Things you should know about Switzerland (Zürich Edition)

I've spent the last three weeks in Zürich and Switzerland, dancing the role of the fool/maid/general comedia dell'arte baroque dancer in the short comic opera "Der Handwerker als Edelmann" or "The Craftsman as a Gentleman"-- you know, one of those ha ha someone is trying to rise above their class kind of things. He's much more sympathetic than the Bourgeois Gentilhomme, though.

But I digress.

It's been actually really great. I'm staying in a beautiful house with generous hosts (no cooking! no cleaning! all the cheese you can eat!) and my very own bathroom. The audiences for the shows (9 shows! in 11 days!) have been pretty good, laughing and having a good time at the old-school gags.

I just can't overemphasize my amazement of how much food costs in Zürich---

I don't know if Jeremy really conveyed the insane expensiveness of food in his previous entry, but let me make it easy for you: a Burger King value meal costs $12.66. A plate of pasta in a restaurant: $22.

I began to lose sense of the normal. And when I say normal, well, what I am used to-- It might be completely true that with all the hidden costs of producing food that a plate of pasta should be $22. Maybe we should all get used to that and only eat out once a year. Butter churners unite!

Oh, dear, I seem to have lost the thread. Here look at some pictures of the cool stuff I saw in Winterthur and Zürich:

This "grafitti knitting" was done by a middle school class! This kind of thing (but not so spectacular) has been showing up in Cologne too-- mostly on bike racks and telephone poles.

Oh, the Easter Bunnies. So very very many chocolate easter bunnies in so many adorable and ingenious creations. I had to restrain myself from buying them to bring to the US for Easter (!!) because I was afraid they would be destroyed in transit.

outside the jeweler's

outside Winterthur City Hall

random rubber ducky congregation in the public fountain

Swiss Mister

As you may know, Sarah is working in Zurich for most of the month of March. Since she is and will be missing me so much, I decided to visit her this weekend. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a sitter for Liam for this time, so I decided to bring him along too.

As a conscientious world traveler, I try to “…do as the Romans do”, so the first thing I did when I arrived was to establish a tax collecting settlement on the shores of lake and give it the name Turicum...

Of course I am joking, that is a ridiculously literal interpretation. In reality I try to adapt to the local customs where ever I am. So the real first thing I did was to buy an apple and a crossbow, and then I headed out into the forest with Liam…

Ok, we really just met mama at the train station and had a beer:

The first day we walked around a bit, we first we needed some food, and hit the first appealing restaurant in the nähe. We went to a noodle place, and learned that Liam is crazy for Udon!, and can sometimes appear to be able use chopsticks.

we then walked the rest of the way down the hill to the lake. We walked around a while, and Liam went down for a nap. What are mama and papa to do?

It's a tough life, I know.

This is how we like our guy to wake up:

We found a playground nearby, and Liam became the abacus master

The next day we went to the zoo, Liam's favorite type of place

Hello snakes

Hello peacock

It was stork city in and around the zoo, and gave us a good opportunity to teach Liam about how he was born.

Bathtime, Liam!

But seriously, I am not sure how essential any of this information is.

Some Swiss delicassies for lunch:

They only cost an arm and two legs!

After lunch, we learned how to make electricity on a pig farm:

Hint: it involves poop

On the Monday, we took an incline to the top of a hill, and hiked

The incline lets out at this hotel.

If you ever want a $10 coffee and to feel completely out of place, this place is for you

Liam is a freak for sausage: