Around Town

Google is Straight Across the River and Train Tracks

We have been here for about 3 1/2 weeks, hard to believe -  seems like much longer, it is so different than living in Bellevue. So what is a normal day like for us? We have been getting up at our usual time of 6am and after breakfast Torrey goes off to work to solve the Google Maps issues for the day. The office is quite spectacular, he has the usual perks of free food, a gym, and yes he does get work done. This is Torrey's current walk to work, across the river and train tracks.

Sihl River

For me, my tasks have included transferring money from the US, figuring out how to pay our rent, grocery shopping, cooking, and more recently trying to figure out where and what to buy for our new place. Most of these things are fairly straightforward, once you figure them out. For example, for paying our rent the rental company gave us a payment slip, which is like a bill. To pay it I took it into our bank and they debit our account. The slips can also be paid online and set up as a standing order. No checks, just these slips. It is straightforward, just took a number of hours to figure it out.  I mentioned our new place, we have rented a basement suite just a little bit south of the Google office. More about that in a later post. We spent a good portion of the first two weeks here looking for a place to live, we are thankful that that is over.

Our Local Migros Store

There are two main grocery store chains here, Migros and Coop they are about the same but have slightly different products. I have been shopping at both, there is a small Migros very close to us and it is easy to be in and out in 10 minutes. This is helpful as the refrigerator is so small in our temporary apartment. There is a small grocery store in each neighbourhood so people can easily walk to get groceries. There is also a big Coop a 5 minute bus ride (or 10 minute walk) down the street, in Sihl City which is a North American style mall. It has a lot more variety and is similar to a big Safeway.  However, the Coop is also a "Coop City" and sells household goods, electronics, and sports equipment. Both Migros and Coop have a decent amount of organic produce and products. It is hard to know how important organic is here as the standards for food quality are really high. Nevertheless we have continued to buy mostly organic when possible. There are a few other little grocery stores such as the Reformhaus Müller (health food) - they sell transfat free peanut butter and Barkat (Indian) - they sell hot peppers.

Coop Grocery Store in Sihl City

The public transportation system here is fantastic, the trams and buses come frequently enough that we don't bother checking the schedule. We are also becoming comfortable getting around, not having to always check the map. Trains are also very frequent and punctual.  

Tram Stop Close to our Temporary Apartment

Torrey on the Tram

This Tram is made by Bombardier

The city of Zurich has all these great playgrounds. Here is the playground in our neighbourhood:

The Local Playground

The Local Playground

We have been able to see steeple of this church on our walk to an from our apartment and Sunday night finally got around to walking up the hill to see it. I is not very big but is quite beautiful. The backside is covered with scaffolding and tarps as it is being restored. Also nice to see that they still have services.

Church on the Hill Near our Apartment