The Neutral Zone

Zurich, Switzerland - Spring has mostly arrived. This week was warm (mostly 15-20 Celsius) and sunny. I say "mostly" because winter is not going out quietly: next week, the forecast predicts snow. But generally speaking, the temperatures are up, the sun is out, and the flowers are blooming. People in the streets The spring weather has brought people out of their cramped apartments and onto the streets. Literally. Regular readers may recall from a post I wrote about a year ago that our neighborhood is famous for the cherry blossoms. This draws in a number of blossom-gawkers, some of whom position themselves in the middle of the street in various poses while confused drivers try to navigate there way around them. Today, we saw two girls set up a tripod in a crosswalk and then sit (not stand) in the middle of the street while the phone took photographs. This was not appreciated by the passing Swiss drivers, one of whom even had the temerity to lightly tap his horn (scandal!).  ...

Zurich, Switzerland - Spring is coming to Switzerland in fits and spurts. The arrival of spring is more dramatic here compared to our native California, at least with respect to daylight and temperature. At this latitude (47.3769 degrees North), we get a mere 8.5 hours of sunlight in December. Now that we're in March, we can expect close to 12 hours a day, and in April, we'll get 13.67 hours. The temperatures have increased haltingly. We're in the period now where we oscillate rapidly in the course of a week from a pleasant 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit to a less-than-ideal 35-40 degrees Fahrenheit (usually coupled with rain). Though the deciduous trees remain barren, small flowers - like snowdrops - have begun to sprout up here and there.  Thus our time for snowshoeing is drawing to a close and so H and I have been venturing into the Alps each weekend to make the most of our few remaining opportunities. Stoos Stoos is a resort village / mountain in the canton Schwyz (neith...