My son and I just moved to Zurich, Switzerland about 2 weeks ago and we are finally starting to get settled in. My boyfriend, Marco, did a great job of getting our apartment all set-up with the exception of the main furniture pieces that I wanted help him pick out.
It's so beautiful here and the culture is so different in lots of very subtle ways, many of which you might miss if you aren't looking for them. It's a very safe and clean city, people are very trusting and many things operate on the honor system. For instance, at the main train station, there is a huge bike rack area where you see hundreds of bikes left each morning by the trains' passengers and I can count on one hand how many are chained up with a lock...the rest are just laid there assuming no one will mess with them. The curbs of their streets and sidewalks are granite and pre-school aged children usually walk to school alone with no adult supervision.
Perhaps my favorite thing so far is the amazing food and how different the food culture is here. It's funny to see the difference when I am checking out at the grocery store. I look around at all of the other customers and it's nothing like it is back home. Everyone is unloading only fresh items from their carts...vegetables, pasta, eggs, milk, bread made fresh daily, handmade pastires. You won't see one person with a frozen pizza box, pre-packaged dinners, or boxes of snacks. In fact, those things are hard to find at these stores. What they call a "chain" italian restaurant is more authentic than anything I've seen in the U.S with fresh ingredients and they prepare the entire meal in front of you. I can't wait to visit the neighboring countries and taste the real thing. For now, I am just enjoying the yummy cheeses, wines and fresh pasta.
I am loving the location of our apartment. We are just a few blocks from everything: the train station, the tram and bus stop, the Billiard Club, a nice mall, etc. There are also about 5 grocery stores within a block or 2 and a farmers market down the street 2 times a week. Zurich is also in a great location, just an hour from Austria, Germany and the Alps...so much to see!
Now that we are settled in, I am looking forward to experiencing the pool culture in my new country and will be sure to report on some of the interesting things. Marco and I have some fun things planned for the pool community here in this region of Europe so I am looking forward to getting things rolling with our plans...more info to come soon.
0 comments:
Post a Comment