Off to the Alps!

We arrived in Zurich on Feb. 1 and 5 days later, Miles was off to Florida to visit his dad for a week. Meanwhile, I learned the lay of the land. I joined a gym 5 minutes from the apt. and also joined ZIWA (Zurich Int'l Women's Assoc.). This is a group of 650 women from all over the world who have a calendar full of events and activities all in English. I have already been to a coffee meeting (met about 12 women) and a hike (5) from Zug to Cham (about 1 hour from Zurich). I also joined the public library which has lots of English books and movies. So I am good to go! The week flew by.

Our timing getting to Zurich was perfect: only 2 days after Miles returned from Florida, we were off on a ski "seminar" with the mechanics group from ETH (the technical university where Miles will be teaching a semester course). The ski seminar is held for 1 week every Feb. for faculty and grad students to have fun, get to know each other and work on issues to improve teaching.

We decided to join for only 4 days and took a 3-hour train from Zurich to Schruns, Austria. From there, Gunter, the owner of the family-owned hotel (lovely, small, rustic place), picked us up and took us to the hotel in Partenen in the valley dotted with small villages and lots of ski resorts. We skied 2 days at one called Selvretta Montafon.

View from our hotel balcony

As luck would have it, Partenen was having a parade the day we arrived to celebrate Fasnacht or Mardi Gras/Carnival. There were lots of locals in wonderful costumes, riding floats and throwing candy.

Fasnacht float

Happy Fasnacht revelers

There were about 25 of us from ETH and we ate breakfast and dinner together in the hotel's dining room. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming and they all (fortunately) speak excellent English.

View of the mountains from Partenen

And now for the ski news: Miles and I both know how to ski, but the last time was about 13 years ago in Vancouver on our last sabbatical. We rented equipment and saw that the technology has really changed. Hi-tech boots and shorter skis. And of course, LOTS of snowboarders! Believe it or not, the body/mind remembered what to do and we were shussing around the intermediate slopes pretty well. The views were spectacular and we felt like we were on top of the world.

Part of the ETH group ready to ski--see the novice 2nd from left?

On top of the world!

After a few hours, we stopped for lunch (goulash, sausages and beer typical fare). Somehow, after a big lunch, we were pretty worn out and took a few more runs and were finished by about 3pm.

Lunchtime

Day 2 was much the same, only the highlight was to participate in slalom race (a tradition with this group) and get prizes at an awards dinner. Well, I practiced going down the run, but struggled a bit and decided not to do the race. What a wimp. I figured somebody had to be a spectator! But Miles did the race in true form. Awards that night: Milky Way bars.

Another view from the top of the slopes

We are now back in beautiful Zurich, the snow has all melted and the weather is a pleasant 5 degrees C. Believe it or not, Miles will start "working" when classes begin this week.

Gruezi! ("Hello" in Swiss German)

Well, we're alive and well in Zurich!

We were welcomed to Switzerland by seeing the spectacular alps from the plane:

These are actually the Austrian Alps on our way to Zurich

We have a wonderful 3-bedroom fully-furnished apartment centrally located to downtown and about a 2-minute walk to work at ETH (Technical University) for Miles. We couldn't be happier and colleagues at the university have been so helpful and friendly. We're going to have fun here!

Zurich was dusted with snow and it even snowed in our honor the first night. It was so beautiful to watch it snow from inside our cozy place.

Snowy Zurich

Main building of ETH

Miles' office is in the modern greenish building

View from Miles' office

Icy fountain near the Bahnhofstrasse (main shopping street)

Lake Zurich about a 15-minute walk from our apt.

Two days later and most of the snow is gone, except in the hills around Zurich. All the locals are apologizing for the cold and snow, but I keep assuring them that we love it (of course we're only here for 1 season. In fact, they said Zurich doesn't always get snow in the winter and this is a particularly cold year--I think we're lucky!)

We haven't done much except the "settling in" things like getting the kitchen stocked, walking around the downtown and learning the lay of the land. I've made inquiries about joining a gym, an international women's group and contacted a few people I know from Zurich. I don't have a schedule yet, but there's no shortage of things to do.

Miles, meanwhile, is nursing a weak back and trying to get some work done at ETH. He'll be teaching a semester course starting in late Feb. He's off to Florida to visit his dad next week and when he returns, we go on a ski trip in Austria with Miles' dept. from ETH. Depending on his back, he may not be able to ski, but we'll have fun drinking hot cocoa and sitting around the fire in the lodge. Who cares??? We'll be in AUSTRIA!

Although we don't speak German (actually, they speak Swiss German which is evidently different than High German), we have no problem (so far) with English. Maybe my limited French will come in handy, too.