Americans aren't at fault for everything.

The real reason I wanted to post! Being an American in Europe means that we get blamed for everything:  the war, outrageous capitalism, world hunger, Windows Vista, etc. And we take it, because the truth is we did elect Bush. Twice. But this week in the midst of yet another giant American problem apparently bringing down the rest of the world (subprime lending...markets crashing), we find out that we can blame at least some of the financial drama on the French instead. This blog has a great take on the whole mess. And while Europe is happily skewering the French for this disaster, the Americans should be thanking Monsieur Kiervel for forcing the Fed to cut interest rates.  

No. 1: Middle of Europe

The absolute best reason for living in Zurich is that its close to every place I want to visit in the rest of europe....by train: crepes in Paris in 4 hours, tulips (or Doug) in Amsterdam in 8 hours, olive oil in Florence in 7 hours, beer in Munich in 3.5 hours. And by plane? All less than 2 hours:

No. 2: Largest Climbing Gym in the World!

Hah! bet you thought I was never going to post again. But, it turns out that I really wanted to post about something else and it seems fair that I should finish the list first....

So, here it is, the largest indoor climbing gym in the world, found inside a converted gas transfer station:

In addition to the fantastic routes, easy climbs for beginning lead climbers, and an inventive system for top-roping without a belay partner, there is a coffee bar that serves delicious espresso and cornettos.