the end is near.

The end of summer, that is. The air is crisp, the leaves are turning, the days are way shorter, and, naturally, the Oktoberfest tents are set up in the train station and along the river. We just heard our first oompah band, down the street at the tiny restaurant on the corner. (Sadly, I was unable to get any vide o of it, 'cause around the time I found my phone and got out on the balcony, they stopped. Booo.) All of this to say that FALL. IS. HERE. Which I love and hate at the same time, because fall means that 1) the weather is just about perfect, all the time, but 2) WINTER IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER. Bah, humbug. I detest winter. But back to fall. As a salute to this lovely season, and a sad, sad farewell tribute to summer, here's a selection of what I'm calling Summertime in Zürich's Greatest Hits. (Ok, so they're not that great...it's just stuff I found interesting, or thoroughly enjoyed. And now, that you can enjoy, from the comfort of your own home.)

Here's a rather creepy shot of Mike holding a teensy banana. Turns out these things come in actual teensy bunches and are sold under the creative name "Baby Bananen." I love them.

7-foot-tall flowers at the botanic gardens. WOW.

 

Ahhh, delphiniums. SO BLUE.

Marmot-beaver hybrids (?) at the St. Gotthard gift shop. I really like their teeth. Sadly, we saw none of these in the actual wild.

 NEAT CLOUDS at the lake.

 

Temporary giant spider sculpture at Bürkliplatz. Apparently, copies of this thing have been making appearances in various points all over the world. Kinda neat, but not very subtle.

My new favorite summertime place in Zürich: the Letten. Officially a swimming club, it consists of a couple of (unlicensed, heh heh) snack bars on either side of the river, with bunches of seating on decks and patios, in and out of the shade, with diving areas, ladders into the river, and locker rooms for swimmers, a skateboard area, and several sand volleyball courts. It's got slight hipster and meat-market vibes, but it's also just a really relaxed place to meet up with people, have a snack, and drink a prosecco in the late afternoon sun. This is what it looks like at night.

You, too, can rent this Alphorn. If only I knew how to play one, I would have. And then harassed my neighbors to no end, playing it on my balcony.

Stewie helping with my homework. This is a very regular occurrence.

Sunset at Lake Zürich.

Picnic at the lake on a hot September Saturday. Our group was the only one fully clothed. Still, a lovely picnic, replete with goat cheese, Appenzell ham, truffle salami, and homemade samosas. Among other delicacies.

Another evening at the lake, post-picnic. I love picnics. I've been on more of them since we moved here than probably in the rest of my life combined.

This one's for my sister Joy: this thing reminds me of Audrey 2, just like your crazy mountain thistley thing.

You can find good coffee in Zürich. Cafe Noir...mmmm...

Post-it art. Heh heh.

I think the carousel is a fall thing, too. At least, I vaguely remember it being here in October when we were scoping the place out...

Last but not least, a video of fireworks that all went off at the same time, all around us, on a perfectly regular, non-holiday evening by the lake. Who even knows what was going on.

As is obvious, one thing I really like about this city is how it just came alive during the summer. As soon as the weather was even the slightest bit warm and sunny, the sidewalk cafes opened up, there were bicycles everywhere, and the line at Mövenpick was a block long. The Swiss really like their summery outdoor activities, and who can blame them? Aside from the rainy, cool month of June (and, to be fair, part of July), it really is a fantastic time of year. I will miss it in a month, when all is cold and gray and the sun is gone and the days are like 4 hours long. Stupid winter.

What I'm reading: finished the Blackbeard book...MEH. Skip it. I like me a good nonfiction pirate read, but this particular author spent more time describing what he didn't know about Blackbeard, and less time delivering the story. Laaaaame. I am now onto The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down, by Colin Woodard. I was terribly uninterested in this book at first, because as much as I love pirates, how could I possibly want to learn of their respective demises? (More importantly, is "demises" a word...?) HOWEVER. This man can apparently make drying paint interesting, and not only does he have a fantastic storytelling style, but he presents a really thorough, yet juicy and fascinating, historical portrait of the Caribbean during the golden age of piracy--pirates, governors, ships, maroons, et al., included. I'm having a hard time putting this one down, in case you can't tell. 

Next up: 25 chiles in 5 courses at the Lachen marina steakhouse. Yaaaay for spicy food and for our friends here who like it!

ALSO...I apologize for all font weirdness herein, as somehow I created for myself some weird highlighting, and then I couldn't get it to go away, and then I had to change the font color/size/type, and it all went downhill from there. I am the worst blogger ever. But it's all for you, my friends. All for you.