We landed in Zurich around 11am on Friday and had an easy one hour drive to Basel in the back of a limo. Frau Lehmann was waiting for us to let us in and show us around. It was a quick tour, as Dan and I were tired and not quite taking everything in. Eventually we had to go out and find some food, not to mention that we were excited to see the neighborhood. The photos aren’t necessarily in order, as some shots taken later turned out better (weather, etc).
This is our street, Klingelbergstrasse. We’re in the red building.
Looking down the street
Walking to the store
Migros (the orange sign) is a very common chain that sells food and some home goods. The number of “M”s on the side of the building indicates just how extensive the selection is (ie, just food vs clothing and dinner plates). This one is right in the middle (two M’s).
View from the end of our block. We’re on the street to the right
The Honda shop on the other side of the block. I can see into their showroom from my kitchen
Dan showing off the shared back garden (shared only with our building)
Dan and I survived our first (half) day and woke up fresh for Saturday. Well, almost fresh. The six hour time change is a killer those first couple of days. We walked into the city center (Altstadt) and looked around again. Our goal was actually just to walk to one of the banks and change some American money into Swiss Francs, but we took our time about it. It was also our first chance to see if we could find our apartment after leaving a five block radius. We successfully returned in time for lunch.
After lunch we went out again, this time north to a large shopping mall called the Stucki Center (I need to learn how to make umlauts on this laptop). It was a 3km walk there, or would have been if we had a better idea of where we were going. But the day was beautiful and comfortable and we were happy to be out in it.
Along the way we stumbled upon a Nestle store – all things Nestle! Which turns out is quite a bit.
Mustard in a tube!
The Stucki Center
The walk home was quicker, as we knew which way to go.
Kleinbasel (north side of the Rhine) with snow on the hills
Where our afternoon walk took us. Notice how close the German border is!
We came home for dinner, which was a simple salad with meat and cheese and some left over potatoes from lunch. Mmmmm. Potatoes! Here’s what our temporary apartment looks like. It came fully furnished, so we can’t take credit/blame for most of what you see.
The entrance/hall area
Living room (with Dante curled up on the couch. The suitcase is there so he can get up/down)
Other side of the living room
Kitchen
Bathroom
Guest room
Master bedroom
And Dante
And that, so far, is Life in Switzerland!
How great to read the Colleen/Dan chronicles. I always look forward to your excellent reportage!
Thanks for the tour!