walking

Because we don't have a car here in Switzerland, we walk everywhere.  It's a very nice change of pace for me.  I like the fact that we can walk to everything we need in less than 15 minutes.  I have probably done more walking in the past week than I had in the previous 2 months.  Already, some pants that were tight on me before we left are no longer tight.

Today, while Claire napped, I ventured out to the grocery store by myself.  I grabbed our reusable bags (Switzerland is all about being green) and took our list and walked to the store.  When I arrived, I put my 2 Swiss franc coin (worth about $2.40 American dollars) in the little slot on the shopping cart, detached my cart from the others (just like Aldi in the states), and went about searching for the things on our list.  As I filled up the cart with these things, I had to constantly remind myself that whatever I bought, I had to carry home in my reusable bags.  The bag of potatoes and the 2 different kinds of milk had me a little bit worried.  However, all of the stores are closed on Sundays in Switzerland.  Sundays in Switzerland are considered a day to do an activity with your family, an activity that does not include shopping.  Therefore I needed to buy all of the food we would need until Monday afternoon when I could go to the store again.  So I would need the potatoes and the milk.  I made my way over to the cashier, paid for my groceries, and put them all into my reusable bags.  I returned my cart, got my 2 Swiss Francs back, and began the trek back to our apartment.  Man, those bags were heavy!  After a slight detour (I'm still learning my way around), I made it back in one piece.  And we will have all of the food we need until Monday!

I feel very accomplished today.