Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Friday, 8 June 2007
back from mallorca
Wow, haven't been surprised that much for a while now. Mallorca is absolutely beautiful. Landsccape, mentality of the people, the food, cities and towns...
As I'm busy moving to Zurich I'll see when I find time to post more, but for sure there'll be lot of tipps on where to stay and what to do, probably in consecutive posts, day by day.
I'll probably have time for a first post tomorrow, to make the wait shorter check out agroturismo-balear.com to find your favorite calm "farmstay" (well, it's more like farmstay with **** )
As I'm busy moving to Zurich I'll see when I find time to post more, but for sure there'll be lot of tipps on where to stay and what to do, probably in consecutive posts, day by day.
I'll probably have time for a first post tomorrow, to make the wait shorter check out agroturismo-balear.com to find your favorite calm "farmstay" (well, it's more like farmstay with **** )
Monday, 28 May 2007
holidays
I finally made up my mind and if nothing comes between I'll book a flight to Mallorca tomorrow morning. The plan is to fly from Basel at around 6:45am on Wednesday (blame Easyjet for the time) and return on Thursday next week. In between that I'll be hiking the GR221 on the North-West side of the isle, so don't expect frequent or any posts at all for a week or so...
room
So this is the result of around 10 days of looking for an appartment in Zurich:
Well, don't laugh, besides a pink toilet the deal includes a very calm room facing to a very calm backyard.
Indeed, it's a really cool place, newly renovated, in the heart of the city (Niederdorf), 2min. from the main railways station - and a bit more than 5min. by tram to my working place.
Well, don't laugh, besides a pink toilet the deal includes a very calm room facing to a very calm backyard.
Indeed, it's a really cool place, newly renovated, in the heart of the city (Niederdorf), 2min. from the main railways station - and a bit more than 5min. by tram to my working place.
Wednesday, 23 May 2007
holiday plans
The GR20 on Corse will probably take too long for now, also several people indicated that it'll be pretty tough with all the snow on it - probably. So I figure I won't take the chance as I'll be hiking on my own.
So I decided to maybe go for Mallorca - ..... - Mallorca?
No, not exactly. My plans are more along the lines of flying into Palma for cheap and then escape anything that sounds or looks German in a second.
As Marc told me, the GR221 which runs over the isle is really beautiful and also not as high (max. 1400 meters), so there won't be snow I guess and climate should be nice. But I'm still open for other ideas if you have suggestions...
So I decided to maybe go for Mallorca - ..... - Mallorca?
No, not exactly. My plans are more along the lines of flying into Palma for cheap and then escape anything that sounds or looks German in a second.
As Marc told me, the GR221 which runs over the isle is really beautiful and also not as high (max. 1400 meters), so there won't be snow I guess and climate should be nice. But I'm still open for other ideas if you have suggestions...
Roomsearch part V
Oh well, my life is not very exciting at the moment. standard procedure: admin stuff in the morning, roomsearch in the afternoon, pack bike into car, drive to Zurich around 4pm, arrive at 5pm, visit appartments for rent till 8pm, return to Basel.
My backup plan now is to keep searching till Friday, then simply go for a temporary room for 2-3month and search when I've started working in Zurich. Might be easier with working permit and everything in place. But hopefully something nice works out this week already.
Yesterday my all-time favorite apt was due to be inspected, it's very central, calm, own balcony, sunny, rooftop terrasse, new kitchen & bath, wooden floor, what have you. Figure people would kill for this apt. Anyways, the way it actually will go is this: one of the 50 applicatints will be a native swiss female cleric with a salary of 15`000 CHF per month, no animals, not playing an instrument. She will be the future tenant, I figure.
So long.
My backup plan now is to keep searching till Friday, then simply go for a temporary room for 2-3month and search when I've started working in Zurich. Might be easier with working permit and everything in place. But hopefully something nice works out this week already.
Yesterday my all-time favorite apt was due to be inspected, it's very central, calm, own balcony, sunny, rooftop terrasse, new kitchen & bath, wooden floor, what have you. Figure people would kill for this apt. Anyways, the way it actually will go is this: one of the 50 applicatints will be a native swiss female cleric with a salary of 15`000 CHF per month, no animals, not playing an instrument. She will be the future tenant, I figure.
So long.
Sunday, 20 May 2007
Roomsearch part IV (relaxed!)
Sometimes I am reminded that you can do the exactly same thing in different ways: creatively or letting yourself be pushed around.
I already felt slightly stressed when only thinking about finding an appartment in Zurich, so I decided I had to find an approach that would add some positive vibes to it. So I put together the list of all appartments with inspection dates next week and packed my bike in the back of my car.
And indeed, compared to the hectic of driving around in Zurich with a car, pedaling along with a bike is pure pleasure. You don't have to follow insanely constructed one-way streets that lead you anywhere but not where you want, nobody honks at you because you're looking for an adress, no problems with parking in front of the houses ...
Anyway, my first house - the only where a inspection was due yesterday - was in a side street of Langestrasse. First I was deligthed: quite, wooden floor, right in the centre. Then some minus points appeared: only two rooms, kitchen very old, no dishwasher, direct neighbourhood with around 3 sexshops ... - but in summary it'S a lively quarter with "normal" restaurants around, not dodgy.
So I'm really thinking about applying, it's only 5 min per tram from where I work. Also the real estate agent managed to work out a semi-smile when I mentioned that I work for a bank and do not plan to establish a community living in the apt, so my chance among the 30 applicants might be pretty good.
Now for the nice part: cycling around I found a really cool neighbourhood restaurant "Bei Babette" in Bertastr., on the right hand side shortly after coming off Badenerstr.
They have really good custom-beer and it's just a very nice place to waste your saturday afternoon reading, chatting or just thinking about the world in general...
I already felt slightly stressed when only thinking about finding an appartment in Zurich, so I decided I had to find an approach that would add some positive vibes to it. So I put together the list of all appartments with inspection dates next week and packed my bike in the back of my car.
And indeed, compared to the hectic of driving around in Zurich with a car, pedaling along with a bike is pure pleasure. You don't have to follow insanely constructed one-way streets that lead you anywhere but not where you want, nobody honks at you because you're looking for an adress, no problems with parking in front of the houses ...
Anyway, my first house - the only where a inspection was due yesterday - was in a side street of Langestrasse. First I was deligthed: quite, wooden floor, right in the centre. Then some minus points appeared: only two rooms, kitchen very old, no dishwasher, direct neighbourhood with around 3 sexshops ... - but in summary it'S a lively quarter with "normal" restaurants around, not dodgy.
So I'm really thinking about applying, it's only 5 min per tram from where I work. Also the real estate agent managed to work out a semi-smile when I mentioned that I work for a bank and do not plan to establish a community living in the apt, so my chance among the 30 applicants might be pretty good.
Now for the nice part: cycling around I found a really cool neighbourhood restaurant "Bei Babette" in Bertastr., on the right hand side shortly after coming off Badenerstr.
They have really good custom-beer and it's just a very nice place to waste your saturday afternoon reading, chatting or just thinking about the world in general...
Friday, 18 May 2007
Roomsearch Part III
So, cancelled going to Ticino this weekend because I figure all those lazy competitors for appartments might take the weekend off and maybe chances are better to conquer a target this way. Based on my language you might infer that looking for a room in Zurich is not fun, indeed it's war disguised with a smile.
So here's one of my No1 objects currently, it'S around 55 square meters and very central and based on the street it should also be calm, wish me luck ...
And of course, if you have any ideas on finding a flat in Zurich, LET ME KNOW!!!
So here's one of my No1 objects currently, it'S around 55 square meters and very central and based on the street it should also be calm, wish me luck ...
And of course, if you have any ideas on finding a flat in Zurich, LET ME KNOW!!!
Thursday, 17 May 2007
Room in Zurich / Rote Fabrik / Trois Pommes Factory outlet
Yesterday I had my first go checking out rooms in Zurich. I figure it's gonna be tough. Not that the appartments were bad, but out of the three there wasn't really one that I totally liked - plus in each there were around 5 other visitors that checked it out only in the 5 minutes when Eva and I were there...
But from my first impression I gonna primarily focus on Wollishofen, it's pretty green there, close to the lake, and still pretty close to the city.
After we checked out a room there we went to the "Rote Fabrik" to get some dinner. It's a old production site with studios, exhibition areas, concert space etc., but also with a really nice bar / restaurant, directly at the lake. As we had seats right at the window we had a faboulous lake view in the evening and food was really good and not pricey at all. Also it's a really lively location, people discussing, laughing, reading, working, playing, everything... - cool atmosphere. Also they have a big outer area right at the lake, should be really good in summertime.
If you go there don't forget to check out the Trois-Pommes factory outlet which is almost in the direct neighbourhood just some blocks away if you follow the road down the lake southwards, also on the left-hand side like the "rote Fabrik. But be warned: as the have Gucci and Prada and the like, even the checkout is not exactly cheap, but there might be a good deal if you're lucky.
But from my first impression I gonna primarily focus on Wollishofen, it's pretty green there, close to the lake, and still pretty close to the city.
After we checked out a room there we went to the "Rote Fabrik" to get some dinner. It's a old production site with studios, exhibition areas, concert space etc., but also with a really nice bar / restaurant, directly at the lake. As we had seats right at the window we had a faboulous lake view in the evening and food was really good and not pricey at all. Also it's a really lively location, people discussing, laughing, reading, working, playing, everything... - cool atmosphere. Also they have a big outer area right at the lake, should be really good in summertime.
If you go there don't forget to check out the Trois-Pommes factory outlet which is almost in the direct neighbourhood just some blocks away if you follow the road down the lake southwards, also on the left-hand side like the "rote Fabrik. But be warned: as the have Gucci and Prada and the like, even the checkout is not exactly cheap, but there might be a good deal if you're lucky.
pasta siciliana
Yesterday we had one of the best pastas I had for month -- surprisingly, it doesn't even take as long as the spaghetti need to become al dente to prepare the sauce!
Here's the receipt (4 persons): 500g spagehtti or whatever noodles you like (take deCecco, thei're the best), 350g really fresh and tasty tomatos, some fresh basil (basilikum), 3 (or as much as you can handle..) garlics (Knoblauch), 80g almonds (Mandeln) without shell, some of the best olive oil you can get (2 big spoons) plus black pepper.
Heat up water and start preparing the sauce: cut tomatos small, (keep some aside to add later), put garlic and almonds in a mixer, mix, then add tomtatos and basil and oil and pepper and mix some more. for my part I would leave some almonds and tomatos aside, cut them only with a knive, and afterwards add it again to the mixed part, so that you have some bigger chunks in the sauce as well. so much for the sauce - wait for the noodles to be ready and then mix it with the sauce and serve. delicious.
more receipts in :
Here's the receipt (4 persons): 500g spagehtti or whatever noodles you like (take deCecco, thei're the best), 350g really fresh and tasty tomatos, some fresh basil (basilikum), 3 (or as much as you can handle..) garlics (Knoblauch), 80g almonds (Mandeln) without shell, some of the best olive oil you can get (2 big spoons) plus black pepper.
Heat up water and start preparing the sauce: cut tomatos small, (keep some aside to add later), put garlic and almonds in a mixer, mix, then add tomtatos and basil and oil and pepper and mix some more. for my part I would leave some almonds and tomatos aside, cut them only with a knive, and afterwards add it again to the mixed part, so that you have some bigger chunks in the sauce as well. so much for the sauce - wait for the noodles to be ready and then mix it with the sauce and serve. delicious.
more receipts in :
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