I love books! My relationship with books run so deep that I only really discovered the wonders of TV at the ripe old age of 22 or 23 when I settled in London and could no longer afford to buy books!
Of course, I later discovered the wonderful public libraries in London, but by then it was too late to change my exposure to The Box. Nevertheless, if I had to choose between TV and books, books would still be my number one choice.
Today I made yet another wonderful discovery..... a library!!! The Pestalozzi library is located about ½ minutes walk from our apartment. I have been meaning to check it out but never quite got around to it until today.
From the outside, it looked like a small little library which could not possibly offer much. I was pleased to find that there is a further section in the basement, including a whole section of English paperbacks. There is also a wide range of CDs and DVDs (including TV series) available to borrow. I was quite impressed. Granted, they are not the latest release books and DVDs but I really could not ask for more!
I also learned that there are 15 branches and of course membership entitles one to borrow items from all the branches. To add icing to the cake, I even got a reduction in the membership fee due to my status as an unemployed! The fee was only CHF 25 for the year (normal price is CHF 45... still a good price!), and one can borrow 25 items at a time. What a bargain!
Friday, 13 March 2009
Lindenhof - my new favourite place in Zurich
Life brings many challenges, I face one today as I suffer some internal turmoil. Choosing to take some positive action, I decided to take a walk to clear my head.
It must be true that every cloud has a silver lining, that a positive always comes out of a negative. For I discovered a beautiful place in Zurich called the Lindenhof. It is nothing more than a simple, public open space, but it is situated at a vantage point by the river and affords extended views over the old town of Zurich.
I simply cannot believe that it has taken me three years to find this place! And honestly, the only thing that really led me here was the offer of free Wi-Fi!!
The trees are still bare but it is a mild day with the first hints of spring. Sitting here and watching the world go by below has a strangely calming effect and seems to be rather rejuvenating!
This is definitely my new “place” and I cannot wait for you to see it for yourself.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
We Made It!!! The End of the Alcohol Ban
Guess what? Today is the 1st of March and Azrael and I have successfully completed our Alcohol-Free February challenge!! WooooHooooo!!!!! What a success!!!
To celebrate, we will be going to a restaurant called Churrasco for a nice piece of Argentinian steak, accompanied by a wicked bottle of red wine.
Yippppeeeee!!!!
To celebrate, we will be going to a restaurant called Churrasco for a nice piece of Argentinian steak, accompanied by a wicked bottle of red wine.
Yippppeeeee!!!!
Skiing on a bright, sunny, warm day in Davos
It was the first signs of spring - bright sunshine, blue skies and a whopping 10 degrees forecasted for Zurich! It was definitely the perfect day for skiing!
Unfortunately, Azrael had a prior engagement, so I had to find a victim upon whom to impose myself. Lo and behold, it turned out that Hansel and Gretel were going to Davos for a ski weekend. I was quite pleased to discover that the journey from my home to Davos would take less than 2.5 hours, making it very manageable for a day trip.
I set off early to catch the 0737 "ski-express" train. The train was chokka, to the extent that some people had to stand all the way to Landquart, which is just over an hour away. Fortunately for me, I managed to snag myself a comfy "seat" at the top of the stairs, which is the widest part of the stairway. Changing at Landquart, the train to Davos was also quite busy, but there were certainly enough seats to go around. Unfortunately, I found myself surrounded by three extremely chatty Russian women who just would not stop talking and pointing in every which direction with their hands! AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Even my Ipod at full blast could not block out the racket.
Nevertheless, I got to Davos Dorf at 0950 to meet Gretel as planned. We made our way to her friends' apartment where I left my stuff, and headed to the ski lift.
It was an absolutely magnificent day to be in the mountains! Gorgeous sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.
We found a suitable blue slope and headed down. It was just the perfect day. The snow was flawless. Not too soft, not icy, just perfect. The pistes were wide and well-groomed and the crowd adequately dispersed.
After lunch we took the gondola up to theWeissfluhgipfel. At 2,844m, this is the highest point in the Davos ski area. One could tell that it is very high up as it was very windy up there. The view from there was simply breathtaking.
Us beginners did not ski down from there, but some adventurous snowboarders took advantage of the fantastic powder as you can see below......
I am sure you are waiting with baited breath for the dramatic part where I suffer yet another mishap in the snow. Unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me, there was none! Of course, I wiped out a couple of times, once losing my ski in the process, but it was not very dramatic.
I am certainly a much improved skier and even managed to go down a red slope in a calm, confident and controlled manner.
What can I say.... it was indeed just the perfect day.
Unfortunately, Azrael had a prior engagement, so I had to find a victim upon whom to impose myself. Lo and behold, it turned out that Hansel and Gretel were going to Davos for a ski weekend. I was quite pleased to discover that the journey from my home to Davos would take less than 2.5 hours, making it very manageable for a day trip.
I set off early to catch the 0737 "ski-express" train. The train was chokka, to the extent that some people had to stand all the way to Landquart, which is just over an hour away. Fortunately for me, I managed to snag myself a comfy "seat" at the top of the stairs, which is the widest part of the stairway. Changing at Landquart, the train to Davos was also quite busy, but there were certainly enough seats to go around. Unfortunately, I found myself surrounded by three extremely chatty Russian women who just would not stop talking and pointing in every which direction with their hands! AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Even my Ipod at full blast could not block out the racket.
Nevertheless, I got to Davos Dorf at 0950 to meet Gretel as planned. We made our way to her friends' apartment where I left my stuff, and headed to the ski lift.
It was an absolutely magnificent day to be in the mountains! Gorgeous sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.
We found a suitable blue slope and headed down. It was just the perfect day. The snow was flawless. Not too soft, not icy, just perfect. The pistes were wide and well-groomed and the crowd adequately dispersed.
After lunch we took the gondola up to theWeissfluhgipfel. At 2,844m, this is the highest point in the Davos ski area. One could tell that it is very high up as it was very windy up there. The view from there was simply breathtaking.
Us beginners did not ski down from there, but some adventurous snowboarders took advantage of the fantastic powder as you can see below......
I am sure you are waiting with baited breath for the dramatic part where I suffer yet another mishap in the snow. Unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me, there was none! Of course, I wiped out a couple of times, once losing my ski in the process, but it was not very dramatic.
I am certainly a much improved skier and even managed to go down a red slope in a calm, confident and controlled manner.
What can I say.... it was indeed just the perfect day.
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