Hi all,

I have just arrived from SW London in Winterthur with wife and family (two boys, one pre-school the other year 1) for a minimum three year stint. I spent ten years in Vienna in a previous life (so fluent German) and thought "it can't be that much different". Wrong!!! It is (different) but mostly in a good way.

We love Winterthur, pretty, walkable Altstadt and delightful surroundings. Like all mitteleuropa countries there are rules and regs for everything but talk to the right people in the right way, show a bit of respect and toss in a smidgen of "uninformed foreigner" and the fog miraculously lifts.

For now I am mostly on childcare while the missus brings home the bacon but would love to network a bit and look for opportunities for my architectural / interior design / photographic skills. Not to mention hints and tips on "things to do with a three year old in those few odd hours when the school system is taking care of the other one"

This site is a great resource, well done to the founders and operators, I am sure you'll find me doing the odd late night rant... watch this space.

CHPAddy

Welcome.
Winterthur is a good place for families with kids.
Enjoy...

Hello and welcome to the Forum. I hope that you and your family will be very happy in Winterthur. I have to say, hearing those words SW London make me incredibly homesick!!

Hi and welcome to Winterthur,

My tip: get a bike and a Sport-Pass and you're well on your way to becoming a Winterthurer

Robert

Welcome!

One of the best places I've found to play with my little one is a Gymboree - you could see if there is one in your area. It has great equipment, and during the winter is a life saver for a change of scenery! But spring is coming so it should make the parks much more useable!

Enjoy!

Welcome to CH. I know Winti pretty well too. Nice place, not in anyway as elite as ZH, but worth checking out all the small restaurants and bars.

Many thanks, doe "Kingston-on-Thames" make the homesickness better or worse...

Welcome.

That's a really nice intro, you'll fit in just fine here!

Welcome and I hope you'll enjoy Winti. Aww, Kingston-Upon-Thames, my favorite place in SW London

That's great advice from Robert. You're living in the bike capital of Switzerland, (in case you hadn't noticed by astounding number of bikes on the road).

If you're looking for a good deal, there is a great bike shop over in Wülflingen which is having an "ausstellung" this weekend. The shop is called "Bike Doc." They've got all kinds of bikes, new and used. Worth checking out. I've noticed that a few other bike shops are starting to have spring sales as well.

Welcome to Winti!
Matt