Work, work, work....

I'm going to break my rules again - hey, I made them up! - and so write a single post for today and yesterday.  That's because today I attended an important software conference where my friend Phillip gave a talk, and yesterday I spent much of the day with helping him to prepare it.  Therefore, I don't have a lot to relate for this blog, except that the talk was well-received and we made some very interesting contacts.  One of these was from New York, and I'll be following up when I return home.

The Zurich Kunsthaus

The Zurich Kunsthaus has always been a favorite of mine.  The intimate classical style of the buildings reminds me of the good old Chicago Art Institute of the 1960s and 1970s, where I spent a good deal of time in my formative years.



This style works perfectly for 'modern' art - that stuff that is now about 100 years old :-). Since then, however, art has become a much bigger business, and, in particular, there is a trend in 'contemporary' art towards ever-bigger 'installation' pieces that don't fit so well into those kind of spaces.  Ditto for the 'blockbuster' traveling shows that every major museum is now obligated to show.

One can certainly decry these trends, but that certainly won't make them go away. So, the Kunsthaus is now poised (pending an upcoming spending referendum) to go down the road of so many museums and build a huge (by Swiss standards) expansion building that will allow.  Fortunately, the design does not impinge directly on the existing buildings other than allow for a creative rearrangement of the collections.  It will certainly provide a lot more room and state-of-the-art facilities for what is the pre-eminent art institution in a very art-conscious town. You can read more about it here.



With all this in mind, today we went to the Kunsthaus to see for ourselves the plans and dreams associated with the new expansion building.  As part of its drive to get the upcoming referendum passes, the Kunsthaus itself has created a rather extensive exhibit (within the existing visit) that tries to help you visualize what the 'user experience' will be in the new building.  To make this more impressive, the Kunsthaus has included some of its existing iconic pieces, and also borrowed a number of additional 'blockbuster' pieces from other Swiss art museums and private collectors.  This certainly made for a pleasant afternoon.

Afterwards, we headed off to Zurich's (relatively) new Markthalle in the new 'Viadukt' shopping area.  This development cleverly turns an old railway viaduct into a giant shopping mall, attractively framing the various shops under the viaduct arches.





We went to the Markthalle again primarily to meet up with our friend Christian and his girlfriend Ozlem.  We know Christian from our last visit to Zurich, when we stayed for two months in an apartment in the University area.  Christian lived upstairs and befriended us.  Since then, he has had some bad breaks, including falling down a flight of stairs, which resulted in his being seriously laid-up with injuries for six months or so.  He's recovering pretty well now, and his new relationship with Ozlem, now about 6 months old, seems to be doing him a world of good.  No wonder - Ozlem is a charming and very intelligent young lady with a doctorate in architecture. We enjoyed seeing them - and meeting her - a lot.

Our favorite sport - window shopping!

A week has passed since Lynnie and I went to Burliplatz fleamarket, right across from the lake in downtown Zurich, one of her favorites.  If you recall, last week I got sick and we had to go home early - fortunately nothing serious. So this week we went back so Lynnie could get her fill.  After an hour or two, Lynnie was ready for our next adventure, which was an art fair, Art International, that is going on this weekend very close to Burliplatz.  You can see much better pictures than I was able to take on their website.

Afterwards we went home for lunch and a nap, and then headed out again to wander around more of our old haunts in downtown.  We especially love to windowshop, whether its pastries or hats or teddy bears :-) :

The day after ,,,,,

Lynnie returned from returned from Florence yesterday, full of ideas for conquering Zurich this weekend.  We already have tickets for Art International Zurich, a relatively small but prestigious art fair going on all weekend in downtown Zurich just off the lake.  However, since it was raining again today, I suggested we go instead to the Hurlimann Spa.

I spent last Sunday at the spa after Lynnie left for Florence, so she hadn't been there yet.  Also, on Sunday it is typically jammed with families and young couples.  I enjoyed it anyway, but a Friday morning seemed a bit more promising.  Finally, I wanted to try the Irish-Roman Ritual, a special add-on that sounded interesting.

Unfortunately, we slept in more than planned (although Lynnie probably really needed it), so there was already a waiting list for the Irish-Roman Ritual by the time we got there, about 11a.  Furthermore, since the Ritual included towels and bathrobes, I hadn't brought anything like that along.  So, we ended up renting two towels and just doing the normal spa.

It was fun anyway.  Lynnie tried out - and liked - all the various bathing basins, plus we spent time in their very nice steam room, which I hadn't tried before.  We even decided to take a break and get a snack in the on-site cafe, before plunging back for a finale in the pool.

By the time we got out, the weather was starting to improve, and we considered another excursion into the city.  But the spa experience tends to make one rather sleepy, so our afternoon was spent napping instead, leaving me little to report, but far more rested as a result :-). Good thing, too, as our friends Florian and Bea invited us to their apartment for dinner, a very pleasant event that lasted nearly until midnight.

Homecoming for Lynnie

Lynnie's back in Zurich!  She had a slightly harrowing trip back from Florence via Milano.  The part from Florence to Milano was fine.  But the train from Milano was mobbed, and also required some kind of train change at the border in Chiasso, which was not on the schedule.  Everyone had to go through a narrow chute into Swiss customs, but nobody was apparently stopped.  The net effect was a delay of an hour, while I waited patiently for her at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (main station).

She was tired but otherwise no worse for the unexpected wear and tear of the crazy train ride.  She had a great few days exploring Florence, and also catching up with her old friend Sean, an NYU professor who is currently on assignment there.  She'll fill me in some more tomorrow after a night of good Swiss sleep. :-)

Otherwise today was another long and very productive work day, with meetings starting at 9a and ending at 7pm.  Somehow I'm starting to get used to this pace, which I found a little off-putting during my first week here.  It also helped that the weather cleared, so I could finally see the sun and get in some walking.

Should be some more exciting stuff to report this weekend.  Ciao for now - need to spend some quality time with Lynnie.

Taking the tram

Normally I've been walking to work, a pleasant hike of about 20 minutes.  However, it was raining so hard this morning that I was almost tempted not to go to the office.  Then, at just the right time, the rain slackened a bit, so I trudged off the office after all.  But, given the continuing rain, I took the #9 tram instead:

I love the trams here, and also the buses and trains.  In fact, the public transport system in Zurich - and indeed across Switzerland - is pretty much without equal.  Besides being modern, clean, fast, frequent, ubiquitous and phenomenally on-time, it's also unbelievably cheap.  That's because anyone can by a monthly city (Zone 10) pass for less than $100 - just $3/day to use as much of the system as often as you like.  That's particularly great for me, because I use it extensively to explore all the nooks and crannies of the city.  Here's a picture of my closest and most constant companion in Zurich, my Zone 10 Netzpass:

With my Netzpass in hand, there are no end such nooks and crannies to explore, and that's without leaving Zurich! :-)  A whole other world awaits those willing to take in a few more transport zones.  In fact, if you are willing to forego traveling before 9a on weekdays, you can get a monthly pass -  for the same price as Zone 10 alone - that covers a very big extended area.  This even covers most of Lake Zurich, including the many public ferries that regularly ply its waters, stopping at any number of cute lakeside villages along the way.  On a nice day, with Netzpass in pocket, it is completely free to take a cruise across about 2/3rds of the lake - the whole lake with a moderately priced additional zone extension.  You can also head up to the Uetliberg, Zurich's highest peak, for a breathtaking view of the city and the lake and, in the other direction, into the surrounding fields and forests. 

Moreover, for shorter stays in Zurich, a similar pass is available for one, two or three days, and also includes admission to many museums and other attractions.  The three-day version is just $30, a fantastic bargain.  This certainly doesn't jibe with most people's perception that Zurich is an expensive place to visit.  In fact, a lot of things are this way - that is, the 'list price' is high, but those in the know can get great bargains.  That's one of the reasons I keep coming back to this wonderful place.

Anyway, after a day at work, I also took the tram back home. Once I got home, my friend Christophe informed me that some mail had arrived for Lynnie at his address. Once again, I got to exploit my Netzpass, grabbing the tram across town to Christophe's office, and then back again to the apartment. Quick, easy, and no tickets to buy.

By the way, the whole thing works on the honor system or, as the Swiss call it 'Selbstkontrol' - literally self-control.  That is, you are responsible for making sure you have a valid pass or ticket when you take public transport.  The transit authority then makes spot checks, and levies high fines (minimum $100) if you are caught without a ticket/pass.  Repeat offenders get worse fines and potentially jail-time.  It seems to work, and it means that you just get on and off anywhere or anytime you please without having to go through turnstiles.  And, if you have a pass, you never even have to buy a ticket. What a great system!

Well, tomorrow Lynnie returns, and life gets back to 'normal', whatever that is :-)

Working 'round the clock

I certainly didn't intend to do so, but today I truly ended up working all day.  It was a very dreary weather day as well, raining most of the day, and Lynnie has been away in Florence, so maybe working wasn't such a bad idea.  Here's my Impressionist photo of dreary, rainy Zurich through my front window:

The problem with working all day is that it doesn't leave me much else to report.  After some tool training in the morning, I went to lunch with Marc and Maxi, which we spent discussing business strategy.  Then I went home to work so more.  About 4pm, I got a call from Philipp telling me he wanted to get together for an early dinner.  So, I rushed around to clean up the apartment and prepare a nice repast, but Philipp ended up getting delayed for more than three hours!  By the time he arrived it was after 8pm and I was almost falling asleep.  However, I revived enough to spend another two hours chatting about business while we chowed down on my dinner of salad and chicken stew.  Actually, it turned out to be a very nice way to end the day.

One final note: Lynnie has decided definitely to return on Thursday evening - yeah!!  I've missed her a lot, although I'm glad she got to enjoy Florence, and especially the much better weather she's been having there.....

A quiet - but very productive - day

It was strange to wake up today without Lynn around - I miss her a lot already, and she's only been gone since yesterday! :-(  Fortunately, I didn't have much time to brood about it this morning, as I had to get to the office by 8am for another lesson in using the modeling tool.  I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.  Two hours later, Maxi and Mark spent some time working on business strategy, which Marc and I continued through lunch (Maxi had to leave for another appointment).

We took lunch at the brand new 'Hin und Weg Gare' in the brand new commercial extension of the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (main railway station).  Last time Lynn and I were in Zurich, we discovered the original Hin und Weg which, by coincidence, was located just a few blocks from our current apartment.  It was a little hole-in-the-wall cafe, but everything was quite delicious and reasonable.  Apparently, it took off in a big way, because now they have left their old location and expanded dramatically into two locations, one focused on catering, and the other this new 'Gare' retail location.  Here's a picture of one of their menu items, served in a signature glass canning jar:



Unfortunately, the new location, which just opened two weeks ago, is comparatively rather cold and sterile, with very little of the quaint touches we loved before.  Worse yet, they seem to favor very loud rock music which makes it difficult to chat.  Also, the food was rather mediocre.  I hope just is just due to 'birth pains', but now I feel a bit sad to have lost the charming original location to 'progress'.

After lunch I headed home to catch up on more correspondence and, of course, to update this blog :-)

The Lynnie heads to Florence, I go to the spa

Today I took Lynnie to the Zurich Hauptbahnhof for her send-off to Florence.  I hadn't realized (until she told me) that this was her first major train trip in Europe by herself.  She was a little nervous about the trip, so I'm glad we splurged a little and got her a first class seat.  Even so, the 6-hour trip was less than $200, a real bargain to go from town-center to town-center.  She has to change trains in Bellinzona, Switzerland (about an hour-and-a-half north of Milan), and then in Milan.  She's travelling pretty light, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Sure enough, she called in the late afternoon to tell me it was a very pleasant trip during which she read, slept, and admired the Alpine scenery.  Her old friend Sean, an NYU professor on assignment at NYU's 'La Pietra' campus in Florence, met her at the Florence railway station and whisked her back to his lovely apartment just across the street from the main synagogue in Florence.  The apartment has a view of not only the famous synagogue (immediately below), but also the even more famous Duomo (below that).





Something tells me she's going to have a lot of fun!

Meanwhile, I consoled myself by a trip to the Hurlimann Spa here in Zurich.  What a great place!  Right in the middle of Zurich, just a very pleasant five-minute walk from our house, a cavernous old brick brewery building has been transformed into a Romanesque spa.  It is huge: five big pools, including a stunning 'endless' one on the rooftop with views over all of Florence, and a quiet 'meditation' pool.  Here's some pictures:









On this rainy Sunday, it was no surprise the place was packed, but it is so huge that it wasn't really a problem. In fact, it was perfect for people watching.  All kinds of folks, with lots of families and couples.  You can stay all day if you like, as there nice rest areas and lovely cafe-restaurant with - surprise - reasonable prices on a great-looking array of salads, sandwiches, entrees, desserts and snacks.  Admission is just 32CHF (Swiss Francs), about $35 - not bad for all that all day long. Anyway, I'll certainly be back soon, with Lynnie in tow.

Somehow I managed to tear myself away from the spa so I could visit Marco, his wife Jeannine, and their two kids, Chloe and Eitan, at their beautiful apartment in Zollikon, which overlooks Lake Zurich.  I already told you about Marco, who is a champion swimmer, now running his own swim school here in Zurich.  Jeannine also has an interesting job - running the passenger rail system (SBB) for all of Switzerland!  At dinner, she described the many challenges that the SBB faces - a fascinating story to say the least.

Bright, sunny day

Today we were blessed with a bright, sunny day.  According to the weather forecast, we are in for cooler, rainer days over the next week or two, so we aimed to enjoy it, especially since Lynnie plans to leave for Florence tomorrow to spend a few days with her old friend Sean.  So, we headed off to one of Lynnie's favorite venues in Zurich, the open-air Burliplatz Flohmarket (flea market), right across from the main pier of the Zurichersee (Lake Zurich).

Today's market did not disappoint.  There was a wide selection of very interesting stuff at mostly reasonable prices.   So, although we were just browsing, Lynnie actually ended up buying some beautiful scarves and a cool pair of shoes.  Here's some of what we saw:

And here's Lynnie cool 'new' shoes:

After an hour or two of browsing, I had hoped we would take a boat ride on the lake, one of my favorite things to do in Zurich, on what was probably one of last good days to do this season.  Unfortunately, I started feeling very weak and tired, so much so that we decided instead to head home to rest.  Good thing, because it turned out I had some kind of intestinal problem, which fortunately didn't last too long.  Later that evening we were able to take another stroll before we had to get Lynnie packed and ready to go to Florence. 

Another very busy day

Today I got up early and did some cooking and clothes washing.  The apartment has its own small washer-dryer unit - a very handy feature that avoids having to us the communal laundry area in the dank basement.  However, the instructions are all in German, so I had to find the manual online and then put it into Google translate.  The result was rather mixed, and it took me quite a while to figure out how to set it up.  I was tempted to give up, but persisted until I got it to run properly.  Meanwhile, I had set up a stew - which generally lasts for several days - and some hard-boiled eggs, which make a very tasty, convenient, and transportable snack.  As I do more of this kind of housework, it makes the apartment fell more and more like home :-)

At 10am I headed to the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) to meet another friend, Hans-Peter.  I worked with Hans-Peter some years ago at a big Swiss bank.  He moved on to a position at an IT consulting company, and he wanted to pick my brain about how best to proceed with a couple of clients he's been working with.  Unfortunately, I somehow managed to completely screw up in terms of my train connections and arrived twenty minutes late :-(.  Nonetheless, we had a great meeting.  I made up for the time lost by joining Hans-Peter on his train ride back to his office, which almost exactly made up the twenty minutes!

Then I headed back to the Hauptbahnhof to meet Marco, one of my more unusual Swiss friends.  I met Marco because he teaches a special form of swimming called 'Total Immersion', which another US friend once told me about.  A few years ago, when I was in Zurich for a few months, I noticed that there was a TI school in Zurich, which turned out to be headed by Marco.  I studied with him for a couple months and, though I never mastered TI, I was very impressed by TI and, even more, by Marco.  It turned out Marco was a champion swimmer, and a damned good teacher to boot.  He's the tall guy in this picture:



It also turned out that Marco had spent a part of his childhood in Delaware, very near our home in Pennsylvania.  His mother was a teacher at the Sanford School, where they lived on campus.  After we got to know Marco, his wife Jeanine, and their two children, we invited them to visit us in the US.  To our surprise, they agreed, although Jeanine had to cancel at the last minute.  So, Marco and his kids stayed with us for several days a couple years ago.  Besides taking them to Longwood, Wintherthur and Hagley, we arranged to take them to Sanford and meet the current principal and staff, some of whom remembered his mother!  This was a walk down Memory Lane for Marco, and also gave the kids an interesting experience.

Anyway, today Marco was in a great mood, despite the fact that he recently discovered he needs some surgery on his shoulder, a common problem for competitive swimmers.  But otherwise, things are going well for him and his family.  Besides catching up on personal news, he told us some great stories about his swimming the English Channel and Bosporus Straits - really one-of-a-kind experiences.  All this over an outside lunch on a beautiful sunny day in downtown Zurich at the restaurant "Movie".





After saying adieu to Marco, we wandered around downtown Zurich, then headed home for what turned out to be - for Lynnie - another long nap.  I did some catching up on email and Facebook, plus reading about the fallout from the first 2012 Presidential debate which took place Wednesday.  Around 5pm I got a call from Philipp saying he was still in Zurich (he lives in Winterthur, another city about 30 minutes away) and would like to get together.  So, he ended up taking a tram to our area, and we met him for a drink.  We had a long discussion about my earlier meeting with Hans-Peter - also a friend of his - and we discussed some new business ideas.  Finally, we headed home to a light - and late - dinner, plus a Skype call to Lynn's Mom.  Time to say good night .......

A very busy day

Today was a very busy day for me.  Early in the morning I went to see Philipp and Maxi and review their new business analysis software tool code-named 'MCore'.  Lynnie was gracious enough to get up early as well and accompany me to Philipp's office.  She spent time with Philipp talking about art and photography while Maxi ran MCore through its paces. Since this is a travel blog, I won't discuss MCore here, but suffice it to say that it provides a very novel way to analyze business problems and then design and test solutions.  Later that day I went with Philipp to present a demo of MCore to a potential customer and this went very well.

Around 4pm I headed home, arriving just before it started pouring.  Lynnie and I spent some time catching up before heading out to dinner with our friend Andrea (see earlier post), who is leaving for a two-week vacation in NYC on Saturday.  As you can imagine, we talked a lot about New York and the US in general, with Andrea soaking up all our advice for her trip.  After she left, we took a long walk before heading home for a much-needed and well-earned night's sleep.

The return of the Lynnie

I broke my own rules again, and failed to post on Tuesday.  However, I have a great excuse - Lynnie arrived!  As usual, she managed to sleep soundly on the plane - six hours! - and arrived slightly dazed but full of energy.  This resulted in our taking a three-hour hike through our old haunts in downtown Zurich. We topped this off with an impromptu roasted chicken lunch at Lynnie's favorite spots, the Sternen G Grill at Bellevue:




Then, all of a sudden, right after lunch (around 3pm) she finally crashed, falling asleep on the tram home. After a 3-hour nap at home, she was revved up again, peppering me with questions and comments about Zurich, her new iPad, and various friends and relations.  She assumed full velocity again, so we took another 3-hour hike, exploring the area around our apartment.  When we got home at 11p, just in time for another 2 hours of questions and comments :-).  Well, I certainly don't have to worry about sitting around on this trip!!

Here's Lynnie gracing our new (temporary) Zurich home:

Wednesday was a bit more relaxed.  We went food shopping in the morning, discovering a great ethic grocery right across from a big, beautiful Migros - basically everything we need at one intersection just a few blocks from the apartment.

Afterwards, Lynnie conked out again, obviously still working through jetlag. After a light dinner at home we went out on another marathon walk, ultimately finding our way back to the Volkhaus, where I had a great lunch on Monday.  It turns out they also have a cool and very atmospheric cafe with wonderful desserts.  Lynnie had a knockout chestnut cake - light and flavorful, with cherry ice cream.  I rarely have desserts, but I really enjoyed my two scoops of homemade ice cream - fig and lemon-lime.  We'll be back.  Then home again, a quick goodnight call to Lynn's Mom, and then finally to bed - I have an early day tomorrow.....

A new apartment

Today I somewhat reluctantly packed up and left my very comfortable quarters in Illnau for a new adventure: our apartment rental in the Wiedikon area of Zurich.  We found the apartment on AirBnB.  It belongs to Reto, a young Swiss entrepreneur who is currently working and studying in San Francisco.  We are his third AirBnB renter, so he has the routine down very well.  He also told me he rented apartments himself on AirBnB, which is why he felt comfortable renting out his own.  So, around 10am, I arrived and was greeted by his parents, who spoke no English, effectively putting my high school German to the test.  Fortunately, it passed, and everyone was happy.

The apartment building is on a mildly busy road, but the apartment is way up on the 6th floor, so the street noise is muffled.  There's a little porch out back with a great view of the Uetliburg, the highest point in the immediate area of Zurich.  Everything seems in order and very comfortable.  There's a great little Turkish grocery and produce market right around the corner, and I quickly stocked up on provisions.  Here's some preliminary pictures of the apartment, including window views:

After moving in, I went have lunch with Philipp and his team at Volkhaus, a restaurant at Helvetiaplatz, which is near their office.  The ambiance was elegant, the food delicious, and the prices quite reasonable, especially for Zurich.  Philipp always knows how to pick great restaurants:





Afterwards, we then went back to Phillip's new office, where we worked on setting up desks, wiring the network, and installing software.  By 6pm I was quite ready to go home and put my dogs up for the evening.