Sechseläuten Festival

Yesterday was a half day holiday for a festival unique to Zürich, called Sechseläuten. Sechseläuten is a street parade of the traditional guilds (tailors, butchers, fishermen, tanners etc) celebrating the end of Winter. At the end of the parade a huge snowman, called the Böögg, is set on fire. The Böögg is placed on a huge stack of hay and stuffed with explosives, and the length of time it takes for it to explode indicates how soon Summer will come, how long it will last, and how hot it will be (think Ground Hog Day with explosives!).

Geneve & France

Last night we got back from a lovely long weekend in France. We made a last minute decision to go and visit two friends from our time in Japan. One lives in Geneve, the other works in a ski resort in France.

After taking an evening train down, we spent a night in Geneve, wandered around the lake the following day, then took an afternoon train on to France.

The ski resort where our friend works is called La Rosiere, which is near Bourg Saint Maurice. We arrived there late at night because there had been an accident on the train tracks,  and then our train broke down. However, we made it in one piece and it was well worth the wait, as the next morning we woke up to this:
 

I took this photo from the lounge window of where we were staying. Our friend works in a ski shop and lives in the apartment above it. Not the worst view in the world is it?

The ski shop:

Here's a map with blue lines indicating the route we took (ignore the red lines)

I've never been skiing before, and being 3 months pregnant, this wasn't the time to start, but we did go snow shoeing, which was fun and the views were amazing. 

 We had a wonderful time here, it was very relaxing and the blue sky was incredible. Last night, after our long trip, we arrived back in Zurich and were greeted with more snow...just when we thought Spring might have been making an appearance. 

Next week I'm heading back to New Zealand for a short trip and then when I get back to Zurich, we move into our new place! Photos of both coming soon.

Street Parade in Oerlikon

This afternoon we went to another open home and decided to stop off for lunch and wander around the neighbourhood of Oerlikon. It turns out that was a clever idea, as we just happened to come across a street parade!











We're not sure what it was all about but there is a festival in Basel this week that sounds similar to what we saw. http://fasnacht.ch/?pm_1=21&mid=21

Here's a shaky video I took.



There were lots of children dressed up in costumes who were enjoying the festivities, and candy the people were throwing to them. We picked up a few treats that came flying our way too.







After the parade was over, everyone went into a square and lined up for sausages and bread rolls, while one of the bands continued to play.

I love that we're back in a country where you can stumble upon this kind of merriment!

First week in Zurich

Our first week in Zurich has come and gone and it's been a fairly successful one. We have a nice modern temporary apartment to call home for the next 2 months, Swiss bank accounts have been opened, applications for permits are in, and all that's left is to get health insurance sorted.

Today we did a self-guided walking tour of the old city. The green route below outlines where we walked. The yellow circle is ETH (hubby's work) and the black circle is just below where we are living. We have a tram stop 2 minutes from our apartment, and it takes about 10 minutes to get to ETH from there.

City view from ETH (click on photos to enlarge).

 

It was rather cold but we had plenty to look at to keep ourselves busy for 5 hours.

 

  

  

The excellent food also helped keep our minds off the cold. On the menu today was a sausage and bread, fries, a cheese tart and gluhwein. We followed that up with a look (only) at some tasty sweet shops.

 

 

Not a bad first outing for a couple of newbies. So far Zurich gets a big thumbs up from both of us. 

Panama & the final days in Atlanta

We had a very exciting and eventful 2 weeks in Panama and are now back in Atlanta getting ready for the move to Zurich.

We left for Panama on Dec 29 and had one week in Gamboa (near the canal) roaming around the jungle collecting ants for my husband's work. We went down with two young students from the university, and met up with an American couple who live down there and who helped us out with administration, collecting etc. They also showed us around Panama City and took us to a New Years Eve party and we became great friends and were very sorry to have to say goodbye at the end.

 

Our accommodation was simple but nice and it was just a short walk to everything (Gamboa is an extremely small town). In the mornings we would get ready and pack our lunches, then head off into the jungle. We saw many different animals including agoutis, howler monkeys, capuchins, otters, heaps of frogs including poison dart frogs, snakes, spiders and much more.

All in all, it was a wonderful time in Gamboa. The jungle was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, and having my 30th birthday in such a wonderful place was the icing on the cake.

After the collecting work was finished, we said goodbye to the couple and took the 2 students back to the airport and then continued on our way to the other side of Panama, near the Colombian border, to a group of islands called San Blas or Kuna Yala Comarca. This was our holiday part of the trip and our last chance to see some sun and warm weather for some time!

We stayed on a main island with the Kuna Yala people, in a dirt floor hut with no running water and a toilet that was a shack over the sea (you could see the fish swimming below!). The people fed us 3 meals a day and took us, in motorized canoes, to other small islands every day. All the islands we went to were inhabited by one or two families only. Some days there were lots of visitors, and other days we were the only ones there. Each of the islands we went to could be walked around in under 10 minutes, had beautiful clear water and white sand, and hammocks to lounge around in. The total cost per day for this great experience was 20USD. I challenge you to find an island paradise for less! Granted, I did get sick and ended up in hospital once back in Atlanta, but leave it to my delicate stomach to find fault with something. Anyhow, it was totally worth it, Panama is a beautiful country with so many things on offer & we were so lucky to have 5 days to ourselves, lying on a beautiful beach, discussing our future and the busy year ahead.

Now that we are back, the madness is creeping back in again. We have now moved twice since we left our house just before Christmas (a sewage problem caused us to pack up in a hurry and move out), and will be moving for a third (and final) time tomorrow. Fortunately we have some kind friends who have let us use their places while they have been away. Tomorrow we move in with a couple and their 1 year old son.

The good news is that I now have my re-entry permit for the States, which is designed to not cause problems because I'll be out of the country for a long period (green card holders aren't meant to live in other countries!) We also found out today that we have temporary accommodation lined up. It's only until the end of March unfortunately, so we'll have to get on to finding a permanent place very quickly. Otherwise, we're pretty much all packed and sorted and a count up at this stage shows 3 suitcases, 2 packs, 2 carry on, and 4 boxes. Not too bad for all our worldly possessions.

So, this may be good bye from Atlanta. We'll be able to get back in touch fairly quickly once we arrive in Zurich as the apartment has internet. Until then, take care and see you in Zurich sometime soon!