Zurich is super expensive, isn't it? You need a mortgage to pay the rent! Fortunately, the best things in life are free, and while you still have to earn a bit of bread to make it here, i try to help in any small way i can. This week, Ronster, i have some tickets to give away for a festival, and i have a tip for you if the gym membership is too much. Have a great weekend and…

Give my love to the city

I've already seen the Halloween decorations going up so this week has some spooky stories to get you in the mood. Nightlife in Solidarity comes to a close but you still have a chance to take part.

Thursday: Two live gigs tonight at each end of town

Friday: Spooky stories abound

Saturday: Some big parties for Nightlife in Solidarity

Sunday: Need a new watch? Volkshaus is the place to go

Wednesday: The start of the Jazz No Jazz festival

This Wednesday sees the start of the JazzNoJazz festival, which has been running for quite a few years now! The festival, which is curated by my good friends at allblues.ch features some of the best acts on the planet, (and, as far as we know, any other planet,) and is a move towards the groovier side of jazz. This year’s lineup features Corrine Bailey Rae, Fred Wesley and Alfa Mist, James Brown band alumni, Fred Wesley to name but a few but it is also worth checking out the discover-stage in Stall 6 which is not only reasonably priced at 30 CHF but is free for clients of ZKB.

But that's not all! I have two tickets to give away to the opening night concert on Wednesday 30th Oct with Swiss based drum legend, Billy Cobham, (which is almost sold out.) Click the button to find out how to win these coveted tickets and don't forget to check out the full programme here.

p.s. I have some more tickets for next week too so make sure you check out the Newsletter next Thursday.

As i was strolling to the «Ron-Cave» this morning i noticed a house i had never seen before. Well, i must have seen it but i never noticed it. It then occurred to me: How many other places are there in the city that i have missed? But do you think you are good at recognising places? If you do give OpenGuessr a try. I whiled away a good few minutes, (before i remembered that i’m supposed to writing a newsletter,) checking out some of the interesting places around the world and using my sleuthing skills to guess where they were. Little tip: street signs are often real helpers although i did guess one place from a politicians poster ;).

A few months ago, I had a visit from a colleague from Germany. On a warm summer's day, I suggested we visit the Vitaparcours together. Her puzzled look immediately made it clear that she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Together, we discovered that these fantastic and, above all, free-fitness trails are known in Germany as «Trimm-dich-Pfade.»

Here's an interesting fun fact: the idea for these trails originally came from a men's gymnastics group in Wollishofen, who used fallen trees in the forest for their training. However, when the trees were repeatedly removed by forestry workers, the idea arose to create a permanent course with various exercise stations. Today, there are over 500 such trails in Switzerland, with one of my favourites being relatively local, on the Käferberg.

Now, I know what you are going to say: «It’s too cold.» Well, you can easily exercise outside even in cooler temperatures! (Adopts smug tone in 800-franc coat.) After all, there's only inappropriate clothing, not bad weather.