Carefully Consuming Cheese, Coffee, and Chocolate

Spring time is here, and with spring comes delicious food and flowers. I noticed these precious little guys popping out on the little walkway that leads down to my street.





Since my last entry, the weather has been much milder. The sun is shining more regularly, allowing me to be more awake and happy (although the chocolate-covered espresso beans really aren't hurting), and it has been warm enough to be cold without a coat and overheated with one. I have made some really nice friends. A couple of Saturdays ago, Eva (the tall Austrian girl to the left in the picture below), Sibylle (the shorter German girl) and I went on a grand tram tour of Zurich. We visited a large shopping mall that I hadn't known about earlier.




Unfortunately, Eva was tired from partying all night long with her co-workers, so we went to a Starbucks to chill. I got a Java chip frappaccino and a tomato mozzarella basil pesto sandwich. It was delicious. Amazingly delicious. And expensive. Amazingly expensive. After parting from Eva, Sibylle and I went shopping in the main station. We, of course, went right back into the chocolate shop I mentioned earlier (Merkur). This time a man was making a cute chocolate duck, and gave us samples of orgasmically dark chocolate.

The following day, the three of us went ice skating. It was the last day that the outdoor skating rink was open (apparently it's the largest outdoor one in Europe, although it really wasn't very enormous). Ice skating is really REALLY difficult! Of course, it was exacerbated by the fact that Eva and I accidentally switched ice skates. I wear a size 38 and she wears 42 (European), so this was enough to really hurt my feet. When we took a pause, we noticed that my skates were larger than hers and switched back. I was kind of pathetic--with Sybille grabbing one of my hands and Eva grabbing the other, I was able to make slow circles around the perimeter of the rink. I finally decided to stop being much of a hindrance, and after a short pause to rest my aching feet, I skated back and forth while holding on to the far wall. It got to be more and more fun the more carefree I was, but my posture still wasn't correct. I want to try again in the future. (Pictures pending--they were taken on Sibylle's camera.)

Last Tuesday, we had a fondue party in the apartment. Six of the girls attended. We melted cheese in a pot on the stove and then transferred it to this bowl on top of a little flame. And I folded the napkins into little boats (how cute am I).



We had little pickled cucumbers, pickled onions, salad, pineapple, and cut up bread into small pieces. Each girl dipped pieces of bread (or pineapple) into the cheese and ate. To be honest, I wasn't very fond of the cheese--it's really really sharp and my pallet can't take it yet. But it was a really fun time and the pineapple was delicious. Pictured here are Isa, Bille, Heike, Eva, and Eleonora, from left to right.



Also (this blog entry never ends...) Eva and I went to the movies last Saturday. We say "Marley & Me" in German. The movie theatre experience is pretty similar, except there's a short intersession in the middle of the film. It was a cute movie and I understood a good portion of it! I am happy to report that my German is actually improving enough that I am no longer totally afraid to talk to people in the streets and in shops and stuff.

Oh, and Sibylle insists that she's not a vampire, but I think she's really trying to get me off her trail. When I arrive in Boston on Thursday, I need to remember to buy a stake.

A Clear Day?! With Sunlight?!

So the sun decided to come out yesterday. As we are nearly 50^o from the equator, surrounded by mountains, and covered in a perpetual layer of clouds, this is a rather momentous occasion. Elenora and I of course decided to go to the lake, as, unlike our room mates (who are apparently vampires), we are used to seeing the sun.

We first decided to shop a bit at Bahnhofstrasse. The main event there was entering the chocolate shop. We both have to shop for chocolate, as we are about to see our relatives (and my sister will kill me if I don't bring her back some of Switzerland's best). Immediately before entering, the sweetly heady scent of excellent chocolate wafted into the street. A lady with a tray of free samples offered us a taste, which we gladly took. Mine was a heavenly bit of dark mocha with the light touches of wafer. As we browsed the shelves of different chocolates I noticed some workers in the back stirring large melted pots of chocolate, some pouring them into bunny-shaped casks, and yet others cracking previously poured casks. These bunnies were being made fresh in the back of the store as they were being sold. I was taken aback by the endless varieties of truffles and pralines, everything somewhat expensive, but appearing to be very much worth it.



After a bit more window shopping, we went down to the lake. The sun was hovering just over the mountains, sending shimmering beams of light to dance among the ripples of water. After basking in the glorious sunlight, I began to notice the huge varieties of fowl that were apparently enjoying the weather as well.






Apparently this little orange-headed guy is called a Red-chrested Pochard. Isn't he adorable?!








A little further to the west, there is a strange statue of a man and a bird, the significance of which I don't quite understand. However, when trying to take a shot of him, a flock of something decided to fly by. I'm pretty sure the man, with his arm in the air, summoned them to scare me off.



The following pictures are taken from the opposite side of the street. Peering down where the lake turns into a river allows one to see downtown Zurich and some pretty cool landmarks which I have yet to visit.




I also have yet to ride the ferry, which will apparently start going across the lake regularly come April.



And this is how happy Italians are in the sunlight:



Love,
Asma

Co$t of ₤iving

I decided to make some salsa and a sandwich the other day. I noticed that this meal (along with the fruit juice) covered a good variety of food types, and decided to take the opportunity to show how expensive groceries are in Zurich. The first column of the table gives the price as written on the foodles, and the second column is my conversion of the price into units that American people can understand.

Food	CHF	USD
Chili Pepper	18 / kg	7.44 / lb
Tomato	2.70 / kg	1.12 / lb
Orange bell pepper	4.30 / kg	1.78 / lb
Lemon	0.80 ea	0.73 ea
Cilantro	0.10 / g	2.6 / oz
Onion	6.2 / kg	2.6 / lb
Fresh bread roll	0.60 ea	0.55 ea
Turkey breast	35 / kg	14.46 / lb
Mixed lettuce	19.60 / kg	8.10 / lb
Fruit juice	2.30 / L	7.43 / gal
Mayonnaise	7.1 / kg	2.93 / lb

To be frank, things really aren't as bad as I thought they would be!

In other news, here's my first attempt at a panorama:



It really sucks; I intentionally didn't match up the contrast/brightness cause I think it kinda looks cooler this way. All the same, I am going to try to go back on a less foggy day and redo it. This is the view that can be seen on the way from my home to the ETH Hoenggerberg campus. When the lighting is right, all of Zurich can be seen beneath you. Unfortunately the sun almost never comes out! I might have to wait until summer to get great pics.

So here are some leftovers from previous photo-shoots that didn't make it in due to a lethal combination of laziness and bandwidth.


Some birds flying at the lake



A close-up of one of the cute birdies.



The opera house! "The Magic Flute" was playing on Sunday matinee for the last time. I really wish I could have gone.


I'm starting to really love Zurich. This is a gorgeous town; it's a big city but the air is clean, there's loads of green stuff (forests, mountains, water), and it has a nice feel to it. I love the public transportation, I love grocery shopping (even if it is expensive), and my flatmates are freaking awesome. I hope the rest of the trip continues to go as well.