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.

carousel

This carousel goes up on the Rathaus bridge each year during the month of September. There are several kinderkrippes (day care centers) in the Old Town near my office. For safety, all kids from the krippes have to wear these bright orange vests and hold hands to stay together. I often see groups of toddlers and their krippe supervisors walking hand in hand on their afternoon or morning walk. Sometimes the kids get a special treat and get to ride the carousel.

catching some rays

You may remember this kitty from this post a few months ago. It belongs to the owner of one of the art galleries on our street, and on a chilly but sunny day, he decided to stay inside and hang out on the sunny window sill, watching the world go by.

wedding photos

First a movie shoot, then a TV ad shoot, and now wedding photos - our street is so picturesque that you always find people taking advantage of its Old Town charm for their movie scenes and picures.

open & upside down

Um...dinner on the ceiling?

shiny happy aluminum people

You may be wondering what these space agey looking people are doing walking down the street in the Old Town. Well, apparently the street where my office is located is a really popular spot for shooting movies and commercials because today, for the second time in about three weeks, the street was partly shut down for another film crew. This time it appears that they were filming a public service announcement encouraging aluminum recycling. At one point, these shiny people were stuffed into the back of a truck marked "100% aluminum recycling" that was parked right below one of our windows. Suddenly they would jump out shouting "recycling! recycling! recycling!" They must have shot at least 20 takes of this little scene, so after hearing "recycling" at least 60 times over the course of the afternoon, I don't think we'll ever forget to recycle aluminum cans.


A few more pictures of the shoot here.

bright & empty

Outdoor seating at a popular touristy fondue restaurant in the Niederdorf is empty because it simply has been too cold to sit outside! People are already talking about snow on the mountains and skiing...

flowers & stripes

Just the front of one of the guild houses along the Limmatquai.

walking heads

According to legend, siblings Felix and Regula, along with their servant Exuperantius, were Roman Christians who fled to Zürich from the massacre of their legion in Valais in the third century AD. They were decapitated at the site of the Wasserkirche on the Limmat River for refusing to pray to the Roman gods. Following their execution, the martyrs picked up their heads and walked up the hill to the spot where they wished to be buried. Centuries later, when Charlemagne arrived at the gravesite of the three martyrs, his horse suddenly went down on its knees in deference to the saints buried there. Charlemagne then decided to found a church, which later became today's Grossmünster--one of the city's main landmarks.

karl der grosse

This image of Karl der Grosse, the German name for Charlemagne, sits above the entrance to the Zentrum Karl der Grosse, a restaurant and cultural center sitting in the shadow of the Grossmünster. According to legend, Charlemagne decided to found the Grossmünster on its current site, when his horse fell to its knees over the tombs of Felix and Regula, the city's patron saints, who had deserted their Roman legion and were later decapitated at the site of the nearby Wasserkirche.

black sky

Just another pretty sight on Oberdorfstrasse in the Old Town: one of the Grossmünster's sunlit spires set against an ominous looking sky, and some cool outdoor chairs at a sidewalk cafe.

Zürich goes Hollywood

All day yesterday, some scenes for an upcoming Swiss film were being shot in the Old Town. As I walked by, I stopped to take to take a few pictures, but was promptly told by one of the guys on the film crew that I wasn't allowed to do so. So, in true paparazzi form, I hid in a building across the street (i.e. my office), and proceeded to take pictures from the window. Unfortunately, the huge tree obstructed most of the view.

no men allowed

Located in the middle of town, on the left bank of the Limmat River near the Fraumünster church and the Stadthaus, the Frauenbad is a women-only swimming and sunbathing area. By night, it becomes the bar füss bar (not to be confused with the barfüsserbar!) and is open to everyone (including men). The bar is beautifully lit at night, and people can sit on the dock and soak their feet in the river while looking out at the surrounding buildings and churches in the Old Town.

classical buskers

An impromptu classical music concert on the street behind the Grossmünster.

backlit bottles

Just some bottles all lined up at the bar area of barfüsserbar (website still under construction) a trendy sushi restaurant/bar in the Old Town, which previously unbeknownst to us, also happens to be a gay bar. Not a big deal or anything, just kind of funny because we weren't expecting it. The sushi was pretty good too!

underground garbage

Workers gettting ready to install an underground household garbage disposal container in the Old Town. Trash must be placed in a specially marked, pricey garbage bag called 'Züri-Sack' which is essentially a trash tax encouraging people to produce less waste. So that's where the trash ends up .... And all this time I thought there were underground gnomes collecting the city's garbage, making sure we used the proper Züri-Sack and separated our trash from our recyclables properly. oh, wait a minute....I guess I got it all mixed up...the gnomes are for the gold...

sleeping swans

Looking across the river from Schipfe: Limmatquai, shops, Prediger Kirche--one of Zürich's many churches, and part of a University building on the upper left. What I like best about this shot though, are the sleeping swans, which are barely visible in the foreground. I guess it's because typically they're pretty aggressive (especially when it comes to fighting over bread crumbs), and at night when they are asleep they look so peaceful and harmless.

space guys

The same hair salon that had Chuckie look-alike dolls in their window display a few months ago, now has these little space dudes. Aren't they cute?

saftlade

This cheerful looking take-away stand called Saftlade serves up delicious freshly squeezed fruit juices, sandwiches, as well as a daily vegeterian menu option. I was initially drawn to this place by its brightly-painted facade and the food turned out to be quite good.

lunchtime stroll

I thought I'd try to be all artsy, and was just about to take a picture of these brightly colored table and chairs, well-- just because they're brightly colored, when this gentleman on his after-lunch stroll unwittingly walked right into my shot. I then decided it was a much more interesting picture with him in it.