Zurich and the Sauters

The great thing about not having plan is that they cannot unexpectedly change. Instead of going straight to Paris from Zurich, which was my original idea, there were no Eurail Pass seats available before the weekend, so I am going straight to Strasbourg for shabbos (Thanks Sarah!), and then going to Paris from there on Sunday. This actually worked out really well, as it gave me sometime to relax (jetlag is killing me) and to see the city.
Zurich is really nice. It is the biggest city in Switzerland, but still pretty small, with a population in the hundreds of thousands. What it lacks in people though, it makes up for in amazing architecture. And a beautiful lakefront with parks and fountains and a ferris wheel. And a really charming old city with cobblestones and buildings that go as far back as the Roman Empire, though the Roman buildings are really just ruins. The city is really gorgeous, as is, I assume, most European cities. There is a river that cuts right through the city and empties into the Zurichsee (lake), and swans glide up and down the river and into the lake, where you can see the snow covered Alps in the distance. It's all a bit surreal. The weather is also beautiful; it is warm, around 85, not too humid, and not a cloud in the sky. There were tons of people out sunbathing on the lawns and by the water, and walking along the cobblestoned streets of the old city. So far a great start to the trip.
The Sauters, parents of close friends of the family, are also amazing people. Not only are they insanely hospitable and ridiculously accommodating, hey are also extremely intelligent and great conversationalist. Over dinner (and after) we talked about European and American history and politics, Jungian psychology, Einstein's life, Jewish history of the Inquisition, Spinoza, Jewish theology, theology in general, and the etiology of cancer. All in one sitting, with appropriate segues and everything. If al Europeans can converse like that, I may move here; also med school is a thousand Franks a year, as opposed to my 60,000 dollars a year. Jeez, they have it good!
Tomorrow morning I am off to Strasbourg for shabbos, and then on Sunday I am going to Paris, after which I will return to Switzerland. Until next time!

Arrived

I landed in Zurich at 8:26 am local time. The city, from what Ihave seen so far, is beautiful. I was picked up from the airport by friends of the family, amazing people, and I am in their ridiculously amazing house right now. There are shelves of books lining all the walls, an apple tree, a cherry tree, tons of books, a garden, an amazing den with a big piano, and tons of books everywhere. Of course, being in Switzerland, it is also very clean and organized. And there are shelves of books.
I almost did not make the flight, first because I did not have a return ticket, though in the end my Railpass sufficed. Then, the flight to Phillly, where I was supposed to conncet to Zurich, was delayed, but we got there just in time for boarding.
Nothing much to say yet about Europe; haven't seen much ineresting yet, though the Swiss airport is quite something. Clean, organized, pretty advanced with all kinds of fancz projected screens and sounds (you can hear cows mooing on the inter-terminal rail), but with a baggage carousel that looks like it is from a regional airport in Argentina.
The Swiss keyboard is annoying as the Z and Y key are switched; it takes a while to type up a blogpost when zou need to paz attention to everzthing zou are doing on the kezboard. If I type normallz the word yebra comes out completely misspelled.

Off to Europe!

It's been a while since my last post. I guess that's mostly because nothing interesting has been going on recently. I've had a couple of adventures and good times here and there, like when I biked to Baltimore, or all of Pesach, which was really nice, or the two Shabbatot I spent in QC this semester, but overall it's been either work or just bumming around. Well, today that changes. In a few hours my Mom will be taking me to LaGuardia, where I will get on a plane for Zurich. No, I have no idea what I am doing in Europe, or how long I will be there. Actually, not knowing what to expect, and not really knowing where I will be or what I will do, not having done much research, makes this trip a bit intimidating. In theory, of course, this type of trip is supposed to be super flexible and free, and allow for more fun, which I am sure it will, but right now it's just a tad scary. For the next month or two I have no plans; my life in front of me a complete void on a continent I have never been to (except Hungary). In my mind, I know it will be fun, but I guess it is not knowing what it is that will be fun is the intimidating part. It's also what makes this trip more of an adventure and not a vacation, though the fact that there is nothing that I need a vacation from also helps. I think the fact that I am not able to do the Europe trip that I really wanted to do, by bike, is a bit of a bummer also, but I am not ruling out coming back a little earlier if my knee starts behaving and doing a biking trip in the States.
Well, I have to finish up packing. The next post will come from the other side of the Atlantic!