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This is an (almost) arbitrary collection of places in Zurich that I like. I put them here before I forget them.
No visit to Zurich is complete without a brunch at Cafe Schober
in Napfgasse in Niederdorf. I always take the (big) Schober brunch,
which contains bread, jam, and eggs, but most importantly, an
excellent Bircher Muesli. This is the best Bircher Muesli I know.
Their trick is to use few oat flakes, lots of fruits, and a fair
amount of cream. Usually, I also stop by Cafe Schwarzenbach, right
opposite of Cafe Schober. If you are in Bahnhofstrasse and want
to escape all the passerbys, try Strozzi in one of the quadrangles
opposite Paradeplatz and enjoy the sun. But beware, you pay for
Strozzi's great location: The treats are mediocre at best so stick
to your espresso or cappucino.
I always check out Spruengli
at Paradeplatz, for new types or Luxemburgerli (recent addition:
Stratiatella) and other delights. Their cafe isn't bad either.
I usually don't make it to any of the Teuscher
shops, because Cafe Schober is wholly owned by Teuscher and already
covers my needs. (Try the Cafe Schober 100gr chocolate bars! Also
do some comparison shopping and kick their butt: the same chocolate
bar that costs CHF 6.20 in Zurich costs USD 8.00 in Boston, about
twice as much. You can order from Switzerland through the web.)
If you've been to my place and wondered where I got my book
shelves from, check out GEA in St. Peterhofwerkstatt. The shelves
are called "Chaos" and as far as I know, GEA is the
only importer to Switzerland. In Niederdorf, there is also FormPlus
(former Futon Haus) where you can get high-quality Japanese stuff,
and where I got my bed frame and futon from. Outside of Zurich,
in Kaltenkirchen near Ikea, there is a great Rattan furniture
store, called Rattan Trends.
Zurich has its share of modern designer clothes stores. They
are probably the same wherever you go, so I tend to avoid them.
However, I particularly like Fil a Fil in Rennweg, because it
is not over the top, affordable, and has my beloved Pringle sweaters,
which are light but high-quality woolen sweater. I wouldn't know
better ones, for sure not in the United States, where Pringle
means potatoe chips.
Fancy clothing stores come and go. I like Planet 8, which had
the Tram T-Shirts way back, and Mambo,
which seems to be a more recent addition, both right off Hirschenplatz.
Mambo, unfortunately, turned out to have poor customer service
when I tried to return a backpack that had broken down in the
first week of use. Of course there are the Freitag bags and accessories,
which can be found in a store called "Gloss" near Escher-Wyss-Platz,
if I recall it correctly.
In terms of culture, there are all kinds of bars and dance
places, most of which you can read about in the ZuriTipp. Whenever
I open the ZuriTipp, I first turn to Zurich by Mike, Mike van
Audenhove's weekly cartoon on Zurich. Mike exhibits the originals
at Orell Fuessli in Bahnhofstrasse and you can call him if you
want to buy one. But hurry, they go fast. You'll have to pick
them up at his mill before the doors of Zurich. If you own the
book "Zurich by Mike 3" check out the credits.
I like the Tonhalle a lot (for classical music concerts), and
it is dirt cheap if you are a student. There is so much going
on, it doesn't make sense to list it here. Grab the ZuriTipp for
your first night out and then the first batch of flyers, and off
you go.
Local activities to check out are the annual across-the-lake
swimming events as well as the 60m swim in the frozen Limmat in
mid-winter. If you like to run and can gather a (University) team,
you might enjoy participating in the Sola relay running competition,
organized by ASVZ, I think.
Should you decide to move to Zurich, you might want to checkout
some of the humorous
aspects of living in Switzerland.
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