swiss pride

This patriotic little scooter was parked in front of a souvenir shop. As I was about to walk away, the shop owner came running out and insisted on taking my picture with the scooter. She was clearly very proud of her scooter because she kept on repeating that it was hers and that I should sit on it. She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. You can ask, you can plead, you can beg - but I will not post the silly picture of myself on the scooter. Plus, the woman cut off part of my head in the picture.

sunday underground shopping

All stores in Switzerland are closed on Sundays, with the only exception being small shops and grocery stores at major transportation hubs, such as train stations and airports. Pictured here is part of the ShopVille-RailCity shopping area below the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (aka Zurich HB or Zurich main station), which houses an assortment of cheap-y clothing stores, souvenir shops, shoe stores, newspaper kiosks, a small electronics store, and some other random shops. The Migros store is the main grocery store in the Zurich HB, and if you absolutely must pick up some groceries at the Zurich HB on a Sunday, be prepared to brave major crowds and long lines at the registers!

book [suit] cases

This antique luggage shop also sells used books, mostly in English. What? Antique luggage, you say? Who buys antique luggage anyway? How does this place stay in business? Who knows...perhaps it's the used books...

like clockwork

In most other cities, posted bus schedules are merely an indicator or guideline (give or take, 5, 15, or even 30 minutes) as to when a bus might come by. In some places, schedules don't even exist, and you just stand there hoping that your bus or train will show up at some point in the near future. Here, the tram and bus shedules are exact. If it says that the tram will be there at 17:47, 98% of the time the tram will pull up to your stop at precisely 17:47. I was once asked by a fellow passenger at a tram stop if I knew whether something was wrong with the trams, or whether any schedule changes had been announced, because the tram was already running one minute late! I didn't know of anything. And of course, the tram showed up a few seconds later.

lost...and found!

A few days ago, I lost my hat at some point during my lunch break. In pretty much every other place I've lived, whenever I lost a glove, a scarf, or a hat, or when I forgot something on the subway (which happened quite often), I just had to accept that it was gone for good...Here, people often pick up a found item and place it in a nearby visible spot such as a window sill, a bench, a sign, or a post, in the hopes that the rightful owner will come back and find it. Otherwise, they hand it in to the Fundburo. So yesterday on my way to work, I was thrilled to find my hat hanging on a railing on our street, especially because I had just spent almost 2 months knitting a scarf to match the hat. The scarf is not quite done yet, but I was ready to chuck the whole thing once its matching hat was seemingly lost. One nice thing about living here is that people are so....trustworthy.

lindenhof

Just a pretty winter scene at the Lindenhof.

out of towners

I spotted these two out of town visitors at a take away stand in the Niederdorf area.

take our picture!

These people in the cafe thought that I was taking their picture. So they sat pretty and posed. But really, I was just going for the reflection of the Grossmunster.

diligent workers

Another shot from the first snowfall of the year. Though it was snowing heavily, these dedicated city workers proceeded with the important task of fixing some wiring over the Limmatquai. No slacking off in Switzerland - rain, or shine, or snow...

wef

Every year, right around the time of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is currently underway in Davos, protesters hit the town with spray paint. The Old Town, where I work, is usually hardest hit. Our office wasn't spared. Neither was the Grossmunster (church).

snow on cobblestones

First snowfall of the season (finally!) in Zurich was actually two days ago, when this picture was taken.