Zürich skyline mountains

Summer Recap – NYC and Zürich

As much as I would like to ignore the calendar (the one in the atelier that I conveniently forgot to advance to October until last week) and pretend that summer is not over, the weather is not making it easy to deny that autumn is here. Now do not get me wrong, autumn is perfect for introspection, inspiration, but more on that coming soon. However, as someone who loves hot sunny days, hot summer showers, and afternoon thunderstorms, it is always sad for me to see summer end. As I have been terribly remiss in keeping you up to date on the happenings here at deux lunes, enjoying the summer too much I guess, let’s recap a bit. You can file this under “Belated update.”

Considering the weather we had here, it often felt like summer never arrived. Still it was a great first summer for deux lunes here in Germany. My German language skills are still a work in progress, but my new neighbours and clients have been nothing but supportive. I had the opportunity to work with some wonderful new clients, and I am excited to meet even more in our second full year here. I even found enough time to do a bit of traveling.

New York City has famously been referred to as the “city that doesn’t sleep.” I have long felt that New Orleans had a better claim to this title. After having lived there for six years, I feel a better line is “the city that never stops.” It is the rare event that sees this city even slow down. Bump into someone walking down the sidewalk, they will probably be long gone before you can even utter an excuse me. It’s not rudeness, just an understanding that you both have places to be and no harm done. There is no stop. So for someone who loves people watching and finds his greatest inspiration when in motion, New York is a bit of an adrenaline rush.

This summer was my first time back since moving deux lunes and my life from NYC to Germany. There is always a bit of nostalgia in returning to an old home, seeing friends and visiting old haunts. To many NYC is an iconic skyline, but for me it is the constantly evolving street level. That is the excitement of this city, that there can be something new around any corner. Here are a few of the things I found, old and new.

There are no shortage of gargoyles to be found in Gotham.
Had a great conversation at „Against Nature“ bespoke tailoring shop
I’ve always felt that bespoke tailoring is the counterpart to corset making.
This intriguing sculpture appeared in Union Square since I left.
Nothing worse than stepping in gum
Although I will leave it to others to debate the actual hierarchy, NYC stands as one of the international fashion capitals and its garment district is second to none, even when on a budget.
I only wish this photo did this colourful display justice.
The sun sets in a NYC ‚canyon‘

Zürich is a city I have visited frequently over the years, as it is the home of a close friend. In spite of visiting ten times or more I still have trouble explaining what exactly defines this city. It is definitely a wealthy city, flush with bankers’ money, with many shopping and dining options, albeit quite pricey. The city’s monuments equally respect its important role in Protestant Christianity and Dada. And it is easily observed that the residents‘ lifestyle fully embraces outdoor sports both in the city and in the neighbouring mountains. With every visit I seem to find some thing that expands my view of this city, and at least two new things for further exploration on the next visit.

But then isn’t that the story of my life; always a few new things ‘just over the next hill’ that I anxiously await exploring, as soon as time permits.

A rather impressive group of residents.
‚Rock sculpture‘ along the Limmat River