A very nice way to start this adventure

Well, I already managed to break my own rule about posting something everyday, missing both Thursday and Friday, my first two days in Europe :-(.  Let's just blame it on jetlag, and I'll try to redeem myself today and tomorrow.  In the meantime, here's the short version of the last two days:

Thankfully, I had a very comfortable and uneventful non-stop flight from Philadelphia to Zurich, leaving the evening of Wed, Sep 26 and arriving early the next morning.  After buying my Swiss 'half-fare' railroad card (the holder pays 50% of regular fare), plus an all-paid pass for Zurich city, I headed out to Illnau to stay with Felix and Kathy and their three delightful children. This is great, because I have been able to not only get to hang out and catch up with these wonderful old friends, but also get over jet lag before I take over our apartment in Wiedikon on Monday (Oct 1), and Lynn arrives on Tuesday.

Thursday was mainly about catching up on sleep and spending some time chatting with my gracious hosts.  On Friday, however, I had a temporary surge of energy and decided to take the train to Zurich and check out my new neighborhood.  That area of town has a lot of stuff packed into a relatively small footprint, such that the neighborhoods change every couple of blocks.  There are a lot of different nationalities, and lots of cool ethic restaurants, boutiques, coffee houses, theaters, art galleries, bookstores, second-hand clothing stores.  There is a bit of urban grit, and much of the area, which includes the old Langstrasse red-light district, is now gentrified.  Lynn should have a great time exploring all this.

I also met up with my good friends Phillip and Maxi, who are building some very interesting software tools for business modeling, and work in the same area.  Then I headed towards the lake, and spent some pleasant time around the aptly named Bellevue area, one of my old Zurich haunts.

By comparison, today (Friday) was pretty tame, but quite pleasant.  It was raining, which limited my options, so Felix invited me to join him on a shopping expedition to Konstanz, Germany, about 45 minutes drive away.  This gave up a lot of time to talk, and he got in a month of discount shopping.  He goes there because prices in Germany are quite a bit less than in nearby Switzerland, so he saves a lot stocking up on staples, and also various tools and hardware he needs from time to time.  We mainly discussed American politics, which remains a mystery to most Europeans, even those who, like Felix, have lived in the US and have American family members.

My jetlag is definitely improving, but still kicks in from time to time, including right now.  So, it's off for a late afternoon nap. Ciao until tomorrow.....