Adventures with the Parents Part 2 :: Austria

When my parents were in town, 

we decided to take a couple day trip to Austria!

We actually stayed the night in Innsbruck.  Innsbruck has a lot to do, but it is a big city.  I would recommend staying just outside of Innsbruck or in one of the alp ski towns like Lech. 

 Egg, Austria

 Cow traffic

 Lech, Austria

Hiking in Arlberg

On the drive back, we smelled something DELICIOUS. 

So we pulled over in this little town and followed the scent to this restaurant. 

Happy Dad. 

Lake Constance, Switzerland

How We Spend Our Days

Most days consist of hopping on the bus and heading over to campus. 

Then we sit in class for hours and listen to fascinating subjects.

(fascinating to us at least)

In the afternoon we may go for a run along the river. 

Or maybe we run errands.

And then we make dinner. 

We have definitely assimilated to Swiss culture. 

We made fondue a time or two, 

and we only eat Mexican food a couple times a week!

The evenings consist of studying and German practice. 

Sundays we go to church. 

Monday nights we have FHE with a few young couples in the ward.

On weekends we try to do something fun. 

It's nice. 

Most days feel completely normal. 

And then we are amazed at just how normal it feels. 

And we can't believe it is real. 

Adventures with the Parents Part 1 :: Zurich

My parents flew out to Zurich to help us get settled. 

They picked us up at the airport and 

we had a LOT of stuff to fit in a tiny car. 

Since 3/4 of us were engineers, 

we decided to play Tetris and make it all fit. 

2 bikes in boxes, 3 large suitcases, 2 small suitcases, 2 backpacks, and 4 people.

It was a tight squeeze, 

but our apartment is only 10 minutes from the airport 

so we made it work :)

Over the net few days we ran errands and explored the city.

Bratwurst on the lake

Our new ward!

After church the men pieced together our bikes, 

and the women made tortillas. 

It was a nice few days in Zurich.

Next up: a short trip to Austria!

Settling In

Studying another language makes you tired. 

Especially when you are fasting,

 and trying to focus and recognize familiar phrases through 3 hours of church. 

But we understood more this week than we did last week!

That's improvement, right?

This week we ran a few more errands.  

Opened a new bank account, 

visited professors, 

tested out one of the sports centers at the Hönggerberg campus. 

For date night we took a stroll through Seefeld and along Lake Zurich. 

We took a day trip up to Uetliberg 

or the "Top of Zurich" 

On a clear day you can see Lucerne and the Alps!

You can't tell in the picture, 

but some the clouds behind Stephen aren't actually clouds....

some are snow capped mountains!

Look Mom!  There's campus!

From Uetliberg you can hike for days, 

literally from one town to the next.

And there are lots of cool restaurants along the way. 

We will definitely be taking our families here when they come to visit!

(and you too if you happen to find yourself in Zurich ;))

Our Apartment

We really lucked out with our apartment.  

Here's how the story goes: 

For 6 months we looked and looked for housing.  We sent nearly a hundred emails and called several rental companies inquiring about properties.  Time and time again we were turned down because we needed to be in person to sign the contract and do a walk through.  We debated flying to Zurich early in the summer to secure housing.  After talking to one final rental company, we learned that we shouldn't even bother. 

"We had 45 applicants for this property and none of them qualified."

What??  The market is so tough, and the documentation required so strict that we may not secure an apartment even if we flew out early.  The rental company's advice:  talk to the university. 

The university has a great housing program for graduate students and there are houses/buildings all over the city with well priced rooms for graduate students.  But there's a catch.  There are single and double rooms available.  If we wanted to rent a double room together, we would have to be in a co-ed house. Which means Ali would have to share a bathroom with other guys, and Stephen would have to share a bathroom with other girls.  Not happening.  The only other university option was to live separately.  Also, NOT HAPPENING.

Our next thought was to talk to the ward members.  Unfortunately, because of Zurich's "tiny European apartment" status, no one had extra rooms available for us. 

Our plan quickly became

live in a hostel for a month and search frantically for housing once we get there. 

We continued to look, but no such luck.  Until one day we stumbled across a sublet option.  

The renter was going away on vacation for 3 months (starting the day we arrived in Zurich) and needed someone to sublet his apartment.   We sent an email right away, got a response within 24 hours, and skyped the renter and his girlfriend that week to get a virtual tour of the apartment.  We had a colleague in Zurich walk through the apartment for us, then contracts were sent/signed and before we knew it we had an apartment.  A large, fully furnished, under budget, city-center, 10 minutes to campus apartment.  

I know.  I still can't believe it. 

Entry way

Living room

Patio off living room and bedroom

Bedroom

Bathroom

Kitchen

Patio off Kitchen

 Please excuse the poor picture quality...

all photos were taken with my new swiss phone.  

I know.  I have one of those now too.

We're here!

Well, 

We're here!

One week down and it has already been an adventure. 

Things we have learned about Zürich: 

1. Parking is horrific. 

If you need to rent a car, be sure to ask for a blue parking pass.  You can also pick one up from the local Kreisburo or the Police.  Without this pass you will have to move your car every hour regardless of the time of day. 

2. Double check when stores are open. 

Most stores and banks close at 6:00 pm Saturday evenings and will not be open on Sundays. Also, bike stores are closed on Mondays.  

3. Always have cash on you. 

Not every store accepts credit cards.  Most small places only accept cash.  And don't fill up your cart with a kitchen full of groceries and expect to pay with a credit card, especially when the store and the bank are closing *see point 2*.

4. Prepare for sticker shock

Zürich is one of the most expensive places to live in the world.  Everything is expensive.  Food, clothes, toiletries, housing.... it all rings up high.  A big-mac at McDonalds is 11 CHF (~$12).  Stephen and I were prepared for this, fortunately.

5. Everything is walkable

You might have tired feet by the end of the day, but walking is the best way to get to know the city and see the different neighborhoods. 

We have been loving our time in Zürich. 

The ward is going to be awesome.  We have 2 sets of missionaries!

And we can't believe the luck we had finding our apartment. 

*divine intervention*

We are excited to start classes in a couple weeks,
but for now we are hitting the German books :)

We feel so blessed to be here and are looking forward to many more adventures. 

bis später!

California Part 2 :: Driving South

Day 4 // Fairfield -> Long Beach

In the morning we took off to head back to Long Beach.  

After a nice long drive we landed at my aunt and uncle's. 

We spent a lovely evening at dinner and walking around the canals. 

No pictures. 

Just lots of quality time. 

Day 5 // Long Beach 

Aunt Judy took us for a walk around the nature center, 

then we hit the beach.

The evening was filled with more good food, 

mexican train dominos, 

and fun. 

Day 6 // Long Beach -> Phoenix

On our last day we woke up super early to head back to Phoenix. 

We were both ready to be home with no time constraints, 

no obligations, 

and no driving.