What we miss most (Aug 2008 edition)

Zurich Daddy Geek's time off work is going by quickly.  Today we decided to cross a couple of things off of our list.  First we went to the US Consulate to apply for a new passport for Little Geek Girl.  We're hoping to go abroad in October and would like it back by then.  That went pretty smoothly.  At our tram stop there was a bookstore and I wandered in and looked longingly.  

We took the tram to Restaurant Le Cèdre where I had met Global Librarian for lunch earlier this year.  We ordered the Mezze for two and some rice for LGG.  After placing the order, the waiter asked us a question (in German) and I said yes.  Well, to be honest, I thought he was telling us more about what we ordered, but it turns out we ordered a platter of grilled meats -- which was yummy and not as outrageously priced as I expected.  ZDG succeeded in getting some falafel and meats into LGG but she is still entirely too picky or her palate is still too sensitive or both.  

We hadn't spent a lot of time in this part of Zürich so rather than going straight to our bus stop we decided to walk a little bit.  We passed another bookstore, which had at least four or five used copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in English.  And they were priced at only 7 or 8 CHF each, which is a bargain for books.  ZDG found the new Elizabeth George in English, but it was 45 CHF and I'm not ready yet to spend that kind of dough on books.  LGG was fascinated by the covers on some of the books.

So, we've been meaning to join the Pestalozzi Bibliothek.  However, you need to have your Ausweis (residence permit) to join and we don't usually carry them with us.  However, we had taken them with us to the US Consulate so we decided to detour on the way home and join the library.  On the way there ZDG and I were talking about what we miss the most.  Earlier someone else had asked LGG about what she missed the most and she said "friends" and I would definitely agree with her.  I also wish I could read more.  I wish I could understand the mysterious household products I'm purchasing, ie cleaning supplies and anti-chalk products.  Yes, you can use a translation program, but sometimes the instructions still don't make sense.  And I miss our wonderful library back home.  Before we came here I gathered as many used books as I could find, but I've worked my way through them.  We were lucky that our temporary apartment had a big bookshelf of books for us to read too while we were staying there.  I need to check out more of the Zürich used book stores, and I think I'll check some out while I'm in Florence on Saturday.

Yep, it's time for my holiday.  A friend of mine is in Italy for a conference near Lucca and on Thursday I'm flying down to Florence and meeting her in Pisa.  She heads back to the US on Saturday morning and I'll have to hang out in Florence until my flight leaves that evening.  Poor me.  I guess I should go back to researching restaurant recommendations and such.  Because that's all I plan to do, eat and look for used books.

ZDG will have fun with LGG and may post a summary of all of the various bathing places we've been to and maybe even a little bit on our home improvement (can you say window screens?)

Oops.  I forgot to tell you what ZDG misses most.  One word:  burritos.  When he was in California in May he ate Mexican food for almost the entire week.