Farewell Baden: My Home for Five Years

Posted: April 24, 2004 by Paul

It finally came time to say goodbye to Switzerland, and to the town of Baden which I’ve come to know and love so much. Baden is a gorgeous little town just outside of Zurich that I’ve called home for the five years I’ve lived in Switzerland, from 1998-1999 and then from 2000-2004.

A panorama of the Altstadt taken from the bridge on my last day in Switzerland.

My apartment for four years was in the Altstadt (Old Town) in narrow building called "Zum Igel" (The Hedgehog) built in 1493. I had a spacious split level attic apartment complete with fireplace for the cold winters. My view out the bedroom window was of the clock tower and up towards to castle ruins on the hill behind the town (see the photo above). Out the living room windows I had a view over the roofs of the town, down the valley and to the Alps beyond.

I’m sure going to miss it all…

The final month was a frantic rush trying to pack my life up into boxes and ship back to Australia, plan ahead for Berkeley, and of course say goodbye to everyone – the work crowd, the rugby crew, and everyone else. I had a spate of farewell dinners and drinks that were great fun, and pretty sad as well.

My Abschiedsapero from ALSTOM: (L) The Turbine Cooling crowd. (R) The Auslaender crew.