A weekend in Zurich - November 2011

I headed to Zürich this past weekend as part of a friend's destination birthday celebration. She had lived there for more than a decade and visits frequently, so itwas like being shown around the town by a local. At least I am quite sure that as a non-local I would have missed
two of the primary events we caught.

The first event is the Neue Räume event, which is a sort of an interior design and furniture show. I say "sort of" as all the information (see www.neueraeume.ch) is in German and I am so clueless on these types of things I wouldn't know the proper terminology if it hit me in the face. It's just not something I spend much time thinking about, which is apparently painfully evident to those who have visited my various homes over the years. (But for one brief week or two before I had to pack up for my move to Germany, my place in Chicago was pretty amazing - after I finally enlisted the assistance of a professional. See the pictures here of the transformation pics for a den, loft and great room and you'll see why I needed help!

http://www.creativehavenbymichele.com/gallery_new.html ).

Anyway, the Neue Räume event was in a former ABB factory building near the Oerlikon train and tram station. The stark concrete and metal and high ceilings provided a nice contrast against the items that were on display. There was an interesting combination of furniture, lighting, floor coverings, kitchen and baths. None of the exhibits were particularly large and they didn't really seem to flow together, but perhaps that is some of the charm. And because most had quite modern tables and things, it was hard to determine whether the furniture was the point or if they were the platform for something else entirely.

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that there weren't more "green" offerings. Perhaps if you can afford this stuff you would have no desire to save the earth and use recycled materials and the like. For example, one of the vendors was focused on admittedly interesting wooden tables and chairs fashioned out of whole pieces of wood that could only come from a really big (read: "old") tree. Another was all about leather flooring. Really?

The second interesting event was Expovina (see http

://www.expovina.ch/neu/index.php?page=Willkommen-Expovina). Or if you ask the locals about the "wine boats" that may be even more readily recognized. Essentially, about a dozen boats that offer cruises on Lake Zurich during the summer months are pressed into service at the pier for about 10 days in autumn.

A CHF 20 tickets gains you admittance to all of the ships as well as a well-organized catalog of the over 120 wine vendors on site. The vendors were primarily importer and distributors, but there were also apparently a

limited number of producers. Each of the identically sized booths in turn offers numerous wines, all free for the tasting. (There were also some food vendors, including fondue and raclette, but the food there was an additional charge. If you are not familiar with raclette, let me know and I might devote a posting about that - it's THAT GOOD!)

So how do you approach this? An American colleague of mine who is based in Switzerland recommended choosing one weapon and sticking with it (e.g. Spanish reds, German whites, champagne, ice wine). Seemed like a sensible strategy and significantly helped focus the plan of attack. What I also learned from the birthday friend who is quite the wine connoisseur was that most of the vendors had more wine than what they put in the

catalog. So if you showed some knowledge of wine, they would pull out some other things they were holding back (primarily because some people would just show up and demand to taste the most expensive wine on the list). So these under-the-counter wines were often on a second list. But in some cases, such as what we encountered with a CHF 98 bottle of Canadian red (who knew?! - Le Veiux Pin 2007 Merlot Reserve from British Columbia for those wondering), the truly special bottles aren't even on the second list, but are things they "write in" on your order form. Fascinating. Overall, a really interesting experience, though I might recommend going with someone who really knows wine so that you can enjoy the under-the-counter wines! But all that said, sometimes the judging-the-book-by-the-cover or wine-by-the-label method also works as El Tractor with its picture of a tractor was easily my favorite.

On a related note, if you do enjoy wine and good food, I would highly recommend a visit to Caduff's Wine Loft (www.wineloft.ch). In addition to tasty staples throughout the year (their vegetarian ravioli are lovely) they have seaso

nal specials, such as the venison four or five course menus during this trip. But the best part is that after you order, you get to go down into their wine cellar to choose your wine. When you enter, you are nearly transported to somewhere else entirely as it is primarily lit by candles adding a romantic atmosphere to the experience. You can also organize wine tastings down there, which I think would be quite fun.

The third noteworthy event (that I think I might have happened upon, even as a non-local) was the Miro, Monet and Matisse exhibit in the Nahmad Collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich. Apparently the Nahmad family had their own collection in addition to being art dealers, but it really is quite amazing. While the M, M & M exhibit was interesting, I was amazed at the number of Picasso's (easily more than 15 on display and many more in the collection based on the catalog) works there. Highly recommend a visit to all who are in the area. You can buy a pass just to the Nahmad Collection and the audio guide is included.