not feeling too homesick. Today I'm going to look into going on an overnight trip to Luzern this weekend, so I'm doing some internet research and then I'm walking to the tourist info office at the train station. But right now it's past my lunch time so I should run.
Oh before I do I should update you about cooking on the hot plate. Not easy, messy, and so far I've only cooked pasta. I think I will stick to pasta unless someone has any bright ideas! and here is a pic of our no cook breakfasts (the things that look like limes are eggs, we bought them already boiled and colored)
As always I'm collecting addresses for the invites, and yesterday I cut, stamped and hand wrote on 200+ wedding favors! I got a little cooped up yesterday after all that so I wondered around and took some artistic plant pictures.
The second museum I visited was the Villa Flora, another art museum, this one is much smaller and in the home of the couple who collected the art usually on display there. Usually the works on display are French Impressionist. Catching on to a theme? Well the exhibit was the first instilation of intirely sculpture! The exhibit compaired two Swiss artists who produced female nudes at about the sametime. Very informative and interesting. I didn't get any postcards from there since they didn't have any of the sculptures I really liked.
The third museum I went to was the Lindengut Museum. This is local history museum with rotating exhibits that focuses on the daily lives of families in Winterthur, and include a large toy collection. Well when I arrived the man on duty, who spoke very little english told me that there was no exhibit until five days from now, but if I wanted to wonder around feel free. So I look around at empty shelves, storage crates and holes in the walls where art must have hung recently. The building itself was beautiful with painted panels and tiled stoves.
In the midst of all of that I took myself out to lunch. I had seen a mexican restaraunt, I know I know, but I really wanted some nachos! LOL Well I didn't get the nachos when I saw that they were nearly CHF30!! So instead I opted for the daily lunch special, which the english speeking waitress told me was somekind of beef with sause and a rosti. (which you may recall is basically hashbrowns). For half the price of the nachos the special also came with soup! So I had my soup, which was egg flower. (ok so I'm in Switzerland, in a mexican restaruant, eating chinees food?!?) Then I get a wiff of something awful and look around to see my lunch being served to me. It was liver, so rare some of it was still bleeding, in a garlic wine sauce. In my whole life I don't think I ever did not eat something of what was served to me at a restaraunt. I ate some of the rosti, but the smell of the whole thing was awful. I ended up putting it on the table as far from myself as I could. The waitress returned and asked if there was anything wrong and as I have never done before, I told her that my lunch was not good. She asked if she could get me anything else and I informed her I had lost my appetite. So yeah, not so good food adventure! At least she didn't make me pay for the lunch I didn't eat!
When I got back that evening and told Jesse about my day he tried to sympathize since it sounded like I had a pretty lousy day, I was out in the rain for hours, I had a bad lunch, went to an empty museum and didn't get to see the French Impressionist art I was so looking forward to. I was shocked, I thought I had a great time! It's true your attitude is everything.
I have been enjoying everyone's comment on facebook I'm not feeling too homesick. Today I'm going to look into going on an overnight trip to Luzern this weekend, so I'm doing some internet research and then I'm walking to the tourist info office at the train station. But right now it's past my lunch time so I should run.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Lazy Days
So yesterday and today I'm doing very little. I got us settled into our little apartment. Biggest challange will be cooking for two on a hotplate with one pot and one set of dishes. I think Jesse called it when he said it will be like camping.
Today I will be hanging out in the apartment again since we don't have phones, (we are not using our cells, there is no phone in the apt, and Jesse doesn't have a phone at his desk at work) and we only have one set of keys. Jesse is comming by during his lunch so he can meet the landlord and we can both get info like where is the laundry room and what do we need to do with our garbage. After that we will both have a key, and they will be bringing by an other bed, since this room only has a single. In the mean time I can do some reading and address more invites! And contintue to try to get my photos uploaded.
I'm thinking tomorrow will be a nice day to spend at the museums. Our new apartment is more centrally located and will make it easier for me to get a full day in before I meet Jesse for dinner. Dinners to be attempted on the hot plate this week: Mushroom stroganoff over egg noodles, and Spaghetti Bolognese.
We are really enjoying our breakfast, and today we put it together ourselves in our room. Coffee, Yogurt, Museli, fresh bread with either nutella or herbed chesse, meat slices, boild egg and a peice of fruit. Part of what has been enjoyable is the time first thing in the day to sit down together. We have both been trying to find time in our day for worship and have discovered that a word over our morning meal sets our hearts for the day. I'm thinking prayer is a powerful tool in living together in these close quarters.
I'm a little all over the place today! We haven't been getting our morning jogs in the last two days, and I'm starting to feel those effects. I'm getting to my blog later than usual, and in fact I'm still in my PJ's! Scandalous! So I should get moving along, tomorrow expect a report on laundry and one pot cooking.
Today I will be hanging out in the apartment again since we don't have phones, (we are not using our cells, there is no phone in the apt, and Jesse doesn't have a phone at his desk at work) and we only have one set of keys. Jesse is comming by during his lunch so he can meet the landlord and we can both get info like where is the laundry room and what do we need to do with our garbage. After that we will both have a key, and they will be bringing by an other bed, since this room only has a single. In the mean time I can do some reading and address more invites! And contintue to try to get my photos uploaded.
I'm thinking tomorrow will be a nice day to spend at the museums. Our new apartment is more centrally located and will make it easier for me to get a full day in before I meet Jesse for dinner. Dinners to be attempted on the hot plate this week: Mushroom stroganoff over egg noodles, and Spaghetti Bolognese.
We are really enjoying our breakfast, and today we put it together ourselves in our room. Coffee, Yogurt, Museli, fresh bread with either nutella or herbed chesse, meat slices, boild egg and a peice of fruit. Part of what has been enjoyable is the time first thing in the day to sit down together. We have both been trying to find time in our day for worship and have discovered that a word over our morning meal sets our hearts for the day. I'm thinking prayer is a powerful tool in living together in these close quarters.
I'm a little all over the place today! We haven't been getting our morning jogs in the last two days, and I'm starting to feel those effects. I'm getting to my blog later than usual, and in fact I'm still in my PJ's! Scandalous! So I should get moving along, tomorrow expect a report on laundry and one pot cooking.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Outings with Jesse
I can hardly beleive it has been two days since I last updated!
We have been on the move almost non stop since Sat. morning. Wolfram, Jesse's boss this side of the world, and his wife Sandra picked us up at 9 am on Sat. We went first to a nearby castle, Kyborg. It is unclear how old the place is but it was first mentioned in documents in 1025 AD. It is a fantistic castle that has been built on and changed throught the centuries. All day long I could not help but think that most of the places we visited were old long before the U.S. was founded, let alone Columbus sailing out!! We arrived at the castle about an hour before it was set to open, but it seems Wolfram charmed the people in the office to let us in early, seeing as we came all the way from America.
The next stop for us was the Rheinfall. The falls are amazing, the largest in Europe even. We did take many pictures, and at the moment I'm a little miffed that I can't get them uploaded so everyone can see. From the Rhinfalls we took lunch along the river at a small town that I found quite pretty with a covered bridge and narrow cobblestone streets. Sandra was telling us that the town was not a popular place to visit, and had very few visitors really. We were looking across the river to Germany as we walked along the river. We had to stop at 3 or 4 restaurnts to find a good place, but managed to have a fantastic lunch of freshwater fish with rice and vegtables. Apparently here as I found in Spain it is unusual to take coffee with a meal other than breakfast or dessert. We each had a different dessert, mine was just fresh Strawberries with pepper, whipped cream and Vanilla frozen yogurt. I wanted it because I had never had pepper with my strawberries and here it is the way everyone prepares them. It enhances the sweetness and overall flavor of the barries. Something to take home I guess.
We then visited a town called Scheffhausen. Picturesque old Swiss town along the Rhein. It was full of tourists and we didn't stay long. We jumped back in the car and drove around the country side some more and took in wonderful views of Lake Constance. Jesse and Torston are planning on going for a dip in the lake sometime this week if the weather is good. We tried to visit another museum in the childhood home of Nepoleon III, the son to Nepoleon's step-daughter. It sits on a hill above Lake Constance, and even though the Museum was closed we enjoyed a walk in the gardens and views. We ended our day at the home of Wolfram and Sandra, and met two of their daughters. They prepared a traditional swiss fondue, let me tell you, I never had fondue that good! We spent the day and evening compairing and contrasting and I asked alot of questions! Like there is an annual fee to keep a dog, so most people don't, and that is why I don't see many. The young men in top hats and tuxes are graduating from school. Oh and lots and lots more, I think I'm more greatful for having someone answer some questions for my curious mind, than I am for being driven around to the different sites.
Sunday brought with it steady heavy rains, so a walking tour of Winterthur did not sound so appealing. Jesse wanted to stay in and play some Catan and watch T.V. on the computer. We kinda got at each other a bit about finding something to do, but fianlly decided to take the train into Zurich, we figured that at the very least we would be inside the train, then the station, and if we needed to we could see Zurich from bus! We researched what kind of tickets we would need, and had very little difficulty navagating the transit system. We purchased all day passes and they are good for the trains, buses, trollies, and ferrys/boats. It's great! It was nice to get a little experience on the train so we can be more confident traveling farther out in the weeks ahead. It was raining in Zurich, but mostly sprinkling and that only off and on, so we braved a 2 hour walking tour of the old town. The views were great, the information was better, and being able to return to Winterthur in time for dinner the best.
At the end of the day I had to appologise to Jesse for getting my feathers in a ruffle about going out on Sunday. He really thought that it would be miserable out and didn't want to be grumpy all day. I told him that I just wanted him to feel like he was having as much oppurtunity to enjoy our visit and see the sites as I was. In the end I said I was sorry, and he was thankful that we left the room. He knows that if he were here on his own he would not be getting out and seeing nearly as much. And as for me, I would rather see these things with him, than on my own.
We have been on the move almost non stop since Sat. morning. Wolfram, Jesse's boss this side of the world, and his wife Sandra picked us up at 9 am on Sat. We went first to a nearby castle, Kyborg. It is unclear how old the place is but it was first mentioned in documents in 1025 AD. It is a fantistic castle that has been built on and changed throught the centuries. All day long I could not help but think that most of the places we visited were old long before the U.S. was founded, let alone Columbus sailing out!! We arrived at the castle about an hour before it was set to open, but it seems Wolfram charmed the people in the office to let us in early, seeing as we came all the way from America.
The next stop for us was the Rheinfall. The falls are amazing, the largest in Europe even. We did take many pictures, and at the moment I'm a little miffed that I can't get them uploaded so everyone can see. From the Rhinfalls we took lunch along the river at a small town that I found quite pretty with a covered bridge and narrow cobblestone streets. Sandra was telling us that the town was not a popular place to visit, and had very few visitors really. We were looking across the river to Germany as we walked along the river. We had to stop at 3 or 4 restaurnts to find a good place, but managed to have a fantastic lunch of freshwater fish with rice and vegtables. Apparently here as I found in Spain it is unusual to take coffee with a meal other than breakfast or dessert. We each had a different dessert, mine was just fresh Strawberries with pepper, whipped cream and Vanilla frozen yogurt. I wanted it because I had never had pepper with my strawberries and here it is the way everyone prepares them. It enhances the sweetness and overall flavor of the barries. Something to take home I guess.
We then visited a town called Scheffhausen. Picturesque old Swiss town along the Rhein. It was full of tourists and we didn't stay long. We jumped back in the car and drove around the country side some more and took in wonderful views of Lake Constance. Jesse and Torston are planning on going for a dip in the lake sometime this week if the weather is good. We tried to visit another museum in the childhood home of Nepoleon III, the son to Nepoleon's step-daughter. It sits on a hill above Lake Constance, and even though the Museum was closed we enjoyed a walk in the gardens and views. We ended our day at the home of Wolfram and Sandra, and met two of their daughters. They prepared a traditional swiss fondue, let me tell you, I never had fondue that good! We spent the day and evening compairing and contrasting and I asked alot of questions! Like there is an annual fee to keep a dog, so most people don't, and that is why I don't see many. The young men in top hats and tuxes are graduating from school. Oh and lots and lots more, I think I'm more greatful for having someone answer some questions for my curious mind, than I am for being driven around to the different sites.
Sunday brought with it steady heavy rains, so a walking tour of Winterthur did not sound so appealing. Jesse wanted to stay in and play some Catan and watch T.V. on the computer. We kinda got at each other a bit about finding something to do, but fianlly decided to take the train into Zurich, we figured that at the very least we would be inside the train, then the station, and if we needed to we could see Zurich from bus! We researched what kind of tickets we would need, and had very little difficulty navagating the transit system. We purchased all day passes and they are good for the trains, buses, trollies, and ferrys/boats. It's great! It was nice to get a little experience on the train so we can be more confident traveling farther out in the weeks ahead. It was raining in Zurich, but mostly sprinkling and that only off and on, so we braved a 2 hour walking tour of the old town. The views were great, the information was better, and being able to return to Winterthur in time for dinner the best.
At the end of the day I had to appologise to Jesse for getting my feathers in a ruffle about going out on Sunday. He really thought that it would be miserable out and didn't want to be grumpy all day. I told him that I just wanted him to feel like he was having as much oppurtunity to enjoy our visit and see the sites as I was. In the end I said I was sorry, and he was thankful that we left the room. He knows that if he were here on his own he would not be getting out and seeing nearly as much. And as for me, I would rather see these things with him, than on my own.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Less Wondering and more Working
Yesterday and today I have been focused on working on wedding details.
One of the luxuries of traveling with my laptop has been the ability to access my library2go account. If you don't know it is the Oregon electronic library. I can listen to audio books from my laptop or my iPod. I have been listening to Louisa Alcott's Little Woman as I worked on hand writing all of my wedding invitations and managing my Excel invite database. It has been a little meditative to listen to this book while I work. It has been reminding me about the importance of being grateful, and the rewarding nature of work.
I've never been away from home for such a long time as all of this, and I'm not working, in fact I'm currently unemployed. I don't have a home to tend, or local friendships to foster. I could be putting all my energy into packing in as many tourist activities as possible. But it is a lonely life being a tourist on your own. Taking it all in, recreating every day, is exhausting in its own way, and loses its luster quicker than you might think. If this is a vision of what retirement will be, I think you will find me working until I drop. Before you think I'm lamenting being in such a beautiful place, I'm not I promise! What I'm really trying to say is that I'm thankful for the work I have brought with me, and the work I created in keeping this blog. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be productive.
Every morning I sit in the hotel lobby on the free internet and I have felt like a nuisance. I think I might be the only guest that doesn't go to work every morning. I have felt like a mooch. But not today, and I’ve been down here much longer than normal. The difference? Well it may be that I've let the Swiss pace of life replace my American sense of hustle. Or it may be that I feel like I'm entitled to be in a space that allows me to create something. Something to take home from this experience: it is so easy to focus on the long list of things to get done that it is easy to miss the joy in simply being able to do. I find myself more interested in work than relaxing as much as I can. So I'm spending two days in a beautiful new place, sitting in the hotel and I'm grateful every minute of it. As for tomorrow, Rheinfall and Castles!!!! (The laptop will be in the room so don’t expect an update until Monday or so.)
One of the luxuries of traveling with my laptop has been the ability to access my library2go account. If you don't know it is the Oregon electronic library. I can listen to audio books from my laptop or my iPod. I have been listening to Louisa Alcott's Little Woman as I worked on hand writing all of my wedding invitations and managing my Excel invite database. It has been a little meditative to listen to this book while I work. It has been reminding me about the importance of being grateful, and the rewarding nature of work.
I've never been away from home for such a long time as all of this, and I'm not working, in fact I'm currently unemployed. I don't have a home to tend, or local friendships to foster. I could be putting all my energy into packing in as many tourist activities as possible. But it is a lonely life being a tourist on your own. Taking it all in, recreating every day, is exhausting in its own way, and loses its luster quicker than you might think. If this is a vision of what retirement will be, I think you will find me working until I drop. Before you think I'm lamenting being in such a beautiful place, I'm not I promise! What I'm really trying to say is that I'm thankful for the work I have brought with me, and the work I created in keeping this blog. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be productive.
Every morning I sit in the hotel lobby on the free internet and I have felt like a nuisance. I think I might be the only guest that doesn't go to work every morning. I have felt like a mooch. But not today, and I’ve been down here much longer than normal. The difference? Well it may be that I've let the Swiss pace of life replace my American sense of hustle. Or it may be that I feel like I'm entitled to be in a space that allows me to create something. Something to take home from this experience: it is so easy to focus on the long list of things to get done that it is easy to miss the joy in simply being able to do. I find myself more interested in work than relaxing as much as I can. So I'm spending two days in a beautiful new place, sitting in the hotel and I'm grateful every minute of it. As for tomorrow, Rheinfall and Castles!!!! (The laptop will be in the room so don’t expect an update until Monday or so.)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
More wonderings
I went wondering through a neighberhood yesterday. Found an English Reform church that was closed for remodel, a burger king, and a moder suspension bridge over the rail tracks. I went over the bridge and just walked up and down some residental streets, I found a beautiful park and took some pictures of a building there, its a kindergarden! Looked like a fancy mansion!! I was really close to the Rose Garden I want to visit sometime. I followed a footbridge back into oldtown and meandered back to the hotel. Today I will try to figure out the bus system so I can explore a new area of town.
For dinner we ate at the Hotel. We had rosta, a traditional Swiss dish, hasbrowns in a frying pan! You pick what goes with it, Jesse had the Swiss bistro which was mushrooms, tomatoes, and ham covered with Swiss cheese and topped with a fried egg. I forgot what they called mine, but it was a Swiss veal sausage covered in onion gravy. The food was GREAT!!! But Jesse and I should have shared one plate. We had beer, and finished dinner with an applestrudel and a drink the waiter said was the Swiss version of Jeager. The drink was awful, but we felt obliged to finish it. BTW, sorry for any misspellings, my spellcheck is set to German.
The rain held out until today, so I will spend most of my time indoors getting things done like picture labling and posting and invitation addressing.
Jesse's supervisor advised him that we didn't need to let anyone on this end know I was traveling with him, and since this supervisor spent 15 or so years in this office, Jesse thought he would know. Well the HR woman on this side is now concerned that the apartment she booked for us will not be adaquate for the two of us. It is a small apartment in a home closer to the office than we are now, and the owner is only in the building Monday and Fridays, we will go and see the place tomorrow and I'm really hoping that it will be ok. I told Jesse he may want to make sure he acknowledges the miscommunication and appologize for any inconvenience we caused the HR woman, maybe in a card. I'm glad we purchased some host gifts, one for her in-mind actually.
Please let me know if there is anything you want me to post about!
For dinner we ate at the Hotel. We had rosta, a traditional Swiss dish, hasbrowns in a frying pan! You pick what goes with it, Jesse had the Swiss bistro which was mushrooms, tomatoes, and ham covered with Swiss cheese and topped with a fried egg. I forgot what they called mine, but it was a Swiss veal sausage covered in onion gravy. The food was GREAT!!! But Jesse and I should have shared one plate. We had beer, and finished dinner with an applestrudel and a drink the waiter said was the Swiss version of Jeager. The drink was awful, but we felt obliged to finish it. BTW, sorry for any misspellings, my spellcheck is set to German.
The rain held out until today, so I will spend most of my time indoors getting things done like picture labling and posting and invitation addressing.
Jesse's supervisor advised him that we didn't need to let anyone on this end know I was traveling with him, and since this supervisor spent 15 or so years in this office, Jesse thought he would know. Well the HR woman on this side is now concerned that the apartment she booked for us will not be adaquate for the two of us. It is a small apartment in a home closer to the office than we are now, and the owner is only in the building Monday and Fridays, we will go and see the place tomorrow and I'm really hoping that it will be ok. I told Jesse he may want to make sure he acknowledges the miscommunication and appologize for any inconvenience we caused the HR woman, maybe in a card. I'm glad we purchased some host gifts, one for her in-mind actually.
Please let me know if there is anything you want me to post about!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Thunder Clouds rolling in
Real thunder clouds, not metaphorical ones, today. I plan on discovering the mall across the street today, and I still need to find a laundry. Do you know what it costs to have the hotel do our laundry? Close to 4 CHF per item, so um no thanks. Speaking about money, everything we have read and everything I overhear from other English speaking tourists, is how expensive everything here is. Given Jesse and I are not footing the bill for our accommodations, and we are not driving, but I'm not finding it very different from home. Things to watch out for however, soda is 3 CHF or more per glass, so why not have a larger beer for the same price? :) Water, better off filling up a bottle or buying a large one at the CoOp, than getting it with a meal. We are in a suburb of Zurich and there is some type of Grocery store on every corner, I mean the real thing not a little convenience store with a produce section. I went roaming around some shops yesterday, and while you can go crazy and spend too much, for the things Jesse and I want the prices are almost the same as we would pay at home. For example, Jesse has been in need of a new work shirt for a while now, and he wears what I call 'the engineer's shirt', the nice work shirts with buttons and collar, but short sleeved. We have the hardest time even finding these at home and yesterday I found a whole section of just these, and we only paid 35CHF, so with our exchange we paid about $33.00. We didn't pack swim things so we purchased those too, again paying no more that we would have expected to at home. Eating out could be our biggest expense, however even street cafes display their menus so if it costs too much we move one, usually a couple yards, to the next offering. We can eat for under $10 per person, which is what we would expect to pay eating out at home (except for when we go to Burgerville! that place is spendy). So yeah on Switzerland being expensive, with things back home getting steadily more expensive in the last year or so, it reminds us of home.
In other news I found the tourism office yesterday! I wondered all around the old city which is all pedestrian only now. My album on facebook has some highlights. Located the museums I would be interested in, I will be purchasing a 20CHF day pass to all of the museums since one entrance is closser to 25CHF (maybe I will do that a few times). I also discovered that we can rent a headset for a self-guided audio tour of the old town, including a historic clockworks. I gave Jesse a reader's digest version of my findings yesterday, he is really glad that I came with him he is not sure he would be seeing so much if I wasn't here "scouting ahead" as he said. On Sunday Wolfram and Sandra, and possibly Torston (who Jesse took touring when he visited Oregon last year), will be taking us out to Rheinfalls, a castle and nearby lake. The Rheinfalls are Europe's largest falls and only about half an hour car ride north of here. The swimming gear is for the lake since Jesse took Torston "swimming" in the Pacific, he wants us to have the equivalent experience here. LOL Did I mention how glad I am that Jesse and I stopped into the Made in Oregon store in the airport before we left? Host gifts, one more thing that Jesse would not have thought of without me.
In other news I found the tourism office yesterday! I wondered all around the old city which is all pedestrian only now. My album on facebook has some highlights. Located the museums I would be interested in, I will be purchasing a 20CHF day pass to all of the museums since one entrance is closser to 25CHF (maybe I will do that a few times). I also discovered that we can rent a headset for a self-guided audio tour of the old town, including a historic clockworks. I gave Jesse a reader's digest version of my findings yesterday, he is really glad that I came with him he is not sure he would be seeing so much if I wasn't here "scouting ahead" as he said. On Sunday Wolfram and Sandra, and possibly Torston (who Jesse took touring when he visited Oregon last year), will be taking us out to Rheinfalls, a castle and nearby lake. The Rheinfalls are Europe's largest falls and only about half an hour car ride north of here. The swimming gear is for the lake since Jesse took Torston "swimming" in the Pacific, he wants us to have the equivalent experience here. LOL Did I mention how glad I am that Jesse and I stopped into the Made in Oregon store in the airport before we left? Host gifts, one more thing that Jesse would not have thought of without me.
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