Our Baby Steps: From Hotel to Apartment...

We have finally arrived at our apartment, and I am SO happy to have unpacked and get to fixed internet that does not require I pay 5 CHF for every 30 minutes of usage. Well, we are three days in and I think we are adapting quite well. Jack has been such a trooper. He has adjusted to the time change and is taking in stride the constant change of environment. Jack is a people watcher, so he is quite in his element as he gets to now watch thousands of people a day (instead the previous alternative of me, his sitter, and our two dogs). It is definitely a step up for him!

View from the park

Jack and I are hoping to take the ferry on Thursday on a 2 hour tour of Zurich

When we first arrived in Zurich our apartment was not ready and so we had to stay in a hotel until today. Although it added to the cost of our stay, it was nice to be able in the middle of the city so that we could get use to the different regions and understand the tram service. To clarify, most everything is located in the city of Zurich (District 10) and our apartment is on the border between the city and suburbia (it is in are region called Zollikon).

Walking through the City you can't help but be amazed by the gardens. This is an area that Jack and I stumbled upon.

Jack is thirsty from the heat. He is use to Erie weather!

With all that explained, on to the good stuff. After I left you last, Jack and I left the hotel and headed out into the city. Carl had to work all day so it was up to the two of us to find our way. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, approx. 75 degrees and sunny. First stop was the pharmacy to get some baby wipes. Basically, going to a pharmacy in Switzerland, is like going to the Macy’s makeup counter. 90% fabulous skin products and makeup and 10% drugs. They had Clinique, Lancome, Chanel and all other sorts of brands. I actually even found this face lotion that I had been looking for. Since it is a foreign brand, I could never read the instructions before and the nice woman who spoke perfect English explained that there were multiple types and, of course, I had been using the wrong one. With face lotion and some pricey baby wipes in tow (only $8 for a small container of wipes), we were off to find a German/English Dictionary.

Jack and I walking over the bridge to the Bier Garten. I wanted to show you both views.

This is the other side of the bridge that Jack is looking at...Alps ahead!

My next daunting task was to understand the elevator system. There are negative floors, lettered floors, and then positive numbered floors, and I continue to struggle to get off in the right place. Jack and I got stuck on the elevator in the book store and kept ending up on the wrong floor. We had quite a doozey trying to get out of there. Pushing the stroller and this heavy swinging door that you had to use every time to get out of the elevator, I was huffing and puffing as I asked how the hell to get of their damn store. Needless to say, we will not be back. I did manage to get the dictionary though.

Amazing floral shops are everywhere!

Hungry from my debacle at the bookstore, I decided it was time for lunch. Jack and I strolled over the bridge, and saw a huge crowd of people eating lunch along the riverside. As we walked up, I breathed a sigh of relief….the bier garten, a sense of familiarity. Despite the long gruesome hours spent in Berlin with my previous job, one of the redeeming aspects was my time at the Bier Garten. Like the one in Berlin, this one was also full of trees and a fun and festive crowd. There were 2 food options: fancy dining requiring reservation and buffet….I chose buffet, which turned out to be a TERRIBLE choice. Utilizing an American stroller with its wide tires, having a hungry baby and momma, not understanding a lick of the German menu on the chalkboard, and having to carry everything with a small tray while holding the child and stroller by myself, was a recipe for disaster. Half the salad and dressing ended up in the stroller, I ended up with some weird bratwurst and French fries (when all I wanted was a healthy choice but stressed by indecisiveness and the fact that I only knew what a few things meant) and of course, a nice local German beer. The meal turned out to be pretty good, and the view was wonderful. We actually ended up there again for dinner, this time with Carl, and we ate at the nicer part.

At the Bier Garten for dinner

There is live music at night and people dancing!

The Bier Garten is right on the river and you can see the bridge from here.

The rest of our second day was spent exploring Bahnofstrasse. This area is filled with shops and restaurants. Unfortunately, most of the stores are high end luxury, and are not appropriate for a sweaty momma, and a baby with sticky fingers. At the end of the day today, I was able to find some half-way reasonable shops but, for the most part, everything is MUCH more expensive. There is a chain store here called Navy Boot, which I find similar to a Nine West or Aldo. Despite walking into maybe 30 stores (no exaggeration), I cannot find a pair of sandals for less than 200 CHF~$240. It is not just shoes…it is everything! A similar camera case (I ordered from Amazon for $20 was $75 here). Americans may buy too much stuff but I think half the reason is because it is so much cheaper. I can promise you that if my diaper wipes in the U.S. cost $8 per package (instead of $7.98 for a case of 15 packages which is what I pay for in the U.S.), I wouldn’t be ordering them by the case and letting Jack throw them around! Now, I will admit that Zurich is a financial district, and does in some ways resemble Manhattan….so you have to take that into consideration. However, you can still stroll into an Aldo, even in Manhattan, and pick up a nice pair of sandals for $90. Hence, I am still in my old beaten up crocs, which don’t fit in with the high fashion culture but, in all fairness, I was super happy when it poured today and my crocs easily dried (those other 200+CHF ones would have been ruined).

It was raining and Jack was getting irritable so we decided to go to Sprungli, the famous chocolate shop.

A cappuccino, sparkling water, and fabulous chocolate mousse (and yes that cup is made of 1/4 inch thick chocolate)!

A close up of our snack...YUM!

Happy after the chocolate mousse

The front of Sprungli, those large triangular mounds are different flavors of actual chocolate pastries

Today, I again attempted the buffet line for lunch at this cool Turkish store that had all sorts of cool bathroom and kitchen accessories and a neat wine bar. I stayed away from the wine, and tried the local soft drink, Rivette. I wouldn’t recommend it. It has a black cherry flavor. Jack and I shared shrimp pad thai (the food was eclectic and not just Turkish). Jack ate the noodles and I ate the shrimp.

Happy Baby!

More flower shops...the roses are amazing!

They had roses in every color.

Below are some pictures of our apartment. Our landlord’s name is Beat. I, of course, have been butchering the pronunciation and saying it like “Beat it”-the Michael Jackson song…when its actually pronunciation is “Bee” (like the insect)- AT. Anyway, the apartment is beautiful and much larger than I expected. It is kind of far away but the train station is about a five minute walk, and Carl’s hospital is only 10 minutes by walk which is perfect. There is a separate office, which is where I write my blog and Carl studies (there is also a digital tv with English channels that Bee-AT picked out for us, which was very kind of him). Jack sleeps in the very elaborate and formal dining room. There is a washer downstairs, and a clothes line with a large fan which I guess is an attempt at a dryer. It should be interesting washing clothes as we have a ton to wash because Jack gets so dirty and gets me dirty in the process. I need to start utilizing my tide stain stick.