Would you like to hear from Jace? POST A COMMENT!

So, basically, I have been writing these blog posts for the last month now... and I've been trying to get Jace to write some posts as well so that it's not always so one sided. (I hear that a lot of Jace's Boston friends are reading the blog!!! you'd like to hear from him right???) He's been invited to contribute to the blog, and I've asked him to email me things he wants to post, but to no avail... no Jace on the blog. (I know, sad, sad, sad...)

I've even shown him how many people from various places (Boston, Australia, etc) are viewing the blog. Being an online marketer has its perks - I put Google Analytics on the site! But still, not convincing enough, no Jace.

So, here's the last straw. If you'd like to hear from Jace regularly... or jeez, even once, let's start small, eh, please add a comment to this post! Let's see if we can't convince him to put his blogging cap back on. Thanks in advance for your gentle nudging. ;)

Ode to Urdorf, Switzerland

Oh Urdorf, you little village you
So small yet pleasant with skies of blue
Houses tucked amongst the farmers' land
Children run safely by hand and hand
With all one needs within a small walk
Grocery, post, bakery, and more just down the block
Only 10 minutes to Zürich on the bus or train,
Pretty in sun, sleet, wind or rain.
Oh Urdorf, our little village, I now understand
Why you're the best kept secret in all of Switzerland.

The path on the way to Urdorf's center

The view of the hill over the fields in Urdorf

Our local driving range, close to our new apartment

Believe it or not, this is a 'pick your own flowers' stand - tulips are in season now.

Urdorf's cute little fire station. I love the red.

... so... I like it here, can you tell?

Back online in Urdorf, Switzerland

We are back online (whew! thank goodness it didn't take 6 weeks... thank you cablecom!) and settled into the new apartment in Urdorf, Switzerland. It's not far outside of Zürich, but it isn't part of Zürich either. It's a dorf, or village, and I have to say that being Spring and all it is unbelievably quaint and beautiful here.

We moved on Monday. Luckily here the Swiss give their employees a moving day, so Jace got the day off and we took a cab with all of our huge bags to the new apartment, just in time to meet the movers. Naturally, we live on the top floor without an elevator, so the movers weren't pleased, but they sighed heavily and within an hour and half had all of our boxes and furniture moved in. They even assembled some of the furniture that they disassembled when they packed it and took away all the boxes. Great service... and not a glass broken or scratch on the furniture. Very impressive for having come across the Atlantic.

After they left, we then proceeded to do what everyone does when they finally get their things after 6 weeks. . . take a nap! ;) In the afternoon we went back to Seefeld to deregister from the Kreisburo so that we could register in Urdorf yesterday. Very important that you do that so that the Swiss can keep track of you.

And now we're pretty much settled... all the computers are hooked up, the tv is finally connected and ready to record all my favorite shows, and I even got some new art of one of my favorite artists, Camilla Engman, in the mail today, so we're ready to decorate too! I've been all around the little dorf and I'll do a posting with some pictures and highlights tomorrow.


View Larger Map

We'll be right back!

Just a heads up... Tomorrow we'll move into the new apartment and we won't have Internet or phone for awhile... from 10 days to 6 weeks! I know, I might go crazy.

So until we get the connection pack from cablecom, if you need to reach us, email Jace as he'll be checking his email from work. He is also a big Facebook person now. Thanks! Bis dann. ;)

Labor Day Laborings

Near the Zürichhorn, on May 1st, Switzerland's Labor Day

Jace made a good point - check out which parts have worn down! ;) So funny. hehe

Magnolias in the park near Zürichhorn

Spring has officially sprung - a beautiful flower on Dufourstrassse

Just a bit over a month in Zürich already! My how the time flies. We're about to move into our permanent apartment and say goodbye to the lovely temporary apartment in and around Seefeld, Zurich, in the thick of it all. We'll miss being next to the lake as it's just so beautiful, but alas all the beauty will only be a 10 minute train away. So we'll be back 'at least once a week' as Jace said today.

Yesterday was Labor Day in Switzerland, and while a lot of people got up to no good, participating in some kind of demonstration in Zürich, we decided to take a walk around the lake instead. The shots above are from the walk and show how lovely the lake side area is now that Spring is in full bloom.

Then just a few hours later, we were back out there again, but this time we ran. We recently both bought nanos and nike+ to take advantage of all the trails in Switzerland... and have an expensive excuse to get back into shape. If you don't know what nike+ is, read this. Basically, you wear this thing in your shoe that talks to your ipod nano and records how long you've run, how fast, etc. Then you can sync it up and see how good/bad you're doing compared to past runs. Here is what my run looked like yesterday.


I've even started a challenge and I made it public - and unknown to me at the time, it's a popular thing. There are not 15 people making the same challenge (50 km in one month... I'm just starting so this is ok...)! Feel free to join by searching "Start Slow" in the nike+ challenges.

Anyway, we had a nice relaxing day yesterday, despite the sweaty run, and we're going to enjoy our last weekend downtown before moving out to the country when our stuff arrives on Monday - yipppee!

Burkliplatz Market

Tuesday and Thursday are market days in Zürich at the Burkliplatz. I love the markets because everything is so colorful and fresh, straight from the farmer and the atmosphere is just so lovely. You can stroll amongst the fruit and vegetable stalls, look at all the weird cheeses, and see what's in season. On Thursday, I strolled down to the Burkliplatz market just before it closed (it's open from 6 am - 11 am), and I took a whole bunch of pictures of all the lovely things at the market - hence the video montage post! I also bought what ended up being a mountain (kilo!) of rhubarb to cook up and eat with rice pudding and even alone, and some items for a greek salad. Yum!

Here are some of my finding from the markets in Zurich:

• "Bio" is the sign for organic produce, so the "bio citronen" in photos are organic lemons
• Items in general are not really cheaper in the markets vs. Migros or Coop (or cooped up as Jace calls it!) - but I do think that the peak season items are better quality - eg. the rhubarb was way fresher at the market
• I thought that going late might get me some last minute deals, but they're pretty sticky with their prices, and they're happy to pack it all up unsold at 10 minutes to 11 am!
• There are a lot of lovely plants at the market - I can't wait to make a balcony herb garden with my finds.
  

I also get a lot of tips regarding when and where to go for great food from the fresh attitude blog. It has a lot of great tips on what's fresh at the moment and what to make with what you buy. I recommend it for all market lovers and foodies. Here's what was fresh in April.. can't wait for the May edition!