August 11

Everything is closed in Zurich on Sunday. And I mean everything, even the grocery store. People are not allowed to work, there is even an ordinance that prohibits doing yard work on Sundays. This means Saturdays are for shopping, and if you’re us, apartment hunting. This past Saturday we looked at four apartments, one of which we really liked and applied for. The others were charming in their own ways but had deal-breakers (one bedroom, busy street, poor light). After looking at apartments all morning we had lunch at the first all vegetarian restaurant in the world. Hilt, established in 1898, is a Zurich institution. It’s a buffet style restaurant and we piled our plates high with all sorts of delicious grub at one of their locations near the apartment we liked.

After lunch we decided to head to Zurich’s one and only mall. As I mentioned before, it’s been so very hot here and with no AC we needed a fan. We also needed to get a new phone for me and cell service for both us. Missions accomplished we headed home, Tyler being tasked with hiking the fan up to the apartment while I made a last trip to the market for weekend supplies (cold beer and sausage, of course).

On Sunday we decided to explore our preferred neighborhood a bit further. We have been looking for apartments in Kreis 7 and 8 (near the woody area by the zoo) and so took the tram to the last stop up the hill. Here’s one of those famous Swiss trams on a Sunday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First stop on our tour was FIFA Headquarters!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being Sunday, it was all closed but there were a number of tourists milling around and taking pictures.

We then proceeded up the hill and took one of Zurich’s many walking trails through the woods towards the Seefeld area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our walk we came across a few community gardens that pepper the green areas of the city. Each person gets their own little garden hut to go with their plot and many are decorated like little mountain retreats. We even saw a few scofflaws watering their vegetables on Sunday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we winded our way down towards the city center we found that Zurich has many little paths that cut through some of the blocks, very much like the paths of the Berkeley/Kensington hills. Up there, we were afforded many lovely views of the lake and city below.

 

 

 

 

 

As we neared the city the clouds above began to roll in, offering much appreciated respite from the stifling heat. Here are a few shots from our city center ambling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were nearing home the skies opened up and it began to pour. It felt great but without umbrellas or jackets we hopped on a passing tram and headed for home. A great first weekend for me. I’m finally over my jet lag and it’s cooled down a bit so the cats (and me) are significantly more comfortable. Last night (Monday) we looked at one more apartment and guess what, we fell in love! We decided we liked it better than the one we had applied for on Saturday and are asking Aline to aggressively pursue it for us (which as it turns out may or may not include a little baksheesh to the current tenants to advocate for us). Wish us luck!