As has been the case with almost all apartments we've gone to see, there were scads of other prospective renters there, all serious and pushing by one another in order to get a better look at the place. As we checked the place out, I noticed that there were several things on the apartment walls that either directly or indirectly referenced New York City.
Not thinking twice about it, I went up to the woman in charge - whom I expected to be from the rental agency and not to speak much english - and asked if she was the owner. She said yes and then switched from her perfect Swiss German to her perfect English. She said she had lived in NYC for several years. I told her that I had lived there too and we chit chatted about 'the old days' from there. I tried to be respectful of the fact that people were trying to get her ear and ask questions about the place while keeping our dialog going, but didn't feel too guilty as it is clearly every person for her/himself in these situations.
As we left, I told her I would bring by our packet (all the recommended papers for which to rent a place) the next day. We smiled and shook hands and walked the two flights down to the street. There is a local pub just steps from the building and I enticed Mark to join me for a pint as a show of something - good luck - I don't really know, but I thought that raising a glass at what could be our new local watering hole couldn't be anything but good at this point.
Please keep your fingers crossed for us. It would be SO fabulous to know we had a place and to start our lives over here for real!
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**********************************************It was a gorgeous day of about 60 degrees here Saturday so we set out for a field trip down the lake. (I have spent the better part of the last hour trying to find a map of Zurich and more specifically the lake to show you where we are and where we went, but to no avail - will keep trying...)
We took the train down the West side of the lake, which was just gorgeous - people with their dogs and children in tow walking along the countryside, past villas, near the lake - really beautiful. We arrived about an hour later in the old city of Rapperswil.
We walked along the tree-lined path below the ancient church, which is more like a castle. The Alps were 'out' that day - what a sight. There are many quaint shops and restaurants along the cobblestone streets and we took our time meandering. We made a stop in the Bang and Olufsen store just to see how much it might set us back were we to purchase one of their amazing sound systems. (Needless to say, it will not happen any time soon...) We stopped in art galleries and antique stores browsing and checking in with one another regarding styles and tastes. (We're running about 80% on the same page, which I think is good ... better if he'll just realize that what I say goes ...)
As much as is made around here of how much people speak/understand English, I still don't hear v. many people speaking it as I walk around. So when we heard a few men and a little boy speaking English outside a train store, I found myself wanting to speak to them. The little boy's name is Charlie and we talked about Thomas the Train and named some of Thomas' friends then agreed that the trains at this store were different, mostly because they did not have faces. How sweet.
We had wanted to see a few movies this weekend, especially as the Oscars are tonight and I do like to be able to see a good number of the films that are in the running for awards, but we didn't end up making it to see any. We also tried to see a few at home on itunes - they have a new movie rental option which has worked once for us and 3 other times has failed and crashed the computer. Of course this happened after we paid the $3.99 for each ... We'll see how good Apple's customer service is.
It's funny how when I could have watched the Oscars the last few years at home in front of my own television, I didn't. Well, truthfully I think I watched a few moments but was more interested in watching Jon Stewart than the giving of awards and musical performances and long-winded speeches and stiff introductions ... Now, when for some reason I would really like to watch the show, I cannot, both because it would be on starting at 2am and because we don't have cable. Oh well. I will check out Cinema Goulash tomorrow when I awaken to get all the gory details. Keep your fingers crossed that Hal Holbrook wins for Best Supporting Actor - not likely, but he really deserves it - an amazing performance in Into the Wild.
We're watching Out of Africa in German. I love and know that film so well that it was/is actually interesting hearing it in another language. (Even though I think German is so not a romantic language to listen to) This film is one of the reasons I have always adored Robert Redford and admired Meryl Streep. Watch it again if you haven't in a while. Devastating and amazing. Who wouldn't want RR to wash her hair?
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