YEEHAW!

Photo by Allen's Boots

It only took me about three years and moving out of the country to finally get the cowboy boots of my dreams. Old Gringo Marsha Brass Blue. I feel like I should be saying, "You fixin' to go to the rodeo?" or "How y'all doin'?" or maybe "How's your zoody, son?" whenever I slip them on. You can't get any more Texas than this.

Blogger Template Editor - LAUNCHED

Quick wanted to inform you all that Josh's baby has launched! Try out the NEW Blogger Template Editor by going to www.draft.blogger.com. Click on Layout and then on the Template Editor. So proud of my husband. Have fun clicking.

Not a ton of time right now to enlighten you on all of its' wonders. We are off to Counter Cafe for my first tastes of Austin. More to come.

Research

Photo by Dan Kamminga

Western Europe Itineraries open on the table, Lonely Planet Western Europe guidebook sprawled across my chest, seven websites open, post-its in hand, pencil behind ear, and a snoring puppy along side. The research has begun for our upcoming trip to Amsterdam. Taking suggestions...

Zeughauskeller

Looking for a solid Swiss restaurant to take family and friends to when they are visiting you? A must stop on the Peterthal Zurich tour is dinner at Zeughauskeller, an old armoury turned beer restaurant. Everyone needs a little rösti in their belly before leaving us.

The reason for rösti being on the brain was that this past weekend, Josh and I did a little catching up with the Zeug. We must have been going here at least once a week when all the family was visiting around the holidays. It has taken a couple months, but my stomach has finally given me the go ahead for another round at Zeughauskeller.

Couple of key take home notes about eating here.

• First know that reservations are very handy to have at this restaurant, but not required. We have actually been told they are booked for the night, but to just come in early (around 6pm) and they should be able to squeeze you in. 
• Check out their specialty menu. You really can't go wrong with anything on this list. Still never ventured to get the meter-weiner. Scary. But, I get the Kalbgeschnetzeltes - Zuri style with rösti every time and Josh and my brother have split the Bergermeister Hans Waldmann Sword (steak on a sword).
• You have to try the Zeughauskeller Eidgenoss at least once. This is a flaming beer they make right at the table. The actually have a bottle labeled "Feuerwasser". Who knows what it really is. I wouldn't say it's anything I would order again, but a good story to tell.
• There menu comes in something like 10 languages. Some random trivia for ya.

And, in case you are too chicken to order the Eidgenoss "flaming beer", here's a couple videos detailing my experience. Bon appetit!

Re: Was Ist Das? - #2

We have an answer! After posting my rant about the random toilet cord and plug-in in Was Ist Das - #2, I got a quick response on Google Buzz from our friend and past tenant of the apartment.

Barbara: hahahaha :) did you try to push the buttons at the sides?

Me: Buttons? Be right back.

There turns out to be two silver buttons on the side of this machine. And, yes, I now call it a machine. This toilet has way too many abilities to be just a toilet. Hmmm...what do you think I do with those? I start pushing both in, turning them forwards and backwards, pushing one while turning the other...nothing. They have to do something. And then something happened. Come to find out all I needed to do was put pressure on the toilet seat and push the right button.


So, I am leaning over the toilet with one hand on the seat and the rest of my body zoned in to figuring out this button mystery, when all of a sudden I start getting sprayed head to toe with water. I start screaming at the top of my lungs wondering what the hell just happened. There is a fountain of water spraying out of this machine. Once my screams settle and the mechanical arm spraying the water retreats, I notice that not only am I soaked but the bathroom door, floor, and bathtub are drenched. 

What the hell just happened?

I come back to my computer and Barbara is online messaging me to look in the kitchen, under the stove. I am truly scared now. She sent me in to uncharted territory last time with no instructions and look what happened. Now what? She tells there is an instruction manual for the toilet. She also said that after she had seen the instructions, she was too scared to test out its' capabilities.

How can an instruction manual be that scary?

I dig through the instruction booklets of all our appliances and the last one I come upon is for the toilet. At first sight, it looks normal. There is a booklet with directions like usual, but when you keep looking there is this separate page of illustrations explaining the simple 4-step approach to using the machine successfully. 

These graphic illustrations are just wrong. At first glance, I thought the guy just had a lot of cellulite, but turns out he is made out of clay. Then I keep looking and he has this creepy smile that keeps changing at each step. He looks the happiest (and creepiest) when the water is shooting up his yoo-hoo. And, in the last picture, during the "drying phase", he even has a newspaper in his hands. So strange. Just so wrong.

You may be wondering then, if after all that, did I go back in and try out each of the steps. Hell no. The closest I got was spraying my camera when trying to shoot the video. What kind of a toilet has a mechanical arm that shoots water high enough to reach the ceiling? It also had three spray directions, an air freshener, and dryer.

I am still feeling a little violated.

Was Ist Das? - #2

And, no. I am not that slow. I realize this is a toilet, but check out the cord hanging down and the outlet to the left. Was ist das? We have plugged it in and nothing seems to change. It doesn't shoot up water or sing a little congratulatory song to you. We thought maybe some sort of automatic cleaner. That would be a very Swiss thing for a toilet. Still no clue. Thoughts?

Fluff Details

Photo by quatrosinko.

So, there I am having my regular free weekly lunch with Josh at Google and we end up sitting with a guy possibly looking to move to Zurich from the States and a couple other transplant Googlers giving him advice on what it's like to live on our side of the pond. I don't know why I found this so hilarious, but we sat down probably about 10 minutes after the group had started chatting and they were diving in to all the tiny, in my opinion "fluff" details, about what it's like to live in Zurich. Details about having to use a blower room to dry your clothes, how often you have to go to the store to buy bread, why milk doesn't have to be refridgerated at the grocery. All things that shouldn't make or break your decision to move half way across the world.

I just kept thinking, these are the issues people living in the magical bubble world of Googleland focus on. Funny.

It was interesting though when the guy introduced himself to me and kind of brought me into the conversation. He asked what Josh and I thought about living here. Of course we said we liked it, but my real question for him was, "Tell me what your concerns are for moving over here". Not sure if anyone had asked that question yet and his response caught my attention. He said, "Well, my wife would want to work over here. She would need a job.".

A smile crept onto my face. Forget about laundry day and the daily trips to the Coop. 

Oh, funny little Googlers living in Googleland, it is fine to spit out all the little details you were told before moving to Zurich, but take it from a Hausfrau -- don't forget to look at the bigger picture.