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.