Some Random Thoughts on Another Rainy/Sunny Day...

1.  In case you were wondering how the situation with upc cablecom turned out, I believe we are no longer in violation of our cable contract...


(One of) the great thing(s) about Macbooks is that you can take them into the Genius Bar at the Apple Store and get them to fix your problem for free...so much better, easier, cheaper, etc. than calling a random PC repair guy who is hard enough to find in the US, much less in Switzerland!  That is, as long as you have an Apple Store to go to... Fortunately, we have an Apple Store minutes away on Bahnhofstrasse...and also fortunate for me, I was able to quickly get an appointment!  As it turns out, my Mac was one of 700,000 Macs in the world that was infected with a particular malware via visits to hacked Wordpress blogs - see "Trojan Used Hacked Wordpress Sites to Carry Out Mass Mac Infections".  My Swiss Apple Genius Man quickly cleaned out the malware...and then cleaned my screen, keyboard and case to make them bright, shiny and new again...good as new,  in more ways than one!!   Take that, upc cablecom!


And by the way..."you're welcome" for being on Blogger instead of Wordpress :)


2.  Speaking of garbage...did you know we have special garbage bags here in Zürich?  Garbage will only be removed on garbage days in special "Züri-sacks."  Not only is it inconvenient (you can't just throw any old bag full of junk into the garbage cart)...it's expensive!  Each 35L Züri-sack is about 2 CHF - or over $2 for 35L of garbage...your average "tall kitchen bag" in the US is 13 gallons or almost 50L.  

A ZüriSack on its way out to the garbage cart.

That's why we Swiss are good recyclers...taking our green, brown and clear glass; aluminum, and oil to the neighborhood recycling center (I'm still searching for the PET recycling area that I'm told exists at every grocery store) and bundling up our newspapers (every other week) and cardboard (once a month).  Just be sure you know WHEN to take your glass down the street - recycling is only between the hours of 7 am and 7 pm - don't want to disturb the neighbors while we're saving the environment...and never on Sundays or holidays! :)

This is for green glass...

The metal one is over-flowing...a few too many Feldschossen cans I think...

The little soldiers ready and waiting (until 7 pm)

I really just added this because I wanted to translate what it says for myself
According to Google Translate I think this one is for the bags you bring your recyclables in...
but don't quote me!

3.  Speaking of Sundays...if you recall, nothing is open on Sundays.  It is supposed to be a family day, a day of rest, etc., etc.  I thought I read somewhere that you aren't supposed to do any work on Sunday - including laundry, cleaning, etc.  I usually end up doing laundry on Sunday because...what else is there to do??  I figure our washing machine and dryer are up on the second floor of our apartment, so there is one floor "cushion" between the laundry noises and the apartment below us...don't want to cause any problems.  But then who should I meet on my way out of the building on Sunday afternoon but our Swiss neighbor/landlady on the way down to the building laundry room with a load of laundry!  Guess maybe it isn't a problem after all...now if she could just get the stores to open on Sunday!


4.  Speaking of the apartment building inhabitants...you're all probably wondering why I haven't posted any photos of my buddy, "Fritz" lately...well, we're wondering too!  We haven't seen ol' Fritz since Easter weekend...and we're too scared to ask. 
I miss my little feline friend  :(

Just Another Day in Zürich

1.  I opened the following letter from our cable/internet company this morning...

upc cablecom abuse desk:  Important notice - please read!
             
Dear customer..
  
upc cablecom has been informed by a third party that viruses/worms/Trojan horses (so-called malware) have been sent via your Hispeed internet connection.  Malware jeopardises e-mail's function as a modern and reliable means of communication.  On the basis of the details listed below, we have ascertained that the recorded IP address was assigned to your Hispeed Internet connection on the specified date.
         
      IP Adress:  xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
     Abuse date:  09.04.2012 19:05:38
     Cablemodem adress (mac) : xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx


(I thought it best to leave the details out...internet security precautions you know)


The incident reported is in violation of article 12 of our Special conditions which you accepted together with the General Terms and Conditions on signing the contract.


We Assume that your computer is being misused by third parties or a virus/Trojan horse without your knowledge.  We therefore urgently request that you protect your computer.  At upc-cablecom.ch/security we offer you detailed information on how you can make your computer secure.


We kindly ask that you respond to this letter within 48 hours via upc-cablecom.ch/abusedesk quoting the abuse reference #xxxx and notify us of the protective measures that you have implemented.  We would be only too pleased to help you remedy the program.  Thank you for cooperating.

Well that didn't take long...we're already violating contracts and ruining the Swiss internet, great... 


2.  On a more exciting note...I went out to lunch today...with other people!  I had joined the Zurich American Women's Club a week or so ago and decided to check the other day if there were any activities coming up...and there was a lunch out today...so what the heck, why not?  It ended up being a very small (which was nice) group of women mostly my age or older (except for the one with the 8 month old!), most of which had some connection to some part of my life...lived in NJ, lived in the Midwest, lived in Japan...and one lives just across the park from us in Zurich!  I can go out on our terrace and practically spit on her apartment...how great is that??!! Yeah for me!


3.  Another exciting note...I was fortunate to garner a post on the #UWRightNow 4/18/12 website capturing 24 hours of what makes UW Madison so special...from the viewpoint of its students, staff, alumni, etc. both in Madison and all around the world!  


http://uwrightnow.wisc.edu/story/hello-from-switzerland/

Burn Baby Burn...Sechseläuten 2012

It's official...winter is over here in Zürich!  The Böögg has been burnt on its stake and we are ready for summer!  

The friendly looking Böögg...pre 6 pm.

Each year Zürich holds its spring festival, Sechseläuten, on the third Monday in April.  According to Wikipedia...Following the parade of the Zünfte (guilds), the climax of the holiday is the burning of Winter in effigy, in the form of the Böögg, a figure of a snowman prepared with explosives. The custom of burning a ragdoll called Böögg predates the Sechseläuten. A Böögg (cognate to bogey) was originally a masked character doing mischief and frightening children during the carnival season.

Father and son, post parade marching.

Despite the cold, rain, and lack of companionship...I wasn't going to miss this!  Armed with my trusty iPhone, digital camera, puffy down coat, boots and umbrella, I made my way down the hill to Bellevue and all the action!  I staked out a great place by a tree with a direct view of the Böögg...only 75 minutes or so until the lighting...sure wish I could go get one of those coffees...or a beer!

Guy next to me a little skeptical of the lady with the camera...notice the dog in her carrier...
Think they have an extra Feldschlösschen for me?

Lo and behold, 6 pm finally arrived and they began to torch the Böögg...I was going to capture it all from my awesome spot and post it for all my family and friends to enjoy.  Oops...switched it to movie mode, but forgot to push the button.  Go ahead, call me an idiot...I don't mind.  Actually the posting below from YouTube is probably better than mine would have been anyway...you're welcome!

Just starting...

Almost to the Böögg...

He's beginning to look like a yummy toasted marshmallow...

I believe the YouTube video above is from a local TV station.  It has some nice close-up shots and you can see more of the pageantry surrounding the event.  You don't need to watch the whole thing...feel free to skip ahead to the "big bang" at 12:08 on the counter.


P.S.  Check out the additional images from Sechselauten on my "Instagram Feed" on the right hand side of the blog...

Droid Lady...Where are You When I Need You????

"This weekend we're going to drive,"  Steve declared.  Two weeks ago we took a trip out to the 'burbs to hunt for light fixtures and other home furnishings via public transportation.  The public transportation here is terrific - except it's just hard to carry your new floor lamp home on the train...or walk with it the 1 km from the store to the train station.  Some things are just easier with your own car... Anyhow...we had purchased our lovely 2001 BMW X5 from Steve's predescesor - perfect car for a city with narrow streets and limited parking!  However, it has quite the lineage within the firm, and what the heck... a bargain by Swiss standards!  But the purchase price was just the beginning of the fun...

The car we have...

The car Swiss people have...

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• Insurance - When Steve called to sign up for car insurance, they wanted to know the date he got his driver's license...year?  No, not good enough...month?  No, still not good enough...What day did you receive your license?  Really?...so he gave them some random date in July 1976 (probably not the 4th...too much Bicentennial action going on :)...but how would they ever figure it out!  Are they really going to check with the Appleton, WI DMV???  More power to them if they can figure out that he gave them the wrong date!
• Where can you drive on the roads?  Although they drive on the "right" side of the road here in Switzerland, the appropriate driving lanes are a little complicated by the ever-present tram lines... Some lanes are tram only, and some are for trams and cars...always best to be following another car so you know which lanes you are allowed to be in.  Or maybe just take a better read through the book of rules...
• Service - Once again our apartment location works out well - the BMW service center is just down the road, less than 10 minute walk away.  The car has two sets of tires - one for winter, and one for summer - so Steve called to make an appointment to get the tires changed.  The costs to get the tires changed and re-balanced, etc. were not that significantly different from that in Summit.  But then he asked for an oil change...that will be 500 francs...almost $600!!!  Are you kidding me??  Where is the Jiffy Lube when you need one?  No wonder they recommend service only every couple of years when the car is "light use."  Just to be sure, Steve checked with other people at work to see if this was reasonable...they said they pay up to 800 francs...guess we're getting a bargain :)
•  License Plates - So we were finally about to set off on our adventure and I noticed he hadn't put the new license plates on.  Apparently he was told by the former owner that he had them put on at the dealership - he didn't know how to do it - so we'd just wait until we took it in to get the tires changed.  Almost as soon as we left the house some guy was beeping at us like crazy.  Finally he was able to pull up next to us and I think he was trying to tell us we better get our plates on or we're going to be in BIG trouble.  Fortunately they were in the car...so we got to our first destination, pulled them out, and what do you know...they pop right in!  No tools or anything needed...maybe it was too easy to figure out for us Americans!
• GPS - As with any self-respecting luxury car in the early 2000's, the old X5 has a built in GPS (and car phone!).  In English (a step above our old Japanese GPS in Tokyo...), but unfortunately 11 years old.  Our second destination (the above mentioned 'burbs) is in an area that wasn't built up 10 years ago...so we needed to add in the non-speaking GPS from the iPhone (what's with that?  I need to figure out how to make it talk like good old "Droid Lady"!)  to try to navigate.  Took a little bit of missed on-ramps and going around in circles, but we eventually made it and got some more needed purchases made.  Fortunately our 200+ year old apartment building WAS on the map in 2001, so we had no problems getting home!  In any event, at least for now...driving is a two person adventure!

We should probably take a better look at these before our next trip....

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever...

"No one stays in Zürich for Easter," we were told.  Nothing is open on Good Friday, Easter Sunday or Easter Monday (unless you're at the airport...or a main train station...with everyone else who needs a liter of milk...not fun!) - so it is best to "get out of Dodge" and find someplace fun to go.  Since we just finished with our visit from "the boys" on Friday, we decided to leave on Saturday for a relaxing two night trip to the Italian speaking part of southern Switzerland, Lugano, in the canton of Ticino.  After a quick 2 hour 40 minute trip through the mountains, we were transported from the land of "yah, yah" and "grüezi" to our own little Swiss slice of Italy with its "si" and "buon giorno" and of course, the multi-purpose word of choice..."prego!"  What a beautiful place!

We easily found our AWESOME hotel, the Hotel Lugano Dante Center where we had booked the "Easter in the City" two night special.  Not only did it include an awesome breakfast buffet every morning, FREE mini bar in the room (nonalcoholic drinks only, but FREE), Easter treats, a 10% discount on the room rate...and these cute little guys floating in our bathroom sink when we entered!

The little card included with Frau and Herr Duck says, "A day without LAUGHTER is a WASTED one."

If you ever have the opportunity to go to Lugano, I highly recommend this hotel.  Not only is it a perfect location right in the heart of the old town and a short funicular ride up to the train station, but the staff could not have been more helpful or friendly...just a great place in every way.

What's not to like about a hotel that has big jars of candy for the taking right at the front desk?

We spent Saturday afternoon wandering around.  There was a special street fair set up for Easter weekend, but unfortunately none of the booths had anything that we just had to have.  Although the forecast had said rain, the afternoon started out beautifully, and we even enjoyed a delicious salad lunch outside right across from the lake.  Eventually the forecast caught up with us and a rainstorm let loose - putting a damper on our shopping and exploring until a little later when we were able to check out some of the sculptures and gardens along the lakeshore.

It's pouring!  Good thing we found cover.

Giant head by Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj who is apparently putting such sculptures all over the squares of Europe.

Sculpture and flowers.

More sculpture.

More sculpture AND flowers!

Dinner was at Parq, a relatively new international asian fusion kind of restaurant near...you guessed it, the park!  Check out their website at www.parq.ch.  Although there isn't much info there, it is a lot of fun to click around!


Easter Sunday morning we woke to brilliant sunshine!  A little colder and windier than hoped for, but sunshine nonetheless!  We had hoped to go to mass at the Cathedral San Lorenzo at the top of the hill above us, but once we climbed up there we found that it appears to be under massive renovation and was closed, with a sign indicating Easter weekend masses at nearby Chiesa di San Antonio.  Although all in Italian, we at least caught some familiar phrases, like "e con il tuo spirito" (and with your spirit) which by the way, hasn't made it yet to the English Speaking Catholic Mission of Zurich which still uses "and also with you."  We had finally gotten used to all that new wording...woe is us when we get back to St. Teresa's in Summit!

We got there a little early....

After mass and breakfast we were off to the funicular at San Salvatore - a short 20 minute walk down to the Lugano suburb of Paradiso.  The funicular takes you up just about to the top of this 2,990 foot peak and offers unbelievable panoramic views - particularly on a clear day such as this!  After getting off the funicular, it is another 5 minute walk up to the top with its 360 degree views.  The views were unbelievable!  But the farther up you got, the colder and windier it was - it was actually so windy it was a little scary to be up on top - you really wanted to be set somewhere when the gusts came along.  The air was so clear, you could see even see Monte Rosa, the tallest peak in Switzerland at 15,200 feet (the infamous Matterhorn is only 14,690) and located way over in the Zermatt region. 

The funicular!

View of Lugano and suburbs below.

Milan, Italy is in the distance.

Monte Rosa is visible through the cloud line, right about in the middle.

Zoom in on Monte Rosa.

Quick photo opp on a level down from the top - way too windy on the very top to stand near the edge...

Old-fashioned poster for San Salvatore - the line going up is the funicular - it was built 120 years ago!

We then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon walking around town on the sunny side of the street - I don't think this is the kind of weather they were expecting for Easter - about 50 degrees (and 40 degree wind chill??)

Interestingly pruned trees lining the walkway along Lake Lugano - wonder what they'll look like in summer?

The Lugano Tourist Train is everywhere...a little reminiscent of the Door County Cherry Train...especially in the wind!

Bellissimo!

Another scrumptious dinner at La Cucina di Alice (see http://www.lacucinadialice.ch/) where we were even served by Alice herself!  Early (8:10) train back to Zurich on Monday morning (Easter Monday is a holiday in Switzerland)...and what do we find coming out of a tunnel...???

Yikes!  Looks like fresh snow!  Hopefully not in Zurich....

Fortunately there's no snow in Zurich.  A little chilly for my liking, but hopefully it will warm up again soon!  Ciao!  

In the Land of Chocolate and Cheese

For the boys’ final day in Zürich, we decided that a trip to the chocolate factory was in order.  Everyone knows that Swiss chocolate is the best, and one of the most famous (at least from what I can tell) is Lindt and/or Sprüngli.  The Lindt Sprüngli factory is a short bus ride down the lake, and despite the fact that they have no factory tours, they do have a factory outlet store…and a special “Ostern” (Easter) store too!  The smell of chocolate definitely permeated the air as we searched for the entrance to the Ostern store and replica chocolate bunnies were everywhere!  The boys loaded up on souvenirs, gifts and snacks for a quick sugar high.  As I gave up candy for Lent, I´ve yet to try it out, but I have quite a selection for Easter Sunday and beyond!

Lindt "bunny mobile" - too cute!

The golden bunnies were everywhere!

This is what happens when a mom comes along with a camera - "Now let's take your picture with the bunny..."

Bunny-zilla!!

That night they wanted to go out for traditional Swiss cheese fondue, so we headed to Swiss Chuchi in the Hotel Adler as recommended by our favorite European travel buddy, Rick Steves.  The place was a little touristy (strange for a Rick Steves´ recommendation)....and extremely cheesey smelling.  The cheese fondue was okay...nothing to write home about...a pot of REALLY hot cheese with a basket of bread cubes for a mere 25 to 30 Swiss francs - what a bargain!    How about some apple cubes...or a couple of pieces of broccoli?  (Caroline would never serve cheese fondue with just bread :)  In any event, it was a nice final dinner with our guests, and sufficient sustenance for them to set out on their final night clubbing in the heart of Europe!

Connor and the cheese fondue

Finally a picture that proves Steve and I are here too!

On their way to O'Hare, and then back to school...that's why they look so happy!  Either that or they are still on a sugar high from the Lindt factory shopping trip!

Spring Break on the .ch Network

Sorry for the lack of blog posts this past week…but our first set of visitors kept me quite busy!  Connor and friends Dan, Doug and Greg arrived early afternoon on Sunday, April 1, and the fun began…no fooling!  Despite my instructions to sleep on the plane, the lure of free movies was too much for most of them to pass up and not much sleeping took place…except by Doug whose tv screen wasn’t working!  Nevertheless, they powered through after a brief afternoon nap to come out with us to Zürich’s famous beer hall, Zeughauskeller, for a hearty dinner of sausages, veal Zurich, pay-by-the-roll breadbasket and of course, the first of many beers.

They're here!

Chilling in the living room.

Enjoying refreshments at Zeughauskeller.

Unfortunately the weather forecast for the week was not so good.  Sunday and Monday were forecast to be sunny, but predictions for Tuesday through Thursday were lots of rain…not so good for touring around.  As some of the guys wanted to try out the Alps, we decided to make the trip to the mountains on Monday while the weather was still good.  They thought they wanted to go to Interlaken, but getting up at 11 am doesn’t work too well for a 2 hour train ride if you still want to ski before the day is over.  Instead, our landlady suggested that we try out Engelberg with its many ski areas nearby.  After a one hour train ride to Luzern, we hopped on another half hour train to Engelberg and then set upon a series of gondolas, cable cars and the infamous 360 degree Titlis Rotair to the top of Mt. Titlis at 10,000 ft.!  Originally Greg and Doug were the ones who intended on tackling the slopes while Dan and Connor would keep me company in the lodge or whatever.  As we came upon the rugged snowy Alps, Doug began to realize that his one time skiing at Tyrol Basin in flat-as-a-board Wisconsin might not quite be enough in the way of experience.  This is Switzerland, after all – not “Little Switzerland”!  So Doug and Dan switched places and Dan and Greg, “coasties” that they are, went on to tackle the slopes.  Although they only got to ski/board for about 2 hours before everything closed at 6, they said it was worth every franc…and much harder in spots than they ever imagined!  Meanwhile Connor, Doug and I enjoyed a relaxing little snack and beer in the restaurant at the top before heading down on the “Rotair” with every Chinese tourist in Switzerland….lucky we EVER got close to the windows!

Greg and Dan ready to roll.

We're certainly not in Wisconsin anymore...

On the gondola ride up to the top.

Restaurant at the top.

The sign proves it...at 10,000 feet!

Dan makes it down to the "finish"

Greg is the snowboarder approaching the end.

Final shot from the gondola down.

Being spring break…and in Europe…the boys were not going to pass up the chance to go clubbing.  Every night they set out (about the same time Steve went to bed) to check out the clubs looking for fun.  The first night was pretty much a bust – 15 franc drinks and no one out, but the waitress gave them a list of places to go the following nights that might be more their style.  That seemed to work out well as they stayed out till all hours enjoying Zurich’s nightlife – it will be a few years before they are able to do that in the states...the drinking age here is 16!  A long walk home each night (30 minutes or so), but they seemed to find some fun and even made it onto the “.ch” network (photographer posting on the internet from a night at Kaufleuten, one of their first stops)  Despite some very late nights for dear old mom (who refuses to go to bed until they are safely home), a good time was had by all…what happens in Zürich stays in Zürich!

Unfortunately I have no photos to share of their night time activities! :)