once upon a weekend in zürich

A lot has been happening in my life lately. mostly a lot of getting lost, and loving every minute of it. On friday night, I packed my palette and brushes, and headed to the Rhein to paint a bit; water water everywhere, but not a [free] drop to paint with. So i decided to journal a bit, and take in the beautiful sunset. I walked along the edge of the water, and soaked up the breeze. If my ipod wasn't broken, i could see myself listening to some Sinatra. But it has been good for me, not having my ipod. Not having a phone. I'm doin it old-school here in Basel. Stopped in the Les Trois Rois on the way back home. To give you an idea, a room in this place, that I saw in a brochure is 1650/night. There was beautiful piano music pouring out from the main room. Who needs an ipod when you have that!

Got on a train Saturday morning, and went to Zürich to visit Steph! It was so wonderful to see her, a true "collision of worlds." I got to see where she lives, meet some of her housemates. We went shopping on the Bahnhofstrasse, the Fifth Avenue of Zürich, and then strolled along the Nierderdorf, a street by the river with some trendy boutiques and cafés. We made dinner (I am becoming so domestic! Ok, so I just chopped the vegetables...), and then took a bottle of wine up to a park that overlooks the river and the city. Zürich is great, because of the mountains, and at night, all the little dots of houselights. Believe it or not, but Basel is pretty flat. Most of the buildings in Zürich aren't over 5 stories, so it really feels like a classic train town, snuggled away in the mountains with fake cotton snow. I loved getting the chance to catch up with Steph; a lot of laughter and Swiss stories. We went to her church in the morning, and it was wonderful. THE best Catholic church experience I have ever had. The priest was humorous. What a treat. And the congregation was all sorts of nationalities; there were two children getting baptized from Nigeria! How refreshing. I can't wait to try out my church this weekend :) In the afternoon, we went to the Design Museum. I was in design heaven, snagging all the brochures and promotional material I could because it was all so beautiful. Steph, I hope you didn't get too bugged by all my drooling! :)

I hope to go to the Art School of Basel this weekend, and maybe the paper museum. And I want to go swimming in the river. It is super-clean here, so everyone takes a dip when it gets unbearably warm (and it has been...and there is no air anywhere but the trams). 

Tried Johnnesberries (sp?) today. I am in love. I don't think we have them in the states, I haven't seen them until here. They look kind of like cranberries, but smaller and a little bit see-through. There is an open-air market in the Marktplatz during the week. They may become a regular purchase...

The soccer craze is over now, with the Spanish as los campeones. I was sad to see it over. Basel seems so much more empty. But the peace is definitely nice. No late night carhorns.

Miss you. Love from here.