Rubin Trek: Winter Wonderland

Life has taken on a slower pace for me here in Zurich. My day-to-day routine is pretty standard: gym, museums, food shop, having people for dinner, library, walks around town, etc. The weather has been snowy and cold (this week it snowed twice and reached a low of -7 degrees C. Today is warmer and most of the snow has melted. We love the winter, but it does inhibit some outdoor activity. I know we'll branch out more as the weather improves.)

There is no problem with language since most people speak a little English. And they are very helpful and friendly when ever I have questions. The colleagues from ETH have been wonderful and we're enjoying seeing many of them socially.

Outside our apartment--brrr!

View of city street and mountains near our apt.

Massive stone house along the Limat River

St. Peter's Church with the largest clock face in Europe (8.7 m/28 ft diameter)

I'm going to 1 or 2 ZIWA (Zurich Int'l Women's Assoc.) activities per week. This week was a coffee chat in a cafe, a Mahjong game (Chinese style) and a mountain walk. The women are terrific, all ages and all in Zurich various amounts of time. This a great source of new friends and the ZIWA calendar can keep me very busy. We are looking forward to visitors from Toronto arriving today and Daniel, Adam and his girlfriend Dana are coming for Pesach the end of March. Yahoo!

Miles and I took the tram to Zurichburg, a forested area in the hills right above the city. The views are great and you can walk for hours on the forest paths.

The mountains from Zurichburg

We also took the train to Winterthur one day. ( The train system is fantastic and the main train station is about a 7-minute walk from our apt.) This small city 20 minutes from Zurich is well-known for its art museums and pedestrian promenade--lots of pretty buildings, frescoes and statues.