It's like the Kashmir/Nainital/Darjeeling of Europe

Zurich. I stayed with Shauna and Steve, whom I knew from Google Seattle. Shauna's now working at Google Zurich. This was fun. I like how traveling allows you to visit people you might not have known super well, and you get to know them better, just because you are in that city. Dear everyone who I only kind of know: come visit me in Pittsburgh, let's do this thing in reverse.

Zurich is so pretty. There's only occasional graffiti. There was a map store and comic shops, and a pretty nice art museum with some things that I liked. I had an awesome cup of pour over Panamanian coffee at a place called Henrici.

Another new record: that coffee cost $7.70. This is the most expensive city in the world. Restaurants will run you about $30; even a kebab or falafel is over $10. I don't want to tell you how much I spent getting an oil change and a brake pad replaced. On the other hand, walking up to the Uetliberg (where I took the picture above) was free. Cooking meals with Shauna, Steve, and their roommate Alena was also cheap. Once we did fondue. (we "fondid"?)

I biked through all of this. I wish I had a helmet cam so I could not constantly be thinking "should I stop and take a picture here?" It is a strange feeling, wanting to capture everything; you know you can never capture everything! I was riding towards the Alps over the Zurichsee all day and I might never again have those visual glimpses. It's like food. But like food, it's important to remember that even though it is fleeting, it is very nice to have these sights/foods.

Biking was much warmer today, but quite windy! Always a new challenge. Tonight I am staying here. Couchsurfing with a cool fellow named David. CS has been awesome in Europe; there are a lot of hosts and I've gotten along with them pretty well.