Naked Ladies

It was recently pointed out to me that every park in Zurich, and quite possibly all of Switzerland, has a statue of a naked lady. Every since, I have noticed that this statement holds true. I have seen statutes of naked women standing, sitting, laying down, running and sunbathing. I find it odd that in a city so reserved and conservation, every park (which happens to be every three blocks) has a pair of ta-tas for all to see.

Orange Cinema

Sunday Night I had the opportunity to go to Orange Cinema to see the Swiss Premiere of Death Proof, the new Tarentino movie. The movie was great and I would definitely recommend it to everyone, but the movie itself did not prompt a blog entry, the experience of Orange Cinema did.

Orange Cinema is the name of an outdoor theater that Zurich sets up on the lake every summer for about four weeks. The screen is raised over the lake and seats are seat up bleacher style on the beach. Tickets, unlike most theaters in Zuirch, were open seating (no reservations). So, in order to get a good seat, you have to get there early. I went with a group of friends, three of whom went early to save spots. Once the seats were taken care of there were three different booths to buy dinner at and two different bars for drinks. We enjoyed our dinner over looking the lake, drank a few cold beers and then sat back to watch the movie. The view was not only amazing, but the clean air was as refreshing as the cold beers, ice cream and sodas we were able to enjoy throughout the movie.

I am going back next week to see Little Miss Sunshine and can’t wait!

Montreaux Jazz Festival

This weekend I headed down to Lake Geneva for the Montreaux Jazz Festival. Montreaux is this small town on the edge of Lake Geneva which throws a huge Jazz Festival every year, so big that Prince actually played this year (but not the weekend I was there). A little fun fact about Montreaux: the song “Smoke on the Water” (with the most famous guitar rif) was actually written in Montreaux after the band saw the club they were suppose to play at catch on fire and blow smoke over the water. Not sure how true that is, and I am too lazy to look it up, so take it for what it is worth.

Anyways, I went down with a group of 7 co-workers and friends for a boat cruise/concert. The plan was to head down early Saturday morning by train, explore the festival a little bit and then get on the boat for the afternoon concert. This weekend was the last weekend of the concert so it wasn’t that crowded, plus there were some mean looking rain clouds ready to come in over town. We hopped on the boat, grabbed a few drinks and got in good position to hang out, watch the bands and check out the scenery. The first band was amazing, with a more creole/blues sound to them. Unfortunately, the second group was more jazz and apparently I DON’T LIKE JAZZ. The good news is that I DO like Heineken and there was plenty to go around, the day wasn’t ruined.

After the boat we were hoping to walk around some more, grab some food and hang out til the bars got good. Unfortunately for us, the weather had other plans. It started raining, and not just a sprinkle, but a torrential, horrible, downpour. With no place to go we did what we could and went to a bar. Sounds great, especially for me…but NO… they were playing Jazz So not only was I wet, hungry, starting to get sober but stuck inside listening to more jazz. Good thing I had good company.

Kidding aside the weekend was great. It was my first excursion out of Zurich, and I got to see the French part of Switzerland. Not sure if I will go back again next year, but it is worth checking out, assuming you like Jazz.

Side note: As I was in the French part of Switzerland, the language spoken was Swiss French, not Swiss German, the language I have been trying to learn (and by learn I mean I know how to say hello, thank you, please, beer and sausage). So the entire weekend, I was speaking a cross between English, Swiss German, attempting French while throwing in some Spanish to boot. Apparently my mind assumes that if I am not speaking Enlgish, it must be Spanish. Hopefully I will get it before I leave



Me and the girls on the boat cruise (Kim, Nancy, me and Shannon)

What an amazing first week!!! Here are some of the things I was busy doing this week:

• Went house hunting on Tuesday with a relocation agent and looked at a whole bunch of apartments none of which were in the neighborhood I wanted or in my price range. A bit frustrating
• Tuesday night I meet up with two co-workers for happy hour at the Carlton Bar. Beers are only $5 until 7pm and then the prices get hiked up to $8. No appetizers, but there was a sausage buffet (yes girls, they eat a lot of sausage here). The seen was definitely more Bluelight than City Tavern, but I can’t be too picky considering it is my first week
• I also set up my official Swiss Bank Account on Tuesday!
• Wednesday I had my first “full day” of work. Everyone on the team is so nice and welcoming and helpful. They are all ex-pats from either the US or Australia and so they have all been through the relocation stress
• Wednesday night I found my new apartment!! This might not seem like a big deal, but to put things in perspective, it took three of my co-workers over two months to find housing. I found my place within five days. A co-worker sent me an email listing from an ex-pats website for an apartment in the neighborhood I wanted, in my price range. I called the people, went over that night, had a glass of wine and fell in love with the place. A cute one bedroom, one block away from the “Fillmore street” of Zurich with a private front garden, dishwasher and washing machine. The couple was moving out and heading to San Francisco! We got to talking, I was introduced to the land lady, a great woman from South Africa who said the place was mine and I could move in August 1. I just got the contract and will be signing it Monday. There is plenty of room for everyone to come visit at once!!!
• The only downside about the apartment is apparently the last three tenants (all women) have gotten pregnant while living at the apartment…YIKES!! No boys for me!! Feel free to place over/unders on that one!
• This weekend was ridiculous with Zurifhast! I don’t know how to describe Zurifhast other than imagine, Bay to Breakers, Union Street Fair and the Mid-State fair all happening in the same city the same weekend. Pure Mayhem. There were bands and stages every two blocks, huge rides including two ferris wheels, beer stands every and so many places to buy sausage it was overwhelming.
• Aussie Greg came up to visit from Italy and we had numerous parties to attend (all thrown by co-workers). One week here and I already have a semi-social life.
• And the best part so far...apparently you can drink on the streets al the time (not just for Zurifhast) so in theory, I could pop open a cold beer after a hard day at work and relax on the train ride home…man I love this city!

On a more serious note I have some bad news. I have a feeling these next two years are going to qualify me for "least improved" friend. My hair staightener doesn’t work here, pedicures are $75, there is very little sun to get tan, and after a diet of sausage and full calorie beer my appearance (it appears) is about to take a nose-dive. Good thing I am not interested in men right now!