Gruetzi from Zurich

From my previous post you would've picked up that after many months of talk, anxiety and stress i've finally set foot on Swiss soil... and very nice soil it is! Zurich is a beauitful, efficient city, the countryside with it's green rolling hills and cows, just like a scene from Sound of Music and the people are friendly yet quiet... the language (Swiss-German) is a whole nother story.

the Letten down the road from my apartment

It's been 3 weeks now and i think i've settled nicely into the role of house-girlfriend... my days consist of cleaning, laundry, gorcery shopping, studying, exploring the city and cooking for my wonderful boyfriend, who spends his days working hard (had to add that because i know he'll read this at some point) :) the only thing i'm battling with is the language... but that'll come with time!

During my time here i've made a few observations about the city:

• For a city that is so health and environmentally concious... this is obvious from all the effort that goes into recycling and the number of "normal" sized people on the streets (after my stint living in the states, it was one of the first things i noticed... very few obese people), the Swiss are very relaxed on the smoking issue, most places still allow smoking indoors and in public places, the smoking of weed is also not frowned on and there is a wiff of weed almost everywhere you go (yes, i know what it smells like)!
  

• Sex shops and Erotica clubs can be found on almost every corner (something like McDonalds)... apparently the Swiss have a "healthy" interest in sex, this comes as a surprise considering how tame the Swiss seem to be, obviously this all changes behind closed doors!
  

• Graffiti is another surprise, the Swiss seemed to have imbraced these random, colourful scribles that find themselves on public and private walls... they have graffiti zones in Zurich where people are free to express themselves to their hearts' content, in my opinion a good move... and it actually brightens up some areas that have the potential to be pretty dreary looking.

• Swiss wine... or wii (Swiss-german)/wein (German), it's one of the best kept secrets of Switzerland but it wasn't kept from me for very long, they make some awesome wines... what a combination, Swiss chocolate, cheese and wine :) on my to-do list... exploring the wine making regions of Switzerland.
  

All in all, Switzerland so far has met up to all those expectations i've been holding onto for many years... i do need to spend some time in the countryside, get aquainted with the cows and their bells and experience the magic of the Alps... but that will all come in good time.

a storm moving in over Zurich

the See (pronounced say) with the Alps in the background

Next on the agenda... sorting out my visa issues, my life would be empty without a visa problem hanging over my head!

Just a little side note... this is my 100th blog post, yay me... keep on reading :)

Dubai... the city under constuction

As i write this i am finally in Zurich! :) it's been a long time coming and very happy to finally set foot in Switzerland and be able to be with Stu for an extended period.

I flew out of the US on 20 May and into Jozi on 21 May where i met Stu, we then proceed to surprise friends and family but more importantly... my mom :) it was a very hectic and busy week, with loads of meeting, greeting and admin stuff but an enjoyable week... it was great to see everyone again and i'm happy that Stu got to meet all the important people in my life! :)

Enjoying a few refreshments in the oasis (pool bar)

On 29 May we boarded the plane for Dubai... a quick 2 day stop over on our way to Zurich! As i have a South African passport, i need a 96 hour transit visa for UAE and with no precise guildlines on how to acquire this visa... i was basically holding thumbs that things would work out. After going through the process of handing money over to 2 different people, waiting around and a conversation with an immigration officier following a misunderstanding... 90 minutes later i had my passport stamped and was allowed to proceed! :)

View from hotel room

Dubai is an interesting city... very hot (around 40C) and dusty and there is construction everywhere you look! Skyscrapers and cranes line the horizon as well as those famous landmarks, ie Burj Al Arab and Burj Dubai. The best part of Dubai was the pool bar at our hotel... we spent many hours in the pool cooling off and sipping of "softdrinks" :)

City of construction

Burj Dubai... topped out at just over 800m

On the surface the city looks amazing with all the development and some stunning architecture but when you take a closer look there are faults... some construction has come to a standstill and the buildings are falling apart, many buildings have been put up in a rush and workmenship is sloppy and some buildings are incomplete but are inhabited.

All in all it was an enjoyable 2 days and an eye opener... i can see why people have flocked to the city, i mean where else can you go skiing and half an hour later be tanning on the beach (all in a desert), but i wouldn't call it a holiday destination... from my point of view anyway!

Next stop... Zurich, Switzerland :)