T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
Walkscore.com is a fun interactive tool that allows you to view the ‘walkability’ of a neighborhood: the density of shops, restaurants, and other points of interest. Walkability is a big factor for me when choosing a new neighborhood. I love being able to step outside and be somewhere interesting (rather than in the middle of … Read more
One day our apartment hunt brought us to this building in the hip neighborhood of Schwabing, Munich. As I contemplated having to include the sentence “just look for the Statue of Liberty holding a hoagie” in directions to my apartment, Scott realized that we were at the wrong address for the apartment showing. Whew.
We spent most of last week searching high and low for our next address. After hearing horror stories about how tight the market is right now for renters in Munich, we were pleasantly surprised to find that there were, in fact, a couple apartments (a) available, (b) in our price range, and (c) not located … Read more
As part of our search for the perfect apartment in the perfect neighborhood, we have spent a lot of time this week standing on street corners puzzling over maps. Trying to figure out which direction to explore next, which streets might have interesting stuff on them, which areas near the apartment we have yet to … Read more
Maybe my memory is failing me, but I don’t recall the German train workers ever going on strike when I lived in this country in the 90s. These days the German trains are going the way of the French and Italian, with multiple strikes in the same month. A 48-hour one started this morning, conveniently … Read more
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the cheesy pretzel. First, Zurich’s version:A dry, almost stale pretzel which has been sliced opened, buttered, and filled with a couple of cold slices of cheese (which, as you’ll notice, are nowhere near pretzel-shaped, leaving one with many bites that include only cheese or buttered cheese). And now the … Read more
After two years here, I finally made it to the Lindt & Sprüngli chocolate factory in Kilchberg, just outside of Zurich. You can’t actually go inside the factory (which may or may not be run by Oompa Loompas), but you can (1) walk by it and breathe in its insanely chocolaty smells, and (2) visit … Read more
Even when one has the luxury of full-service movers (paid for by a kind and generous employer), there’s still plenty to stress about before they arrive and while they are packing. What can’t we live without for 2 months? Is it all over in the “safe” corner? Where are my shoes? Don’t let them pack … Read more
I’m obviously guilty of blog neglect these days. Most of my energy has been going into (1) getting ready for last Friday’s art opening (which went really well) and (2) getting organized for the move. We’re preparing to say goodbye to the vast majority of our belongings for about two months while we wander the … Read more