mmmmm...stinky, melty, cheeeeese...

Along with glühwein and bratwurst, raclette stands are standard fare at all Christmas markets in Switzerland (and pretty much every single other outdoor or indoor event, festival or fair, for that matter). The blocks of cheese are heated, and the melty outer layer is scraped onto a flimsy paper plate and served with some potatoes or onions or pickles.

But you can't fully appreciate the raclette experience unless you catch a whiff of the stuff. If only the 'internets' came with some sort of 'smell-o-vision'...

soldiers

Decorative nutcrackers standing guard at the Christmas market.

fed up

Just a little break from all the holiday cheer... I know I'm not really supposed to post more than one picture each day, but since I've missed some of the last few weeks, and since this was too funny to pass up, here it goes...

I found this sign on a fence on my street today. Someone in my neighborhood has not been picking up Fido's poop, and the neighbors are rightfully outraged. It reads: "Hey, we're fed up with this sh*t!" with the arrow pointing to the offending, um, gift on the sidewalk. Don't worry, I won't gross you out with any pics of what was left behind--Eric in Paris already did that with his Theme Day post last February. Love how they've provided the doggy bags, which are already available in all public parks, for this person's added convenience.

I'm just contributing my part by publicly shaming the culprit into picking up after his or her pooch.

all neon like*

A stall at the outdoor Christmas market in Niederdorf selling fluorescent decorative...uh,...I don't even know what these are...


*Björk

yum!

Traditional Christmas goodies for sale at the Christmas market in the Hauptbahnhof (train station).

starry night

Christmas decorations on a side street in downtown Zurich.

conelli

Each year during Christmas season, The Conelli Circus tent goes up on the Bauschänzli, a small island that used to be part of the city's fortifications. This acrobatic circus has been putting on its Christmas performance here for the past 25 years. I must admit that I've never been, but it looks kind of cool all lit up at night.

pink clouds

Up until this morning, it had been raining for much of the past week. However, the sun did attempt to make a brief appearance one late afternoon--just long enough to give the clouds a pink hue.

ornaments

Christmas cheer and decorations are all around. These rows of Christmas trees are standing outside the café next to the Kunsthaus. You can even see the reflection of one of the outdoor sculptures in the ornament.

colors reflected

Colored windows of a building in Schipfe reflected in the Limmat

cool cat

with a cigar

sticker found on a post on Limmatquai

on the outside looking in

At around 10 p.m., when the "convenience" store has already closed...

chapel steps

Slowly, slowly, getting back into the swing of things and building up a new stock of pictures for your daily viewing pleasure. Pictured here is the view through the banister on the steps leading up to the chapel behind the Grossmunster.

hats

It's coooold outside! Time to get my winter hat out. Or buy a new one, perhaps from this zany little hat shop on Froschaugasse...

fire

Well, I'm back from my mostly internet-free vacation, and after giving myself a few days to recover from jet lag and settle back in, I'm back to my daily photo routine. Unfortunately, I'm starting off with a rather depressing post...

Last night, at around 11:30 pm, a huge fire broke out at the Zunfthaus zum Zimmerleuten, the carpenters' guildhouse on the Limmatquai. Firefighters worked through the night to contain itand prevent it from spreading to neighboring buildings, but the bulding was pretty much destroyed. Sadly, one firefighter was killed when the roof collapsed. As of this morning, the building was still smoldering, and the Limmatquai and the nearby Munsterbrucke (bridge) have been shut down to all traffic, including trams, all day. Thankfully, the fire didn't spread. No word on possible causes yet.

You can see the Grossmunster sitting right behind the guildhouse, and my office is further up the hill behind the Grossmunster.
.

You may have caught glimpses of this beautiful historic building by the river here and here

ferien

Hello fellow DP'ers, friends, and regular visitors. I'm off on vacation for two weeks and will have iffy access to computers & internet. I may post a few stock photos occasionally, and will do my best to post on November 1st for Daily Photo Theme Day. However, I'm not making any promises. I'll be back in mid November. In the meantime, to get your daily Zürich fix, visit Richard's blog at http://zurich.dailyphoto.forthmedia.com/dailyphoto/

"mirror, mirror..."

the 'cool' kids...

...always sit in the back. or at least that's how it was on the school bus in grade school...

herbie!

The Love Bug in Zürich...found parked on Limmatquai.

stadelhofen

Commuter train pulling into Stadelhofen, which several readers have pointed out was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. In the background, you you'll notice the curvy footbridge that has been featured in previous posts.

"coffeine"

café angst: someone has a rather bleak outlook on things...

"rubber duckie, you're the one...

...you make bathtime lots of fun..."

.

window display at a housewares store in the Old Town

huh?!?

Don't even ask what this was all about, because I have absolutely no idea. I spotted this man in drag sporting a humongous, um, afro (?) with an oversized bow, strutting down Bahnhofstrasse at lunch time. This certainly earned him some strange looks from passersby (check out the old guy in the second picture). It must have been a photo shoot for something because there was a professional photographer and a woman who kept on stopping to fix and touch up his, uh, wig. The funniest part was when the guy walked by the Bulgari (jewelry) store, stopped in his tracks and squealed (yes, he squealed) , "oooh, Bulgari! I loooooove Bulgari!!" The photographer had to urge him to move along.

Touching up

I've been tagged by Jazzy in Tuzla, and now I'm supposed to reveal 8 things you probably don't know about me:

1. I speak 4 1/2 languages, German being the half language (more like only 1/4 language) because I find it so incredibly difficult. The others were easy peasy in comparison.
2. I know how to knit, but nothing more complicated than a scarf or a hat...
3. My immediate family is scattered across 3 different continents.
4. My left foot is slightly bigger than my right foot.
5. I don't know how to whistle.
6. When I was little, I used to be terrified of dogs. I used to run away from them screaming and crying, and of course they would chase after me. Somehow I got over that, and now I really want a pet dog.
7. I learned how to snowboard when I came to Switzerland, but I'm still scared of speed.
8. I have two passports.

These are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight (or three or four) people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

Now it's my turn to tag a few other bloggers. I'm only tagging 4 people because most other Daily Photo Bloggers I checked have already been tagged by someone else...

Fenix in Boston, USA
M. Benaut in Adelaide, Australia
Sapra in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Xana in Figueira da Foz, Portugal

fall

Fall is definitely here, and these pumpkins and gourds are beautifully displayed at the entrance to the café at the Kunsthaus Zürich, promoting its seasonal menu. Some of my favorite things about fall: kürbis suppe (pumpkin soup), heisse marroni (roasted chestnuts) stands everywhere, truffle pasta, and fall foliage/colors. ha ha...just realized that most of my fall favorites involve food! what do you like most about fall?

flughafen again

Apologies, apologies, apologies. Once again I was traveling with no access to a computer. Been traveling alot lately, which is one of the advantages of living in the center of Europe. So here's yet another shot of Zürich's photogenic airport, which is always nice to come back to after spending some time in a large chaotic city (well, chaotic in comparison to Zürich) where you can't understand the language, or even read the street signs.

triangles & elipses

looking towards thes sky inside the Sihlcity shopping center

from the waist down

This was a completely accidental shot. A few weeks before I joined the Daily Photo Community, the monthly theme day was "From the waist down" This could have been my entry.

home sweet home

sweet and simple little stencil found in Kreis 5

tower

Technically not in Zürich, but close enough. Went for a walk in Sihlwald just outside the city, along the Sihl River (which joins the Limmat River close to the center of the city). In addition to all the woods and nature, this was one of the interesting, less natural sights.

just a peaceful park scene in the fall...

well...actually, if you look closely, you'll notice a few tombstones here and there, hidden amongst the shrubs. The Swiss sure know how to make things look pretty, and their cemeteries are no exception. Since I still have plenty of cemetery pictures (which happen to be perfect for Halloween month) that I took for the October 1st Theme Day, I'll probably be posting a few more of these over the course of the month.

matchy matchy II

It's waaay cuter when little kids wear matching outfits than when the adults do it.

Did your parents dress you and your siblings in matching outfits when you were small?

lounging around

In the bar/lounge area of the ticketing & information center of the Zurich Film Festival. It's a cool temporary setup overlooking the river.

cloudy in the city...

...sunny in the mountains...This is the view of the Alps from Zuriberg, just outside the cemetery. The lake is actually just beyond the trees, before the first set of hills. Usually it's too hazy to see the mountains this clearly. To see the lake and the mountains, click here.

tombstones & cemeteries

Pictured here is Zürich’s Friedhof Fluntern cemetery, in the Zuriberg hills, next to the zoo. I really like the idea of placing a stone on top of the tombstone, marking one's visit. On a clear day, you can see the Alps from here.

a really sweet tombstone ornament

and...

...lots of flowers...

To see Friedhof Fluntern's most famous 'resident,' click here.

As always, the first day of the month is Daily Photo Theme Day. To visit tombstones and cemeteries in over 100 cities around the world, follow the links below:

St. Louis (MO), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Mainz, Germany - Hyde, UK - Arlington (VA), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Toulouse, France - Arradon, France - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Joplin (MO), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Seattle (WA), USA - Baziège, France - Baltimore (MD), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Anderson (SC), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Nashville (TN), USA - Tenerife, Spain - Manila, Philippines - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Jacksonville (FL), USA - River Falls (WI), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - Lubbock (TX), USA - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Moscow, Russia - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Minneapolis (MN), USA - New Orleans (LA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand - London, England - Paderborn, Germany - The Hague, Netherlands - Selma (AL), USA - Sunderland, UK - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Stavanger, Norway - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Forks (WA), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Boston (MA), USA - Sydney, Australia - Wellington, New Zealand - Montpellier, France - Jackson (MS), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Evry, France - Saarbrücken, Germany - New York City (NY), USA - Santa Fe (NM), USA - North Bay (ON), Canada - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Cypress (TX), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Paris, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Wichita (Ks), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Prague, Czech Republic - Zurich, Switzerland - Budapest, Hungary - Paris, France - Saigon, Vietnam - Grenoble, France - Zurich, Switzerland - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Naples (FL), USA - Toronto (ON), Canada - Sequim (WA), USA - Chicago (IL), USA

babushka

several versions of these babushka or matryoshka doll stickers have been popping up around town, mostly on the backs of signs.

missed...

...the tram...

zurich film festival

The third (yes, it's a fairly new event) annual Zurich Film Festival, which runs until October 7th, kicked off last night and will be showing over 50 feature films, documentaries, short, and animated films. It's a great opportunity to catch a number of independent and foreign films that might not make it to the regular theatres. Films will be competing in three categories: "Debut Feature" "New Fiction Feature" and "Documentary Feature." There is also a series showcasing new Russian cinema, as well as a film series tribute to Director Oliver Stone, who will be making a special appearance to collect an award in his honor. Pictured here is the Festival's info. & ticket center, which was set up on the Limmatquai, next to the Rathaus bridge.

lokal bar

Went back to El Lokal. Just observing all the activity at the bar from above.

barbie vespa

I was having lunch outside near the Grossmunster, when this long-haired manly man, with a goatee, and dressed mostly in black, zoomed by on this pink pastel colored vespa. Oh how I wish I had whipped out my camera faster and gotten a better shot! I cropped the photo to get a closer view of the guy, but can't make it any bigger.

swing...and...jump!

We got lucky and had one last blast of summery weather this past weekend, so fealressguys were out again performing some crazy stunts: swinging, jumping, back flipping, and diving into the lake from such great heights!

the thinker

Rodin's "The Thinker" wearing a business suit in a park in Zürich.

sharpie pen mural

I took this picture a long time ago, and have been sitting on it for awhile. This is a small detail of a hand drawn mural that someone put up on a plywood construction barrier along the river. The entire thing was intricately done with a permanent marker. This has been up for several months, but the construction barrier was taken down at some point within the last week or two. So it's about time I post this for posterity...

To see more details of the mural, click here.