Under the Weather

We've done a bit better with the weather since that first day. It has rained off and on, but it's also been sunny a good chunk of the time. I think you just have to go out prepared for anything! Yesterday I went out in jeans and socks and carrying an umbrella, jacket and scarf... and it was lovely the whole time I was out. I saw someone in sandals and capris as I headed home and remembered regretting those choices a few days earlier. I'm sure we'll figure out what to wear when. But I also just think we'll have to be good sports about it when we're wrong. The other night we got home from being out most of the day and decided to go back out for some beers just as it started to rain and we went out anyway. I'll admit I regretted it a little when the beers we sampled that night were not really worth the hassle, but I felt better about it when we picked up some bottles to take home from a store in the train station called Drinks of the World. My favorite Belgian was there, Rochefort 8, for nearly half the price it was at home! Shhh! Don't tell them.

I thought I was having some of the worst jetlag ever but it turned out to be a bad cold. I still haven't had a great night of sleep. I don't know if I got it on the plane or running around in the rain, but it's driving me crazy right now. Last night was the worst, I had been feeling better but laying flat out on the bed with one little flat pillow let me only sleep for about two hours before outrageous pressure started building up in my head. I am desperate for a good night's sleep at this point. Blah! The only thing more embarrassing than my mumbling in English here is having to sniffle and blow my nose while I mumble. I'm so ready to dig in now and get settled but I'm waiting until I'm a little less gross to encounter. Hopefully I'll be feeling better enough by Thursday to attend a weekly coffee get-together with the spouses of CF's coworkers. We'll see.

Our street is quite torn up right now, what timing I have! The trams have been rerouted and we've had to walk a little bit further than usual ever since Saturday. I think they meant to have everything put back together again by now but I'm guessing the rain didn't help. The construction workers are giving it their all though, working late into the night and in the pouring rain. I was a little hesitant to like the fact that the trams go right past our windows, but it makes it so easy to go hop on one heading in your direction and now I miss it already. Hopefully they will be wooshing by again soon.

The days following my arrival here have been a bit of a blur. I've unpacked what I have here with me, which isn't much since neither of the shipments have been delivered yet. The air shipment was supposed to beat me here by at least a day! Hopefully that will show up soon and at one point the estimated arrival for the surface shipment was the end of this week.

We've done some exploring of the city and the shopping options. Particularly the food shopping options, you know us. We have been quite pleased with what we've found, there's a bakery just a few doors away and a corner bodega. Not too far in one direction is a Migros and down near the train station (again, not too far) is a large Coop, we like this store a lot. We took a spin through the food offerings from Jelmoli and Globus, which are department stores but the basements remind us quite a bit of Whole Foods. We've spotted an amazing cheese shop and a couple of meat shops. Sure, the prices are steep, but there isn't much we haven't been able to find. I even found a pound of fresh spinach for the same price it would be in California. The dining out options are indeed expensive, but I think we'll have a great time cooking at home.

I am very happy to here, despite having to put a few things on hold until this cold blows over. Saturday we wandered around the city and saw at least twice as many people as I ever saw last Fall. There were also all kinds of festivities going on... street booths, fun bands, demonstrations, and crazy performance artists in ellaborate costumes. A very different Zürich than the one I met before. The apartment is amazing, the high ceilings and windows make for incredible light and the views in every direction are so pretty. We're very lucky to get to live here, CF says everyone is impressed when he tells them his address for the year. I'm just hiding out until I'm a bit more presentable. If we can drown our sorrows in enough vitamin C this week than this weekend we will start on our travel habit. A good one to set for the year!

I'll sign off with this silly band we saw on Saturday. I'm afraid this video doesn't do them justice. We had gone past them already but I went back to see them when I could hear old timey singing, which turned out to be through a megaphone. Soon after I stopped this video they did a whole chorus without actually playing, just doing exaggerated horn movements and then went right back into the song. The showy trombone player appears to be in charge, he started one song with some intense chanting right in the face of a pretty girl who happened to be walking by right then. It was amusing. CF and I both noticed: saxes in front! I looked up their website, which is a little confusing, but found photos of them in other crazy costumes. Maybe we'll encounter them with another look sometime soon.