First Weekend in Zurich

We spent our first weekend here getting acquainted with our surroundings.  Darren taught me how to use the public transportation system (he had been here several times already before we moved) and introduced me to the downtown area.  Zurich has an excellent public transportation system with many above-ground trams and buses.  They all have new computer screens that indicate what stops are next and how long it will take to get there.  Not like in Boston where you have no idea where you are going or what the next stop is unless you've memorized it.

A picture of the trams

 We took the tram from our apartment (we are living in the Wiedikon district, if you want to Google Map it) to the Hauptbahnhof, or the main train station.  We then walked down the Bahnhofstrasse, which literally means train station street.  This is a huge shopping street and is sometimes referred to as one of the most expensive shopping areas in the world.  We passed by all the usuals: Cartier, Louis Vitton, Dior, and Armani.  But this is also the headquarters of two major Swiss banks, so there's a lot of money being exchanged around there.  I didn't think the street was particularly special-looking, so I didn't take a picture.  I think they dress it up for Christmas, so I'll show a picture then.  One place we did stop at was the famous Swiss confection store called Sprüngli.  It originated right here in Zurich on the Bahnhofstrasse.

Me in front of Sprüngli

They sell all kinds of treats including chocolate, but they are famous for their Luxemburgerli, which are mini-macaroons.  You can see some in the picture below.  The whole bottom shelf has the mini-macaroons.  The place was pretty packed, so we didn't feel like waiting a long time to get some, so I probably will go back some other time when it's less crowded to try them.

 We then crossed over the Münster bridge and just took a walk along the Limmat river that runs right through the old part of town.  We didn't stop to look at everything since we will be here for a while and I was just trying to get a feel for the city.  It's still unreal that we live here.

Proof that we are actually here in Zurich!

We also went out to some other areas we are interested in living to see what they were like.  Even though it was cloudy most of the day, it thankfully did not start raining until we got home.  The weather here is much like Seattle, so we should expect many cloudy days.  I think it will be a little chillier and maybe a little more snow, but we'll see.

The view of the cloudy, rainy weather from our balcony

On Sunday, we went to one of the local Mormon congregations that meets in Zurich, which we will be attending while we are here.  The church rents space in an office building, which is pretty common for places where there aren't a lot of members or the church hasn't been able to get land to build their own building yet.  I have been lucky to always attend a ward that meets in a regular building, so this was a first for me.  The church was on the second and third floor (the ground floor is 0, not 1).

The building directory showing that the Kirche Jesu Christi is on the second floor :)

There were about 80 people that crowded into a small chapel for sacrament meeting.  All the meetings were in German, but half of the ward members are expats (Americans living outside of the US), so they had an English translation.  They have wireless headsets that you can wear and listen to someone who sits in the back, speaks into a microphone, and translates in real-time.  Those people are amazing.  Darren and I chose not to wear the headsets because we are trying to practice our German.  However, I could only pick out some words since I'm a beginner, but Darren said he was surprised he was able to understand a lot even though he hasn't studied the language in a few years.  Go Darren!

We met some great people and are looking forward to getting involved with the ward.  I am really excited because some of the things I loved about living Boston are here, too.  I love public transportation and walking everywhere.  I feel very empowered when I can just walk out the door and go anywhere I want without worrying about where I'm going to park the car if I want to stop.  I like smaller wards where you can meet people more easily and you are more dependent on each other.  I love that there is so much history around every corner and so much worth exploring.

After some cloudy days, we had a great sunset here tonight that I thought I would share.  Ich liebe Zurich!