1 August Farm Brunch

1 August is Swiss National Day. I cannot think of any nation more patriotic than the Swiss. In the weeks coming up to 1 August, all the shops and supermarkets sell a variety of wares bearing the Swiss cross. Even hard-boiled eggs with the Swiss cross painted on!!!

To celebrate the National Day, the farmers across the country open their farms to the public by offering brunch. This is the one time in the year where the farmers serve food on their premises to the general public. This year, we went to participate in a farm in Uetikon, about 20 minutes from Zurich city.

The brunch was quite good. The food was pretty tasty, and hopefully the produce e.g. eggs, milk and cheese were fresh from the farm. For CHF30, the spread was not quite as lavish as something we would find at Imagine or Movie, but it was alright, considering that they used their local farm produce.

Strangely enough, there were more foreigners than Swissies at the brunch. English seemed to be the most common language spoken at the brunch. In fact, Azrael the Swiss did not know about this brunch event until I told him about it!

It was certainly an experience, enjoying brunch amidst the "perfume" of cow-dung and farm animals. Whilst I enjoyed the experience, I do not think I will be rushing back anytime soon :-)

Books! Books! Books!

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!

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.