Our first 24 in Winterthur

Our 1 hour nap turned into a much needed 2 hour nap.  I woke up from my cozy sleep and had to shake the boys back to life. "Vamonos, vamonos!"   There was so much to see and do I didn't want to waste anothe hour.  We quickly got ourselves together and headed out.  Ladina was at the receptionist counter with her same beautiful smile and wished us luck as we exited Ibis Hotel.  I'm hand I had the maps she'd given us and 79 CHP (Swiss francs) in my back pocket.  Immediately outside of our hotel is a mcdonalds and a gas station.  Dude was dying for food and was trying to lure me toward McDonald's with hopes that there would also be a play ground.  Their menu was the most Americanize Mickie D's menu ever.  An LA bacon burger, BBQ fries (or pommes frites as many europe'a call them).  These options were even too American for Americans!  I filmed a little biting the menu but after a few seconds the cashier started yelling "nein fotos, nein fotos" who the hell knows why I couldn't take pix of their menu, but I put the camera away anyway.   Once our food was served up we sat near a birthday party how had an actually Ronald McDonald clown as a magician.  I haven't see a Ronald McDonald in the US since the '80s!!! He was kind enough to give a dude a balloon and I got about 7 seconds of him speaking German to a parent in their party.  

After Mickie D's we followed LaDina's map to the bus stop our 4 minute ride cost $9CHP!! Yoooooo, wassup with Switzerland and these outrageous travel cost?!  We got off and walked around the downtown/ old town of winterthur.  Tomorrow we will head to the same area (waking for FREE, though) to catch the train into Zurich where we will spent the day.  

The old town was quaint and charming.  I felt like was walking around in a Suiss play set.   We window shopped and strolled for hours. Many people have small and medium sized dogs here.  It is common for the dogs to enter and walk around the store on a lease with their owner.  There is plenty of diversity here. Immigrants of African and Asian descent, Latinos, Muslims, East Asian Muslims... People are peaceful and patient, just like in many other parts of the world.

One of the main stores in the area is named co-op city, just like the well-known condo complex in the Bronx , NY where I grew up.  I made sure we went in there to honor the sign that we were on the right path.  Next to that was a store called city trends, just like the Atlanta urban clothing store around the corner from my house, we will check that out tomorrow.  Here are some pix if what our day had to offer us. 

Marijuana is legal here

Electric bus system

Postkartes for our peeps

Once we were done in downtown winterthur, we got back on the bus to go back to the hotel.  We decided on pizza for dinner before going home.  At a quick stop at the gas station for water and late night snacks the boys were gifted lego car packets by the cashier. Dude was so excited "Mommy, we have friends everywhere!!"  "Yes Dude, we do"

Here is a quick video of our Winterthur exploration: 

http://youtu.be/y0pQupTWWi0